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Introduction
We are dealing with the presence of the Kingdom - the Kingdom of God is with us now.
Wheat and Weed/Tares - we learned that the presence of the kingdom does not depend on wiping out opposition or pulling the weeds.
The power and presence of kingdom actually includes a field full of weeds that one day God will take care of in the final judgment.
Mustard Seed and Leaven - the growth of the kingdom is a mystery.
It spreads and is powerful in a way that is unseen by man.
And that the small acts of grace and mercy are kingdom acts and kingdom power.
Jesus healing the woman in the synagogue was kingdom activity.
Today we see another well known parable regarding the hidden treasure and the valuable pearl.
House is on fire but what would you save if you could save one thing?
What do you value?
We put a lot of value on things that could never be replaced.
What Jesus teaches here is that valuing the kingdom of God is important.
What’s your value system?
How important is your soul to you?
What would you trade for your salvation?
Main Idea: Despite its appearance to human eyes, the kingdom is well worth the investment of a person’s life.
A lot of times people talk about Christian value, or Biblical values, family values - we see this a lot in political and spiritual circles.
But actually what they’re talking about is ethics.
Ethics relate to what we do and how we act.
Ethics are objective.
But values deal with what we esteem or consider worthy - and values are subjective.
The message of this section deals with the surprising value of the kingdom of God.
They answer two questions:
1) Why should we give our lives for a kingdom we cannot see?
2) Can the kingdom truly be the answer to our search for ultimate fulfillment?
1. Teaching the Parables
vv.
44-46
Jesus is going to give us two quick parables to
A. The Treasure Hid in the Field
v. 44
The Hiding of the Treasure
Treasure - I think of pirates burying hoards of treasure and leaving a map with an X.
Actually in ancient times it wasn’t uncommon to hide money and jewels in fields.
They didn’t have banks.
It wasn’t unusual for someone who bought the field of a previous owner to stumble upon that hidden treasure.
We’re told in the story of the talents of the man who buried his talent.
This was very, very common.
Josephus said, the historian in that time, “The gold and the silver and the rest of that most precious furniture which the Jews had and which the owners treasured up underground was done to withstand the fortunes of war.”
Is this unethical - finding treasure in a field and then buying.
Well first of all that’s not the point of the parable - we have one main point and we don’t necessarily need to dissect every other thing in the parable.
However, Rabbinic law stated that, “If a man finds scattered fruit or money, it belongs to the finder.”
Finders, keepers!
So we see the treasure was hidden in a field.
2. The Owner didn’t know about it
If he had he wouldn’t be selling the field.
It probably belong to the previous owner.
3.
This man who purchased the field was fair.
He could have grabbed the treasure and ran.
Rather he sold all he had to buy the field and therefore have the treasure as well.
Again this is a fair process.
Again, not the point of the parable - the point is that the man found something so valuable that he sold everything he had to get it.
4. Note also the joy.
Whatever this treasure was brought him great joy.
We’re not told what it was.
Was it just treasure like gold and jewels or something else of value like a Mickey Mantle rookie baseball card.
Again, the point it here this valuable treasure brought him great joy, and it’s value was greater than all his possessions.
B. The Pearl of Great Price
vv.
45-46
Now we see the second parable.
The Value of the Pearl
This is not just someone buying things in a store - this is a wholesaler, buying many things and then selling them at retail - specifically pearls.
Pearl were extremely valuable then (the most valuable gem in the world) - like diamonds to us.
The Talmud says, “Pearls are beyond price.”
Egyptians worshipped the pearl; women displayed their wealth with pearls (1 Tim 2.9).
And it was said of one lady by the name of Lollia Paulina, the wife of the emperor Caligula, that at one event, she had 36 million dollars worth of pearls all over her.
In fact, the historian says she had pearls on her head, she had pearls on her hair, she had pearls on her ears, she had pearls on her neck and she had pearls on her fingers
Pliny the historian said that Cleopatra had two pearls each worth a half million dollars…then!
Jesus says, don’t cast your pearls swine.
So here is a merchant man seeking fine pearls to resell on the market.
2. The Strategy of investment
If you’re a wholesaler, a merchant, the one thing you don’t do is put all your money in one product.
You’d diversify, or when you made a profit, you’d buy other investments, or even store some in the ground.
But this man, a merchant, a wholesaler, sold everything he had to get one pearl.
2. Understanding the Principles
While there is one main lesson, there are several principles we can draw from this parable, that build to this one lesson.
A. The Kingdom of Heaven is Priceless
The main lesson here is the incomparable value of the kingdom - this drives everything else.
This helps to not make wrong interpretation and applications.
Jesus, his salvation, and his kingdom are the most precious thing in existence.
It is a treasure beyond compare.
We need to be careful here because there are good men who interpret these parables wrong.
They’ll say that the man is Jesus and the treasure is Israel, and that the merchant is Jesus and the pearl is the church.
The idea is that Jesus gave all he had for us.
This just doesn’t fit, not even the first sentence in v. 44.
In v. 24, the kingdom is heaven is likened unto a man…; in v. 31 it’s like a grain of mustard seed, which a man too; v. 33 like leaven which a woman took; v. 44 like a treasure which a man found.
To say that Jesus / kingdom of heaven is like the man here is to reverse the metaphors from before.
It doesn’t make sense either because the treasure was more valuable all the possessions the man had.
So Israel is more valuable than the Jesus’ sacrifice?
The church is more valuable than what Jesus did?
Doesn’t make sense.
The kingdom of heaven, serving Jesus, following Jesus, finding salvation, is the most valuable thing that a man or woman will ever find.
B. The Kingdom of Heaven is a Mystery
It is a hidden treasure - it is not visible to the eye.
It’s not obvious to us.
The world can’t see it well, and often the world doesn’t recognize the value.
This parable is not teaching that we keep the kingdom/gospel hidden; it’s teaching that it’s not readily apparent.
Again the kingdom is a mystery.
We saw that in the leaven/yeast and the mustard seed - it grows, has power, and spreads in ways that we don’t understand.
C. The Kingdom of Heaven is Rewarding
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