The Hidden Treasure and the Valuable Pearl (Matthew 13:44-46)

The parables of the hidden treasure and the valuable pearl point to the worth of the kingdom. Their message concerns what the kingdom contains and what the initial response to discovering it should be. So we can think about those two aspects. Before we do, we can notice some of the details to help us understand the points being made.

First, why would there be buried treasure in a field? In the ancient world, rich people could not place their valuables in a vault in a bank. The safest way to hide them from robbers or invaders was to bury them. It was possible for someone to have to flee before he could recover his treasure, and no one would know that it was there. Or perhaps, somebody inherited a field from a relative, and as he was ploughing it he came across treasure that had been buried by his relative or by another family member. It would not be rare for a person to come across buried treasure.

Second, what is the significance of pearls? Today, there are thousands of pearls, but few of them would be regarded as worth selling everything for. I checked with a website that said that most pearls value about 100 dollars, although it did mention one found by a fisherman that is worth 100 million dollars and is over two feet in diameter. One commentator suggests that today diamonds have the same place as pearls had in the first century.

Third, who is represented by the finder and the merchant? There are two options. One is that they represent Jesus, and the other is that they represent sinners entering the kingdom. Why do some say that they represent Jesus?

Take the parable of the treasure hidden in the field. Some point out that this parable mentions a field and so does the parable of the wheat and the weeds. In the other parable, the field is said to be the world. So they use that connection to say that the treasure hidden in the field is the church which Jesus knew was buried among the world of sinners, and he went to the cross to rescue them, and in the process paid a price that was sufficient for the entire world, although he only wanted the treasure (the church).

Something similar is done with the story of the pearl of great value. The pearl pictures the church and Jesus paid a great price to purchase it when he suffered on the cross. He made himself poor, as Paul says, even as the merchant gave all that he possessed in order to be able to buy the pearl.

Of course, we should not dismiss those suggestions without noting that in some other parables in this chapter Jesus is active in the story. In the parable of the wheat and the weeds, he sows the wheat. It could also be suggested that he is the sower in the parable of the four soils. My concern about the interpretation concerning the treasure and the pearl is that it leads to wrong understandings such as Jesus buying the world in order to save only his people (surely if he had bought the world, he would aim to save the world) or that the church is more valuable than whatever Jesus enjoyed already. So I will consider them from the viewpoint that regards the finder and the merchant as sinners finding salvation.

The riches of the kingdom

Both parables focus on the treasures and value of the kingdom of heaven. This leads us to ask what is meant by the kingdom of heaven. It is not a reference to the heaven that is above because Jesus has already said in this chapter that unconverted people are found in it (the parables of the wrong soils and the wheat and the weeds). Rather, it is a reference to the kingdom that Jesus was about to set up in this world after his death, resurrection and ascension, a kingdom that would extend globally to all nations.

Before we identify some of the riches, it is appropriate to make three general comments. First, all the riches are connected to the King. In this reality, this kingdom is different from earthly kingdoms where the monarch’s wealth is based on the resources of the realm. If the country is poor, the monarch is poor. But in the kingdom of heaven, the realm is rich because the King is rich. After all, Jesus is the eternal God and the heir of all things.

Second, all the riches of the kingdom are available to the subjects of the King. And they are available at all times. They can come to him and obtain those blessings from him. His kingdom is abundantly full of the riches of his grace. Connected to the availability of the riches, there is the wonderful truth of the sufficiency of the riches. If we want to put it this way, it was wonderful that Joseph in Egypt was able to feed the hungry masses during the time of famine. But every time, he gave away a sack of grain, there was one less sack in the store. That is not what the kingdom of Jesus is like. No matter how many sacks he hands out, his resources remain full of grace, and will do so forever.

Third, all those who join the kingdom are offered the same blessings and receive the same blessings. There are not different categories of subjects in the kingdom, with some having ten blessings from him and others having twenty blessings. All of them are given everything that the King wishes to give to them, and what he wishes to give to them comes under the general description of salvation from sin. So in order to appreciate, the blessings of the kingdom we need to think about the meaning of salvation.

We can do so by thinking about what is offered to sinners. That is the point of the parables. The discovery of what is involved makes the finder of treasure and the searcher for pearls determined to have it. So here are some details that make up the treasure and the valuable pearl.

First, there is the blessing of justification. We have to be right with God in order to enter the kingdom, and the way that happens is through what is called the doctrine of justification. As we know, God as judge requires two things of us as sinners and they are a perfect life and payment for our sins. We can provide neither, but Jesus the King has provided both. He lived a perfect life and paid the penalty for sin on the cross. When we believe in Jesus, God the Father does two actions regarding our justification. First, he credits to our account the perfect obedience of Christ that he lived while here on earth. Second, he pardons all our sins because the penalty for them has been paid by Jesus on the cross. The prospect of receiving such blessings is an incentive to do what the finder of treasure and the merchant did.  We need to get them for ourselves from the King.

But salvation includes more than justification – it also includes adoption into the family of God. When we believe in Jesus, we are given the status of sons of God and heirs of the kingdom. As the sons of God, we receive an inheritance and, in order to understand and experience foretastes of it, God sends the Holy Spirit into our hearts. We can say that the normal Christian life is made up of experiencing the riches of divine grace which are samples of the greater degree in which we shall know them in the world to come. In this life, we can know the peace of God, the friendship of Christ, and the guidance and comfort of the Spirit, and they are connected to the status of adoption.

In addition to justification and adoption, those who join the kingdom by the gospel receive the blessing of sanctification. Sanctification is a lifelong process in which every believer becomes more like Jesus and eventually, when he returns, they will become fully like him by glorification. Then they will enter the inheritance where they will live for ever.

Along the way to glory, they feed on the rich provision given by the Lord in the means of grace.  While those who journey to heaven are poor in spirit, they are not spiritual paupers. They receive continually from the One who is rich in mercy and who provides for them out of the riches of his grace. Day by day, they receive answers to prayer, they enjoy the sweetness of the promises of God, and they are further enlightened in the significance of the great blessings they have been given.

The One who saved them has promised to provide them with abundant life, to restore their souls, to recover them when they fall, and to be with them all the way. He will be able to do all this through the activities of the Holy Spirit, the one who indwells them as the Comforter, speaking peace into their hearts and giving to them the joy of the Lord as their strength. The variety and degree of blessing contained in the hidden treasure and the valuable pearl means that they never regret the purchase they have made. They are delighted by what they have found, and it is their joy to tell others what Jesus means to them.

The response to the kingdom

It is not clear if the two men are different in their approaches. Some wonder if the finder of the treasure came upon it by accident, and before he found it he had not given it much thought whereas the other man had been involved for searching for pearls. In that scenario, they picture the two types of people who become believers in Jesus. Some will have not given much time to finding the truth whereas others will have gone down different roads before finding it. In both types, the response was the same. Whenever they discovered that the riches were available, they went and obtained them.

Both parables stress the reality that the kingdom takes priority over everything. The finder and the merchant were prepared to do what it takes, a very graphic picture of how willing the grace of God makes an individual. The men in the parables are very different from the example seen in the rich young ruler who was not prepared to accept Christ’s terms. He was not prepared to put Jesus first.

Take the man who sold all his other pearls in order to get the valuable pearl. This is a picture that reminds us that Jesus is more valuable than all the other pearls we have put together. Everyone has things in their lives that are important, but they are not as important as Jesus. It may be that such important things may hinder us getting Jesus and if that is the case we should get rid of them. That is what this parable is highlighting.

The men in both parables did not wait to discuss with others whether or not they should buy the field or the pearl. Rather, they made a deliberate choice to obtain them as soon as they could. It would be possible for them afterwards to tell others what was in the treasure and about the pearl. It is the same with Jesus. Once we have discovered him for ourselves, then we can tell others about the riches he shares with those who trust in him. From him, they receive the blessings of salvation, including full pardon, ongoing provision and a place in heaven in the future. Indeed, they will discover so much in Christ that there will be plenty to say about him. But each has to obtain him for himself first.

These two parables speak about the plenty that is found in Christ and the priority that should be given regarding finding him. The challenge is whether or not we have found him for ourselves.