Parables of Jesus - The Lost Coin - Sunday School Lessons

Jesus sets example after example for us to follow in the bible. For one, he doesn't avoid sinners or people nobody likes. In this lesson, the people no one likes are tax collectors. In case you didn't know, tax collectors were hated during this time. Many would take more money than they were suppose to from the people just so they could put more money in their own pockets which made them hated.

If you look in Luke 15, the chapter begins with Jesus sitting and eating with sinners and publicans (or tax collectors). The Pharisees and scribes began talking about Jesus saying, "Can you believe Jesus is eating and talking with those sinners?"

Let's think about this for a minute - aren't we all sinners? They had no business judging when they were sinners too, but they did.

This Sunday school lesson begins when Jesus starts telling the parable of the lost coin. You can get the FREE Sunday school lesson about the lost sheep, as well. The lost sheep parable comes just before the lost coin parable in Luke 15. You can use them hand-in-hand or as two separate lessons.

Just this weekend, I told both parables during the same lesson since they express the same point Jesus was trying to make.

Get the FREE lost coin Sunday school activity!

The Parable of the Lost Coin - Sunday School Lesson

This parable is very short. If you have children that can read, have the children turn to the passage in their bibles or have bibles ready for them to read from.

Here is the lesson:

Ask the kids, "Would you want to be around a sinner?"

Wait for answers.

Most kids will respond with the answer - no.

Ask them, "Why wouldn't you want to be around a sinner?"

Wait to hear what the kids will respond.

Now say, "Did you know that you are a sinner?"

This will get their attention. Then, say, "What if no one wanted to be around you? What if no one wanted to talk to you?"

You see, if no one wanted to talk to you, you wouldn't have any friends. You wouldn't have had someone to tell you about Jesus. If you didn't know about Jesus, you wouldn't be here today.

We are sinners because we've all done something that we shouldn't. Maybe we've told a lie. Maybe we've taken something that wasn't ours. Most of us haven't minded our parents at one time or another. What about complaining or griping? Did you know those were sins too?

Philippians 2:14 KJV

¹⁴ Do all things without murmurings and disputings:

We have all complained about something in our life, haven't we?

When the Pharisees and the scribes started to talk about Jesus being around sinners, Jesus said this:

There was a woman who had 10 pieces of silver. If she lost one of those pieces, wouldn't she light a
candle, sweep the house and keep looking for it until she found it?

Think about this for a minute - If you had 6 puppies and one got lost, wouldn't you want to look for it? You may even have called your grandparents or your friends and told them one of your puppies was missing.

You would look and look and look and look some more.

When you found it, wouldn't you tell all of your friends or grandparents that you found it? You would be so happy and want them to be happy with you, right?

That is exactly what the woman did in this parable of Jesus.

She looked until she found it. Then, she called her friends and neighbors together to rejoice with her.

What This Teaches Us

This parable was told to help us understand that we are to talk to those who need to hear about Jesus. We are to spread his word.

At the end of the parable, Jesus concludes...

There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

Whenever someone gives their life to the Lord (is saved), the angels rejoice in heaven. Imagine, for any of those who have asked Jesus to be their Savior, the angels in heaven were rejoicing with you!

If we don't tell others (sinners) about Jesus, how will they ever know.

We need to spread God's word to whoever we can and then, if they accept Jesus as their Savior, we can rejoice with them along with all of the angels in heaven!



Photo of puppy was taken by Sigismund von Dobschutz (Wikimedia Commons).