BYU ScholarsArchive

Article Title

Lost Sheep, Lost Coins, and Lost Meanings

Authors

Jenny Rebecca Rytting

Keywords

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, missionary, general conference, work

Abstract

Three of the best known and most loved of Jesus’s parables occur together in the fifteenth chapter of Luke as a response to the Pharisees’ disapproval of Jesus’s association with sinners: the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin (also known as the lost drachma or lost groat), and the lost (or prodigal) son. In the teaching and preaching traditions of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, these parables (especially the first two) have primarily been interpreted as a call for missionary work, particularly reactivation. For example, President David O. McKay suggested that the three parables represent different ways of getting lost: the sheep stands for those who wander from the fold unwittingly; the coin, for those who are lost through the carelessness or neglect of leaders; and the son, for those who rebel.

Recommended Citation

Rytting, Jenny Rebecca (2021) "Lost Sheep, Lost Coins, and Lost Meanings," BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 60: Iss. 4, Article 4.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol60/iss4/4