Kingdom Parables, Part 8
Matthew 13:44-46
In this chapter we find a series of parables that Jesus is using to teach His followers about the Kingdom of Heaven. Particularly, he is dealing with the time when the kingdom will be on the earth without Him. We know it as the church age. And in these seven parables He gives us some important information regarding the period of time in which we live.
The first two parables tell us about the nature of the kingdom. The parable of the soils tells us that in this kingdom there will be those who believe and there will be those who do not. In the second parable of the wheat and the tares, we find that the believers and the nonbelievers will grow together until the harvest that comes in the end.
The second two parables speak of the power of the kingdom. In spite of the fact that good and evil are growing together, the good will triumph in the end. The “good” element of the kingdom is described as a mustard seed planted in the field which ultimately grows to massive proportions so that though the kingdom began very small with just the Apostles, when Jesus comes to establish His kingdom it will fill the whole earth.
And then there was the parable of the leaven which said essentially the same thing. The leaven of the kingdom will eventually penetrate and permeate and influence the whole earth.
Tonight we come to the third set of parables and they tell us about the power of the kingdom. The anticipated question after the first four parables might be, “If the kingdom will eventually permeate and penetrate the entire earth, does it just happen? Do you just get assimilated into the kingdom?
Notice how Jesus answers.
Matthew 13:44-46
The first parable tells about treasure hidden in a field.
Now again, this was a common, well-known practice in their day. We put our money in the savings and loan or the bank or stock market. None of that existed in that time, so it was usual that men took whatever they considered of great value and they buried it in the earth.
Particularly was this the case in Palestine because Palestine was a place of war. It was a battleground. Its history is literally filled with the record of one battle after another. Inevitably, conquering armies would come in to steal and plunder. So it was not uncommon, when a battle was on the horizon, for people to bury their valuables so they could hopefully be recovered at a later time.
By the way, that helps us understand another of the Lord’s parables where he talks about a man who in contrast to his co-workers buried his master’s investment in the ground.
So here is a man who makes the discovery of treasure in a field. Maybe he’s plowing or working for someone else and he comes across a treasure buried in the ground.
And it is of such value that he covers everything back up, sells every single thing he possesses in the world, and buys that field in order to possess the treasure.
Now at this juncture the parable introduces an ethical situation. On the one hand, the guy didn't do right. He uncovers a treasure, then he hides it without telling the man who owns the field and he goes to buy the field. What he should have done is report it to the owner and give it to him. Why was Jesus telling a story about an unethical man to make His point?
Just so we don’t get hung up there, let me deal with that. First of all, Jewish law said - "If a man finds scattered fruit or money, it belongs to the finder." Now that is what the law said. If you find lost fruit or money, it belongs to the finder. So the man is within the law and the Jews listening to Jesus would have understood that.
But also keep in mind, the treasure hidden in the field didn’t belong to the man who owned the field. If it was his, he wouldn't be selling his field without digging it up. It had some owner that had hidden it there without his knowledge. He didn't know it was there. He had not gone to the effort to uncover it and dig it out. It belonged to someone else that had perhaps died in battle or died by accident or was in some way prevented from returning to claim it.
So in the absence of the original owner, the man who had uncovered it, according to Jewish law, had rightful claim to it.
Thirdly, I find this man to be honorable in that he paid a premium price for the field. Had he been unethical, he could have just taken it when he found it.
Why go to all the trouble of selling everything you own and buying the entire field when you've got the treasure in your hand?
Or he could have split the difference. Here’s how my mind works: Why not take the treasure, sell it, and then take a portion of it and buy the field? Pretty good idea, huh?
But he didn't do that. He did the right thing. By the way, the man could have refused to sell the field also. So don’t worry about Jesus using an unethical story to make His point. He doesn’t have to; the truth works quite well.
Now none of that is the point of the parable. That's just free for nothing. The point of the parable is here is a man who found something so valuable that he sold everything that he had to get it. That's the point of the parable. He was so overjoyed, he was so ecstatic that he was willing to do anything to get that treasure.
Now let's look at the second parable of the pearl.
Verses 45-46
Here we have this merchant who would shop around for things he could buy at wholesale prices and well for retail. In particular, he’s looking for fine pearls. Pearls would be the equivalent of diamonds today. They were the most valuable gem available at that time in the world. If you had pearls, you had a fortune.
And so, here is a man who went around seeking fine pearls and he would market them because they were good investment.
Now those are the parables. Again, they are very straightforward and easy to understand. Right out of the life of the listeners, Jesus tells two simple stories to illustrate the kingdom of God.
So what do we learn from them? What are the principles? There are six of them, and if we don’t finish tonight, we’ll finish next week.
1. The Kingdom is Priceless in Value
Both parables are designed to teach us the incomparable value of the kingdom of the Lord. That really comes to a focus in salvation.
So when we talk about the kingdom, we’re talking about Christ Himself and the gift of salvation that He gives and the preciousness of what it is to be in His kingdom, fellowshipping with the King.
The most valuable commodity that can ever be found is salvation and only a fool is not willing to sell everything he has to gain it. Nothing comes close in value.
2. The Kingdom is not Immediately Visible
The treasure was hidden and the pearl had to be searched for. It isn't just lying around on the surface. The treasure is not obvious to men. The value and the preciousness of the kingdom of heaven, the value and the preciousness of salvation is not recognized by men. They don't see it.
The world looks at us and they don't understand why we're all about worshiping God. They don't understand why we want to give our lives to Jesus Christ. They don't understand why we want to live and obey a code of ethics and rules that goes against the grain of our deepest lusts and drives. They don't understand why we prize this so highly when it means so little to them.
Why would you want to forsake a good life of riches and wealth and fame and follow Jesus?
Think about that pearl. Someone has to find it originally in the most incredible kind of circumstances. A person has to dive into the sea, dig it out, open the shell, and here in the story a man now searches all over the world till he finds it.
And frankly, the world isn’t interested in working that hard to find Jesus. John said He was in the world and the world was made by Him and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own and His own received Him not.
The kingdom is of priceless value; it is not immediately visible.
3. The Kingdom is Personally Appropriated
This is really the crux of the parables. Remember, the previous two parables tell us the kingdom will grow and be influential, but they don't say anything about the personal application.
That's why our Lord gives us these two. You have a man in verse 44; you have another man in verse 45. Now we're dealing with individuals. And each of them finds something specifically for himself and appropriates it unto himself.
That is extremely important because in one sense you can sort of be in the kingdom as far as being under the dominion of God and not be a member of the kingdom. If you're alive in the earth, if you live in the universe, you're under God's rule.
But that doesn’t mean you're a subject of the King or a member of His kingdom, just like a lot of people in the church who aren't Christians. The whole world is under the rule of Jesus Christ, but not necessarily a part of His true kingdom.
It is not enough to just be under the influence of the church and lodge in the branches or be touched by its permeating influence, there must be personal appropriation. And in order to ever do that, we must come to realize the value of it.
It’s amazing how much time and energy the world spends on the non-essentials of life. They waste so much on that which has no eternal value.
God offers men what is really valuable. That’s what His kingdom is all about. And that underlines the importance of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It’s not enough to realize Jesus is the King and He rules the universe. It has to be personally appropriated.
4. The Kingdom Results in Joy
Verse 44
The Lord is acknowledging something that is basic to every human. The basic desire of all human beings on the face of the earth is to be happy. In fact, if you could set down with most anyone and ask them what they want out of life, they might begin with money or jobs or cars and stuff. But when really pressed down, most everyone wants love and joy and peace, the exact things that are the result of the Holy Spirit.
The world is seeking for joy. And the Lord knows that. Jesus even said in John 15:11 to His disciples, in summing up the best of what He had to offer, the things I've spoken unto you, I've spoken that My joy might remain in you and your joy might be full.
I John 1, John says, "These things I write unto you that your joy might be full." And in John 16, our Lord says in verse 24, "Hitherto have you asked nothing in My name, ask and you'll receive that your joy may be full." And Romans 14 says, "The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." It is joy. People primarily just want to be happy. And the key to that is right here.
It is all bound up in the treasure of the kingdom.
Nothing wrong with that. A lot of people never realize it, but God wants us to be joyful and content and happy and blessed. The Lord wants us to rejoice. In fact, of all the people in the world, those who have discovered the treasure of the kingdom ought to be the happiest of all.
5. The Kingdom is Entered through Different Circumstances
Now there are some similarities. In both cases you have a man; in both cases they find something of great value; both understand its value; and in both cases they are willing to pay any price for it. So they're very similar. But there's one big difference.
In case number one, the man just comes across the treasure. In case number two, the man knows exactly what he's looking for. Now even if number one was a treasure hunter, he didn't know what he was looking for. Number two did.
Now what does this tell us? Well, the man in the field, most likely, was not looking for treasure. He was going through whatever routine he went through, working, or plowing a field, or building something, or preparing some of the soil for whatever. And he was in the field and he was going along seeking sustenance for his life, doing what he did and he stumbled across a fortune.
And there are people who enter the kingdom like that. The Apostle Paul was on his way to Damascus to kill Christians. The next thing he knew, God blasted him out of heaven, he landed in the dirt, and he was redeemed. He was just doing his thing.
He wasn’t looking for the kingdom; he thought he was the kingdom! He was just plowing his field and he stumbled into a fortune.
There are many examples in Scripture of that very thing. The Samaritan woman was thirsty. She just came down to a well to get a drink of water and went home redeemed. There was the man born blind, and all he really wanted out of life was to be able to see and he went away redeemed also. There are lots of people who aren't particularly seeking, but they stumble into the treasure.
And then there was the man intentionally who looked for the pearls. He knew what he was looking for. This guy was really seeking something of genuine value. To me, this is the true seeker.
This is the Ethiopian eunuch of Acts 8. This is the Cornelius of Acts 1. This is the Lydia of Acts 16. This is the Philippian jailer of Acts 16. This is the Berean of Acts 17. This is the one who is seeking God and seeking virtue and seeking that which is of true value.
He was looking for pearls; he was looking for things that were valuable. He was looking for goodness and honesty and virtue and God and forgiveness and peace and joy and heaven and salvation.
Listen: Not everybody who comes to Jesus has to come the same way you did. There is only one way to get to God, and that’s Jesus. But there are a lot of ways to get to Jesus. Some come into the kingdom almost by accident, and some come searching.
The kingdom can be entered from different circumstances.
6. The Kingdom Is Made Personal by a Transaction
In both of these cases, the word buying or bought is involved. Now don’t mishear me. I’m not suggesting you have to buy or purchase your salvation. But it does have to be bought.
In the story we have a real treasure bought with money, a real pearl bought with money, but that's only the story. The treasure of the Kingdom of Heaven is also bought, but not with money.
There is a purchase transaction in salvation. What is it? If it’s not money and it’s not good works, then what is it?
The story tells us. Both of the parables include the same line. The transaction is you give up all you have for all He has. Did you get that? That is the essence of the transaction of salvation. I give up all I have and God gives me all He has.
Both of the man had to do the same thing to obtain the treasure. How does that work in the Kingdom?
Luke 9:57-58
Want to follow me? Here's what it will cost you: your comfort. You give Me your comfort and I'll give you My kingdom. No deal. He wouldn't make the transaction.
Verses 59-60
He wanted to hang around for the inheritance. Jesus said, You let the dead bury their dead, you come with Me and preach the kingdom. No deal. The first guy wouldn't give his comfort; the second guy wouldn't give his money, his inheritance.
Verses 61-62
You cannot plow a straight furrow looking the opposite direction. And this is no deal either; this guy can't give up his family.
Now you don't get saved by the money and other elements, but it is indicative of whether you are willing to make the transaction of salvation which says that nothing stands between my willingness to give up myself to receive you. That's the issue.
Matthew 10:37 says "He that loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me and he that loves daughter or son more than Me is not worthy of Me."
In other words, if you are not willing to give up, if it needs to be given up, your family, then you're not going to enter the kingdom.
"He that takes not His cross and follows after Me is not worthy of Me." And here it comes, "He that finds his life shall lose it, and he that loses his life, for My sake, shall find it."
There's the transaction. You give up all you are and you receive all He is. That's salvation.
In Matthew chapter 16:24, Jesus said unto His disciples, "If any man desires to come after Me, here is the transaction, Let him deny himself." Salvation is an act where I exchange me for Him as ruler of my life. That's the basic principle.
A rich young ruler came to Jesus in Matthew 19. And he said, "What do I have to do to get into Your kingdom? What do I have to do to have eternal life?" And here's what Jesus said, - "If you want to be in My kingdom, then go and sell everything you have and give it to the poor and then you will have treasure in heaven.
If you want My treasure, just like the treasure in the field, then give away all of yours." That's the transaction. We exchange ourselves, our sin, our will, our control of our lives for Christ's leadership.
Is that not what the Apostle Paul did? Listen to his testimony in Philippians chapter 3, and you hear him saying, "I was circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, I was of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the law, a Pharisee."
But when confronted with Christ, what happened? "Those things that were gain to me, those I counted loss." And that's the transaction. "Yes, I count all things but loss; I count them dung, manure, that I may gain Christ."
What’s happening to Paul? He’s the man buying the treasure. He’s the man buying the pearl. He will liquidate everything to know Christ.
But it's worth it. The the pearl is so valuable and the treasure is so valuable that it's worth any cost.
The kingdom is precious. The kingdom is hidden. The kingdom is personal. The kingdom is joyous. The kingdom is entered from different circumstances, but always the price is to abandon myself to receive the treasure of Jesus Christ.
