Neal Pollard
Coin collecting is big business. Projections indicate that this industry is expected to double from $20.9 billion to $47.5 billion in the next decade, driven by enthusiastic numismatics (the fancy term for coin collectors). Coins are appealing to the nostalgic, the historian, and the investor. We are fascinated by cultures of the past, even the long past. The oldest known coin is the Lydian Lion, dating to the late 7th-Century B.C., a gold and silver alloy coin known as electrum. Several other coins from nearly that long ago have been found around the world, from Ionia, India, China, Greece, and the Persian Empire (info from Guinness World Records and Market Research Future websites).
Think about how frequently inspired Bible writers “collect” coins to communicate the Creator’s commands and share heavenly wisdom. We are wise to invest in the lessons they contain.
- The parable of the lost coin (Luke 15:8-10), which features the drachma (or silver coin, a common laborer’s daily wage) teaches the value of a human soul to God.
- The parable of the workers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:2ff), each paid a denarius (also a silver coin equal to a laborer’s daily wage; a Roman penny), teaches the urgency of following Christ and the perfect impartiality of our gracious God.
- The parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37) uses two denarii to help paint the picture of compassion shown by one who is truly a “good neighbor” to one in need.
- The illustration of five sparrows sold for two cents (Luke 12:6), a cent being an assarion (or 1/16 of a day’s wage), shows the minute degree of God’s care and concern for us and what happens to us.
- The incident of the temple tax (Matthew 17:24-27), which calls for a didrachma (two drachma coin) and which ends with Peter finding the miraculously supplied fish that had swallowed a stater (four drachma coin) with which Jesus and Peter could pay their tax, shows both Jesus’ exemption from human expectations as well as His example of subjection to government.
- The scribes’ and chief priests’ attempted trap of Jesus concerning paying taxes to Caesar (Luke 20:20-26) causes Jesus to use a denarius to answer them, indicating that God should be given what is due Him and that government is as well.
- The incident of the widow’s mite (Mark 12:41-44) involves a fractional amount of money, called the lepta (1/128 of a denarius). The widow put her last two lepta into the temple treasury, and Jesus uses her utterly sacrificial giving to show who is truly rich and how heaven regards such sacrificial choices.
- The incident of Judas’ betrayal of Jesus for thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 27:3-10), an amount impossible to determine but literally thirty pieces of that precious metal, demonstrates how cheaply a follower of Jesus sold Him out to those who hated Him and wanted Him dead.
- The incident of the moneychangers, where Jesus poured out their coins (kerma, usually small copper coins)(John 2:15), demonstrates how misplaced our priorities can be in the name of worship and service to God.
- The teaching of Jesus concerning the last cent (Luke 12:59)(the lepta or mite like that which the widow put into the treasury), is used to illustrate the greater value of using righteous judgment over prideful self-interest.
Money has long been used in civilization (the first mention of it in the Bible is Genesis 17:12-13, where the price of a servant is cited in God’s instructions to Abraham about circumcision). God takes something central to human survival and uses it to relate important spiritual principles to us. Just as He does with institutions like marriage (Eph. 5:22-33), God takes items that are such integral parts of our lives and teaches us with them. The greater question is, will we invest in the valuable lessons He is making available to us?
