Luke 15

"What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not … go after the one which is lost until he finds it?” (v4).  With this simple analogy, Jesus was claiming something tremendous: blatant sinners, whom the Pharisees rejected, belonged to God.  They were not abandoned, forgotten, or part of another tribe; they were beloved people who were lost and worth searching for. 

The lost coin and the prodigal son sent the same surprising message: God is a Father searching for His wayward children, longing for them to come home.