Gospel in Art: The Parable of the Woman and the Lost Coin

The Parable of the Lost Coin by Domenico Feti, 1618 © Alamy / Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden, Germany

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 6 November 2025
Luke 15:1-10

At that time: The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear Jesus. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, 'This man receives sinners and eats with them.'

So he told them this parable: 'What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbours, saying to them, "Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost." Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

'Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbours, saying, "Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost." Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.'

Reflection on the painting

When Jesus wanted to show people what God is like, he often pointed to ordinary experiences that everyone could understand. He knew that everyday life can teach us something about God's love. Even people who don't see themselves as especially religious can reflect something of God in the way they care for others.

In today's Gospel, Jesus invites his critics, people who thought they already knew everything about religion, to learn from a shepherd and a woman who both lose something valuable. The shepherd leaves his flock of ninety-nine to look for the one sheep that has gone missing, and when he finds it, he's so happy that he calls his friends to celebrate. The woman who loses a coin searches every corner of her house until she finds it, and then she, too, invites her neighbours to share her joy.

Jesus is saying that God is like that shepherd and that woman. God never gives up on anyone. He keeps searching for those who feel lost or far away until he finds them. When he does, there is real joy, like finding something precious you thought was gone forever. Jesus came to show us that this is what God is like: always reaching out, always caring, always ready to welcome us back. All we have to do is stop running and let ourselves be found.

Domenico Feti, an Italian Baroque painter active in Rome and Venice and influenced by Rubens, captures beautifully in this work the spirit of Jesus' parable of the woman with the lost coin. The scene is simple yet full of energy: the woman bends down, searching frantically in darkness for the coin she has misplaced. Her face shows urgency and hope, her body leaning toward the light that helps her see. The coin she has lost is valuable - a tenth of all she owns. Her search becomes an image of determination. Jesus uses this ordinary moment to tell us something extraordinary about God: that He searches for each of us in the same way. Like the woman, God never gives up until what was lost is found. The joy on her face when she finally discovers the coin mirrors the joy in God's heart when we turn back to Him... a quiet, personal joy, shared between the One who searches and the one who has been found.

LINKS

Gospel in Art: https://christian.art/
Today's Reflection: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/luke-15-1-10-2025/