In the Bible, Luke 15:8, is it really talking about 1 of the missing silver coins, or is it talking about a missing person, like missing out of their own family maybe or missing out of God's family?

Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve apostles given to Jesus by his Father, was lost. Jesus loved Judas.

Jesus said, “The son of man is come to save that which was lost.” His words are a statement of mission.

The lost sheep and the lost coin provide analogies for the lost apostle Judas Iscariot, and the man with an hundred sheep and the woman with ten coins provide analogies for Jesus with his Twelve apostles. Like the man and the woman, Jesus taught that he would not accept his loss. He would go into the wilderness and search until he found that which was lost. He would search diligently until he found it.

The problem with this simple, straight-forward explanation of these parables is that the Church and the world which it informs received a different Jesus. They received a Jesus who accepted his loss.

They received a Jesus who failed to fulfill his stated mission to save that which was lost.

They received a Jesus who failed to do his Father’s will, that he raise up the lost again at the last day.

They received a Jesus who could not cleanse that which was unclean, when he washed it, the heel lifted up against him.

They received a Jesus who neglected to cast out the devil from his apostle.

They received a Jesus whom Satan delivered to suffer and to die, not a Jesus who delivered himself, who laid down his life with power.

What then did their Jesus do for the lost? He gave him a chance to change his mind, when he hinted that he knew what was going on, when he said, “One of you shall betray me.”

Problem is, Jesus never said “betray.” His word lacked the pejorative connotation of “betray." In other words, their Jesus did absolutely nothing special for the one who was lost. Their Jesus did absolutely nothing special for the one that he loved, who needed a special act of love.

For this reason, the Church and the world which it informs cannot receive the simple, straight-forward explanation of the parables.

The lost coin is an analogue which stands for Judas Iscariot, but I say it only in my own name, that the scripture might be fulfilled, that Jesus might finally be received.