Jesus told a story: “If a woman has ten silver coins and loses one, doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, “Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.”

In the same way, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Doesn’t it seem exaggerated that a woman would go through so much trouble for one lost coin if she still has nine left? Perhaps the detail lies in the value of that coin: One silver coin was equivalent to 16 years of a laborer’s wages.

So, if we’re talking about ten silver coins, they represented the effort of a lifetime invested. And what if all those coins had been entrusted to the woman by her husband? How would she account for the loss?

Friends and neighbors witnessed the protagonist’s anguish, and that’s why they celebrated with joy when the valuable item was recovered.

That valuable coin is us. Jesus invested his life to win us and was given the responsibility to care for us. That’s why he said to God, “Of those you gave me, I have lost none” (John 18:9).

We are the reason for the celebration, we are God’s joy for having found us.