Matthew 13:44 – 52 reads, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, which, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
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 the shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away.
So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Jesus said to them, “Have you understood all these things?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”
Then He said to them, “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”
These four parables that Jesus has just told his disciples have now wrapped up His whole sermon on what the kingdom of God is like and who will and won’t be part of that kingdom. Jesus’ previous parables in this sermon used images that related to the people to whom he was speaking. It was most likely that they were poorer people, or at least what we would call middle class farmers and peasants. He talks about the planter of grain, weeds, and mustard seeds.
Jesus also talks to the women in the crowd who mostly were the cooks in the household and probably were the wives, daughters, or mothers of these farmers. He tells them about bread and how the woman prepared it. And then Jesus switches to these parables that we read about today. He switches from talking about every day items in farming and the household and he changes to talking about treasure, how we find it and what we do with it.
I’m sure that the disciples on that hillside or shoreline that were listening to Jesus may have gotten bored with the agricultural talk but they probably perked up when Jesus talked about buried treasure. Jesus, the master teacher and communicator, got their attention with something they had an intense interest in. I’m sure the disciples, especially Judas, were tired of living hand-to-mouth. They were probably thinking, “After all these crowds, it’s about time we get some more money.” But it wasn’t the treasure Jesus was focused on. Jesus compared finding this treasure to the kingdom of God or what we might call, “The rule or reign of God.”
During a time when there was a lot of oppression and taking advantage of the poor, people were longing for God to come and take over. People wanted to hear about when God would come and rescue them from the suffering and injustices that they faced. People wanted to hear about this kingdom of God.
Jesus was telling His disciples how to speak about this kingdom of God to the people they met every day. It would be the same as our Sunday school’s teaching us how to talk to people that we meet about salvation and God’s promises in the language that they speak. This ‘translating’ that we do is so that people can understand the Gospel in the language that they speak. Our job as Christians is not to impress people by fancy words like, “expiation, justification, mortification, and propitiation.” Our job is to help people understand it in their language, how they would understand it so that it may bring them to the full life in Christ.
This was part of the controversy of the 1300’s when the Catholic Church persecuted Christians who translated the Latin into the common English of that day. The language that the every day normal person could understand. It is that same idea behind the parables that Jesus was using to explain what God and His coming kingdom was like. Jesus is training His disciples how to speak the people’s language about God. Let’s look at the next one about treasure.
For many generations in that part of the country, landowners buried their wealth in gold, silver, pearls, and currency. What we would consider hiding under the mattress or keeping in the safety deposit box, they put out in their field. There were no banks or loan offices, so the landowner’s memory of where “X” marks the spot was as good as they got to a PIN number at the local ATM.
What got the disciples’ attention even more in this parable was that it was just an ordinary man, not the landowner, who found this treasure. Many of the people who were listening to Jesus could immediately put themselves in that worker’s spot. There were always rumors of gold and treasure being found in some field and then that person bought the field so that they could have the treasure. It must have been some treasure because Jesus says that the man, in his state of excitement, keeps the treasure hid and sells all that he has to buy the field with the buried treasure.
Just to whet your appetite, did you know that there are bags of gold buried in Clay County.? Nobody has found them yet. They are said to be buried within the small ghost town of Bloomington which is located five miles north of Vermillion on a small creek. Can you imagine if you found that treasure and it was worth three million dollars? Would you sell what you could get a hold of that gold? That is what the kingdom of God is like. That is what our response is to be once we have found Christ. We are to do whatever is possible and get that invaluable treasure.
Jesus keeps stirring their imaginations when he moves to the next parable about a pearl of enormous value. This time, instead of a farmer or peasant finding the treasure we have a merchant who is used to seeing things of value but then finds a pearl of great price and does the same as the worker did, he sold all he had to buy it.
Pearls were seen as being even more valuable than gold, silver, or jewels. Pearls were much harder to find back then because without any equipment, people had to dive for them. The parable here was not far from the truth. Often, wealthier people would consolidate their riches into one item like a pearl. In fact, in Egypt, there has been a book discovered called, “The Book of Buried Pearls” which describes where to find a king’s hoard of pearls and jewels.
Do you see how Jesus is getting the disciples to think about the kingdom of God? He is not using deep theological positions. Jesus is not using philosophical arguments. He is not using slick advertising dollars to get their attention. Jesus is not interested in opinions, he is interested in truth and Jesus paints that truth in their language. Jesus uses stories and objects that are familiar to them and about where they have worked and lived. Even more, Jesus uses images like pearls and treasure that get their imaginations going.
Now, when the disciples that are listening to Jesus have started to daydream about pearls, Jesus moves into the third parable which describes a method of finding something of worth. This time by using a net. More specifically, a dragnet. This time we are told of how the kingdom of God is like this net. A dragnet was a net that was much bigger than a fishing net and used heavier weight and larger floats to get down to the bottom of the Sea of Galilee. When the dragnet was full it was pulled to the shore where the fishermen would sort what was of value and what was unclean or garbage.
Jesus says this is what the kingdom of God is like. Except that the sorting out is going to happen at the end of the Age when Christ comes again. But it won’t be us that will be sorting; it will be God’s messengers, His angels that will do the sorting. Here Jesus has put the, “Gotcha,” the Zinger in His message. He is telling them that they won’t be the ones that determine who will come in to the kingdom and who will go to hell. Jesus is telling these fishermen that they must be like fishermen for God. They must use the dragnet approach to fishing for people, for helping people understand what salvation is about.
Then Jesus asks the disciples, “Have you understood all these things?” Jesus is not just asking them if they have only heard what he was talking about in the parables. Jesus is not asking them if they can repeat back to Him everything that He has said. When Jesus asks them if they understand these things, He is asking them if they know these things well enough to do them.
Do they know how to communicate the Gospel so that people will come to Christ? Do they know enough of God’s truth to be able to help others understand? That is a question we should be asking ourselves right here in church. Ask yourself, “Do I know about the kingdom of God? Do I understand what it means to be saved from what Jesus calls, “the furnace of fire. Where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth?” “Do I know how to tell others how they may be saved?”
As your pastor I hope that we can help each other in our understanding, in our walk. But I’ll be blunt. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been in church most of your life or two days. If you do not understand what Jesus is talking about then you need to if you want to call yourself a disciple of Christ. In v.23 Jesus says, “But he who received seed (that is His teaching) on the good ground it is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”
After Jesus has asked His disciples if they fully comprehend these truths He then says, “Therefore.” That “therefore” may sound like a big word but what it implies is even bigger. Jesus has just asked them if they fully understand the truth enough to do it and tell others. They answered, “Yes, Lord.” Then Jesus says, “Therefore” or we can read it as “Now go do this” or, “Because you do really understand, go and do it.”
Jesus has just given them marching orders to practice it. And He tells them how. He says that everyone that has been taught about the kingdom of heaven is to bring out of their treasure (that treasure being their own understanding, knowledge and God’s truth) things old and new. He is telling them that they are to talk to others about Jesus and the kingdom of God using a variety of ways, both old and new.
For us it is the same. We are to let people know about the buried treasure that we possess. We are supposed to bring it out and share it. We are to look into our spiritual wallets and purses and figure out ways to give these valuable things to people who need them. I want you to think about people in your life right now who are living in spiritual darkness, people who have no spiritual treasure – the person you work with, you go to school with, the relative, the customer.
Now I want you to think of the treasure that you have been given. I want you to look at your salvation this morning and ask if you have tried to help these people understand it. Have you been able to give away what God has given you? Have you been able to speak their language and not the language of Churchianity? How have you tried? Maybe you haven’t tried. Maybe you are afraid or anxious about sounding, “preachy.”
The quickest way you can check if you are giving away real treasure, the real Gospel or counterfeit is to look at these parables and follow their model.
#1. Am I getting their attention in their language? Am I speaking about God in ways that interest them?
#2. Am I spreading my spiritual dragnet far and wide? Am I willing to open up the circle of people that I associate with?
#3. Am I letting go of the temptation to count my results before I get to shore? Am I letting God be in control of the final results?
#4. Am I bringing out new and the old ways of telling people about God? Am I willing to try something different so that others may know what heaven instead of hell will be like?
If you consider yourself to be a disciple of Christ then your life and how you relate to others should speak of your faith. You might be saying, “Oh pastor, I’m not a speaker. I’m not a preacher. That’s up to you and the few gifted people in the church.” Well, believe it or not, anyone can talk about Jesus. What convinced me of that was an eight-year old girl named Allison. I still keep a letter she wrote me in my Bible.
Do you remember those witness bracelets that were really popular to wear that helped explain salvation? You know, they had different color beads to explain how to come to Christ. Allison was a girl in the theater camp I was directing and one night after campfire she was upset. She was probably one of the sweetest girls I had that week, but she was upset because she said that nobody liked her and people in her class, especially her neighbor, made fun of her because she went to church. She said she loved camp and the new friends but it would be hard to go back home because she didn’t have any Christian friends there. The counselors and I prayed with Allison that night that somehow she would find a Christian friend. I didn’t think too much of that night until a week later I got her letter.
If you are doubting yourself, if you think you don’t know how to share your treasure, how to share Jesus with others I want you to remember Allison. She relied on God to help her and she risked so that someone may know Christ. And in return she gained a friend. As adults we have so many more ways to share our salvation with those around us. Whether it is talking about motorcycles, family, vacations, children, or the Turner County Fair, we have treasures both old and new we can bring out and give to others.
Before we pray I want you to think of the person in your life who needs to hear about a real relationship with God. Do you have them in mind? Now I want us to pray silently. I want you to ask God for ways to share the news that they desperately need to hear. Ask God how you can speak their language so they will seek the priceless jewel of Jesus Christ. Let us pray.
