You need only read the book of Deuteronomy to know that God set aside this people, the Jews, in order that they should be a showcase of theocracy to all the other nations of the world. He knew that the treasure was better than his home and his belongings. (Romans 11:15 RSV). These were the best she had to offer. Maybe he was a hired helper for the man who owned the field, or maybe he was just passing through. Why is it that for all our professed ideals, our hopes, and our skills, peace on earth is still a distant objective seen only dimly through the storms and turmoils of our present difficulties?". They speak skeptically and will refer to Him only as this Man.. There they stand ready, being prepared right now to discover again, finally, the secret of their life. Where then did this Man get all these things?. You can also change some of your preferences. (Matthew uses the phrase kingdom of heaven while the other authors use kingdom of God, but they are one and the same.) It is the very ordinariness of Jesus home background that causes the astonishment (cf. Through the pages of the Word of God we are afforded tremendous insights into life. But even that partial realization was a magnificent model of what God could do with any nation. b. 3. On our own, we cannot be part of Gods kingdom. Then it is up to us to sell all that we have, give it all up, and buy him at any cost. When they were cut and polished, they were worth millions of dollars. Say: This summer we have been studying the parables that Jesus taught. Say: Jesus continued by telling another, similar parable. They will come and study this little nation of Israel in which the secret of world peace has always been hidden, the strange, chosen nation for which our Lord gave his life. But the exciting thing about Scripture is that in it we are always dealing with fact, not fancy. But there would be one kind of heart in which the seed would grow up into a harvest and produce fruit. A furnace of fire represents one destiny and radiant glory (shine forth as the sun) the other destiny. This time, He compares the kingdom of heaven to treasure found hidden in a field. But then they let greed and worry take over their heart and mind, and that chokes out the truth that they know. They concern things which are not quite as easily seen in the historical process. Commentary on Matthew 13:24-30. Everyone who chooses to trust in Him has kingdom life - life to the fullest! God is speaking to this nation which he has given the Law and he says, "Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people:" Exodus 19:5a KJV). Please see our Privacy Policy for cookie usage details. Finally, there was good soil. Then she asked him for the secret and Solomon took her to the temple and there he showed her the worship of Jehovah, showed her how this nation was related to the God of glory and that it was their understanding of God which produced the magnificence she had seen. So according to the parable he hid the treasure again. III. THE PARABLE OF THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE "Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a merchant seeking fine pearls" (v. 45). In 1998, a man named James Hill found a small cave full of emeralds on his familys property in North Carolina. Let me ask you to think that the true treasure for a man lies in the kingdom of God. Not every oyster has a pearl, and not every pearl is big or round. Check to enable permanent hiding of message bar and refuse all cookies if you do not opt in. I. (Romans 11:11-14 RSV), For if their rejection means the reconciIiation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? Notice that the man sold EVERYTHING. This parable powerfully teaches that it is Gods job to divide in judgment. Instantly, the man knew that the treasure was incredibly valuable. Matthew 13:45-46. I want them to have it in the fullest possible way. (John 10:10). The passage for this lection offers a counter-image to this destructive force. This motto is a result of the work of the early Christian missionaries who came from New England in the 19th century. Click to enable/disable essential site cookies. They each have the element of a man who discovers something valuable and sells all that he has and buys it. The shell has two parts that are hinged together like this. That means obedience. At that time the angels will come forth and assist the King in the work of judgment, sending some into the furnace of fire for final judgment. That person is part of Gods kingdom. Consider the words of Jim Elliot, He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose. The emphasis is not on what we give up, but on the unfathomable new life that is being offered to us. Western democracies say that they have found it. This week, well look at a parable in which Jesus told how much the kingdom of God is worth. He promises that it will grow - and God ALWAYS keeps His promises! Copyright 1995, 1996, 1998 by International Bible Society / Used by permission of IBS-STL. This is what Paul tells us in the ninth, tenth, and eleventh chapters of Romans. He himself is deeply involved in it. It is intriguing to realize that Scripture deals with this subject as well. The life of this land, like that of any other land, is preserved by righteousness. This is a dream and a vision that men have long held. So prone is fallen man to sin, that if the enemy sow the tares, he may . The goal of this game is to be the team who collects the most pearls in their bucket. He entered into all of that. He went home and sold everything he owned: his house, his furniture, his jewelry, his sheep and goats. And now, lastly, let us look at the point where the parables converge. He, too, knew that nothing he owned could compare to the great treasure he had finally found. The first four stories were given to the unbelieving seaside crowd. (Matthew 21:9, Mark 11:9, John 12:13). For more than four hundred years Israel had been an obscure, tiny little nation. And the queen's heart melted and she said, "I didn't believe the reports until I had seen all this with my own eyes, but the half has never been told me," (1Kings 10:7). goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth the field: which is not to be interpreted literally and properly; though a man that knows the worth and value of the Bible, rather than be without one, would part with all his worldly substance for one; but figuratively, and denotes the willingness of such souls, who are led into the glory, fulness, and excellency of the word of God, the scriptures of truth, and of the immense treasure of the Gospel therein, to part with all that has been, or is dear unto them; with their sins, and self-righteousness; with their good names and characters; their worldly substance, and life itself, for the sake of the Gospel, and their profession of it: and may also design the use of all means, to gain a larger degree of light and knowledge in the Gospel. For Israel, even in rejection, even in failure, is still an example to the people of the world. He states a case where a man would actually "sacrifice his property," and practice diligence and watchfulness to obtain the wealth which he had discovered. So, through the course of history, there has been a counterfeit Christianity, a sham religion, a phony, a fake, which bears the name of Christianity but which is absolutely false. 45 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. There are banners and placards everywhere you go in America, crying out for peace. Jesus came, he says, and found a treasure hidden in humanity. You remember the story of the Queen of Sheba who, as Jesus had said earlier this very day, came "from the ends of the earth" Matthew 12:42) because she had heard of Solomon's glory and she wanted to find the secret of this man's prestige and power and wisdom and majesty. Again, let me ask you to notice, further, the two ways of finding. The best pearls were worth extraordinary sums of money. The "sea" here is clearly the world, since that is where people are gathered from by the angels (Matt. ii. Jesus announced Gods kingdom, and this would lead many of his hearers to expect a cataclysmic disruption of society, an immediate and absolute division between the sons of light and the sons of darknessIt was to this impatience that the parable was primarily directed. (France). It sure was, and it was right in the mans own backyard! Finally Jesus left the city once more and went out to his death. The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls: Again, Jesus is the buyer and the individual believer is the pearl that He sees as so valuable that He would happily give all to have it forever. Such that have ability and leisure, may consult a controversy in Philostratus (l), between two persons, the buyer and seller of a field; in which, after the purchase, a treasure was found, when the seller claimed it as his; urging, that had he known of it, he would never have sold him the field: the buyer, on the other hand, insisted on its being his property; alleging that all was his which was contained in the land bought by him. Subject to permissions policy, all rights reserved. May be reproduced for personal, nonprofit, and non-commercial uses only. But he hid it again. The oyster creates a coating that covers the sand or shell. But such is not the case; God did not choose Israel for that purpose. d. The reapers are angels The Son of Man will send out His angels: We often dont consider that the angels of God have a special role in the judgment of the world. a. ii. Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. In these two parables our Lord is telling us the reasons for the cross. And then he went and gave all that he had and bought the field in which it is hidden. If you do not want that we track your visit to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here: We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. It seems by this parable, according to the Jewish laws, that not the finder of a treasure in a field, but the owner of the field, had the propriety in it; when it should seem rather, that it ought to be divided. And for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field: The treasure so wonderful that Jesus would give all to purchase is the individual believer. There is nothing wrong with that at all. The Communists claim that they have found it. To the ancient peoples, as we have just seen, a pearl was the loveliest of all possessions; that means that the Kingdom of Heaven is the loveliest thing in the world. (Barclay). His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas: Jesus plainly had many brothers and sisters; the Roman Catholic idea of the perpetual virginity of Mary is in contradiction to the plain meaning of the Bible. There is nothing that even compares to a loving relationship with the Creator of the universe! When he found it, what did he do? Jesus said, I have come so they can have life. This parable likely also fired the imaginations of Jesus' listeners, because it pictures unexpected good fortune. Though I rather think, that in connection and agreement with the other parables, this is to be understood of such, who are seeking after knowledge in every branch of it, natural, moral, and spiritual; and so may be compared to a "merchant man, seeking goodly pearls"; and who find the Gospel, and prefer it to everything else. The total weight of the emeralds was about 3,300 carats. The kingdom of God is FAR more valuable than anything in this world. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. Teacher: Show your pearls. i. Finding the treasure appears to be by chance. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience.
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