Matthew 13:44-45 (ESV)
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
Yesterday’s parables revealed the greatness of the Kingdom of God despite its initial small and unimpressive appearance. Today’s parables reveal the magnitude of the value of the Kingdom of God. Jesus uses two parables to illustrate this – one of a treasure hidden in a field that a man found and the other of a pearl of great value that a man found. In both cases, when the men discovered the treasure and the pearl, they sold everything they possessed and bought either the field containing the treasure or the pearl of great value. In fact, for the first man, Jesus adds a detail to how he did it – with joy.
That’s the nature of the Kingdom of God, it is incomparable in worth to anything in this world. When we find it, it is worthy losing everything else we hold dear in order to obtain it. In other words, valuable things like family, houses, careers, etc, pale in comparison to the Kingdom of God. Therefore, we must receive the Kingdom with much joy thus revealing how greatly we treasure it. Also, notice that the two men found the treasure and the pearls differently – the first man was going about his business when he stumbled on the field with great treasure; the other man was actively seeking for fine precious pearls when he found one with great value. The same applies to how different ones of us will come to the Kingdom of God: Some of us will stumble upon it while others will find it while actively searching. Whichever way we come, it doesn’t matter as long as we have come to realise that there is nothing more valuable in this life and in the one to come than to be found in the Kingdom of God. When we realise this, we rejoice that we have entered in by God’s mercy and grace.
Reflections
1. How did you come to the Kingdom? Were you seeking or did you stumble upon it?
2. Has your Christian life been marked by joy? Why do we find ourselves joyless at times?
3. In view of the above parable, how then should you live and lead your life?
