‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. ‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
Matthew 13:44-46 NIVUK
Almost a decade ago, we were looking to buy a house. The reality of buying a house – or, indeed, buying anything – is that nothing holds an absolute value. The price they have is the price the seller wants to sell them for. So when you look to buy a house, you find some with a highly inflated price, where the owner isn’t in a rush and is holding out for a big profit, and others with a lower price, where the owner is either not confident of a big sale or just wants rid of it quickly, for whatever reason.
A higher price doesn’t always mean a better house. There were a few occasions when we walked out of a house and thought, ‘They are asking for too much. There’s no way anyone will pay that much.’
We walked out of one and thought, ‘That’s a really good price. We’ll go for it.’ So we bought it. And we’re still there.
Buying anything expensive, where it’s a house, a car or anything like that, always carries significant risk. The gains from the purchase always have to be weighed against the losses you incur by spending money to buy it.
Put simply, and to quote the Scottish folk rock band Fairground Attraction: ‘It’s got to be worth it’.
Jesus is saying something very powerful here about going ‘all-in’ for the Kingdom of Heaven:
It’s worth it. It always is.
There are four phases to both of these parables.
Firstly, we see a lack.
Now this is quite unusual, but very telling. You see, both of these man have money. They are men of significant substance. They would have to be. They both have the wherewithal to buy significantly expensive objects: a piece of land and a high value pearl. They were not at all ordinary Jews.
They were rich.
And yet they lacked something. Something was missing. They felt a sense of unease or angst. They echoed the rich young ruler, who seemed, on the surface, to have everything, but yet asked Jesus:
‘What do I still lack?’
Matthew 19:20 NIVUK
He had the sense of having everything, but lacking something, and he couldn’t put his finger on what it was.
That is where these men are.
As a result of their lack, these men seek. They seek satisfaction in something beyond themselves: one in a field; the other in pearl trading.
These were rare trades. Due to its history as an intense battle grounds, there would be (and still are) teasures littered all over Israel, but finding them would be rare.
Likewise with the pearl. There would be traders of all types in Israel due to its position for many centuries as a trading post between the Mediterranean, North Africa and the Near East, not to mention its strategic access to the Red Sea. Pearls would be found and bought and sold. However, the implication of this is that the particular pearl was of great value, so likely very rare.
We have two men, both seeking something beyond themselves: something to make their life worthwhile.
Jesus says something about those who seek:
‘Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Matthew 7:7-8 NIVUK
This is a concept taken straight out the Old Testament, where we see this:
But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deuteronomy 4:29 NIVUK
Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
Isaiah 55:6-7 NIVUK
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:13 NIVUK
We find the satisfaction we need when we seek it in the Kingdom of Heaven; we don’t when we seek it elsewhere.
That is why, after all these years, the Rolling Stones still sing, ‘I can’t get no satisfaction’.
It’s why, after all these years, U2 still sing, ‘I still haven’t found what I’m looking for’.
It’s why, after all these years, Whitesnake still sing, ‘Though I keep searching for an answer, I never seem to find what I’m looking for... But here I go again on my own.’
It’s because they look for satisfaction outside the Kingdom of Heaven and that never works.
We see that these men lack, seek and then they find. One finds treasure in a field; the other a costly pearl. They find what they are looking for.
There is something very important at the start of both of these parables. It is the words ‘The kingdom of heaven is like...’. That is, the Kingdom of Heaven is not like the seeker; it is the treasure; it is the pearl.
In other words, it is everything these men, despite all their obvious riches, are looking for.
It is the answer.
And that is a critical piece of information. Despite all the problems Jesus has described earlier – with fakes and phoneys and those with evil intentions – the Kingdom of Heaven is the answer. The Gospel is still the answer. Jesus is still the answer.
These man lack, seek, find and then they risk. They risk everything. They hold nothing back.
One of them hides the treasure again in the field, sells all his belongings and then buys the field.
The other spies the pearl, sells all his belongings and buys the pearl.
They both take the step the rich young ruler could not do. He was not ‘all in’: his wealth was more important to him than following Jesus:
Jesus answered, ‘If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’ When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Matthew 19:21-22 NIVUK
And that's just it: to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, you have to be willing to risk your life on earth. That is why it’s hard to enter the Kingdom (Matthew 19:23-26).
But as well as lacking, seeking, finding and risking, we see the reward.
Both of these men ended up with something of immense value: the treasure in the field or the pearl of great price. They swapped the possessions they had for something of far greater value.
In business terms, this was a down payment with an incredible return on investment. It was, quite simply, a ‘No brainer’.
The same is still true of anyone who follows Jesus and is willing to make the same trade:
Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
Matthew 19:28-30 NIVUK
A hundred times as much? Think about that.
These days if we have a bank account and we get a return of a few percent interest, we are happy. Or if we make an investment and get around five or six percent interest, we’d be happy.
Jesus promise a return on our investment of ten thousand percent. And with it eternal life.
But that return only comes to those who are ‘all in’ for the Kingdom of Heaven: who hold nothing back.
For those of us who live in the west, it’s quite possible that we won’t be martyred or lose everything. It’s not impossible, but it’s highly unlikely. And we certainly should not seek to provoke it unnecessarily.
But we cannot discount the fact that one day it might happen.
And so, if we really want to be part of the Kingdom of Heaven, our grip on material things should be lighter. We should be willing, if required by God, to give up everything for Him.
Why?
Because the Kingdom of God is of infinitely greater value.
As Paul, while under severe Roman and Jewish persecution, told the Corinthian church:
What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.
1 Corinthians 7:29-31
When it passes, the Kingdom of Heaven grows greater still.
And that is the deal God offers.
As the missionary Jim Elliot famously said before the Yanomami tribe that he was trying to reach with the Gospel took his life:
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.’
These two parables, taken together, show five stages in deciding to leave the ways of this world and enter the Kingdom of Heaven. These are: lack, seek, find, risk and reward. Every Christian goes through these stages. Every single one. And the blessing we find is incomparably greater than anything the world could offer. It’s no wonder both men decided to loosen their grip on their belongings and tighten their grip on the treasure, because that is what God wants for us.
For four parables, we have been challenged with the presence of those who have clung tightly to other things. Maybe we have been tempted to wonder if they had the right idea.
But here, in two short, simple parables, Jesus makes a simple point:
The Kingdom of Heaven is better than all. It will be worth it in the end. Of that we can be sure
Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank you for these glorious pictures of two men who loosened their grip on what they had in order to tighten their grip on the treasure of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whenever this world tempts me with its fake treasures, help me to realise that the real treasure is You, and that you are truly worth it. Amen.
Questions
1. What are the five stages both of these men passed through to obtain their treasure? Have you passed through them to gain the Kingdom of Heaven?
2. Why do you think these men were prepared to risk everything to gain their treasure? What does this say about how we should value the Kingdom of Heaven?
3. Is it truly risky to follow Jesus? Why / why not?
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