ou, there is joy in the presence
of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth."

Between this parable and that of the lost sheep there are certain
notable differences, though the lesson in each is in general the same.
The sheep had strayed by its own volition; the coin[963] had been
dropped, and so was lost as a result of inattention or culpable
carelessness on the part of its owner. The woman, discovering her loss
institutes a diligent search; she sweeps the house, and perhaps learns
of dirty corners, dusty recesses, cobwebby nooks, to which she had been
oblivious in her self-complacency as an outwardly clean and conventional
housewife. Her search is rewarded by the recovery of the lost piece, and
is incidentally beneficial in the cleansing of her house. Her joy is
like that of the shepherd wending his way homeward with the sheep upon
his shoulders--once lost but now regained.

The woman who by lack of care lost the precious piece may be taken to
represent the theocracy of the time, and the Church as an institution in
any dispensational period; then the pieces of silver, every one a
genuine coin of the realm, bearing the image of the great King, are the
souls committed to the care of the Church; and the lost piece symbolizes
the souls that are neglected and, for a time at least, lost sight of, by
the authorized ministers of the Gospel of Christ. These cogent
illustrations were followed by one yet richer in imagery and more
impressively elaborate in detail. It is the never to be forgotten
_Parable of the Prodigal Son_.[964]

"And he said, A certain man had two sons; And the younger of them said
to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me.
And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger
son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and
there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent
all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in
want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and
he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled
his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto
him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my
father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I
will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have
sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no