The Treasure Is in a Field
Matthew 13:44
Introduction:
1. Today, we are going to pick apart just one verse of scripture.
2. We may compare several others to it, but mainly we will discuss all the possibilities of the verse at hand.
3. We will look at it from three perspectives.
4. Really all scripture can be viewed from these three perspectives.
I. The Prophetic Interpretation
A. The People to Whom Christ Spoke
1. There are 7 parables pertaining to the kingdom of heaven in Matthew 13.
2. The first 4 were spoken in the presence of many of Jesus’ followers.
3. These last three were shared with His disciples alone (v. 36).
B. The Purpose of the Parable
1. The first 4 had to do with presenting Christ’s kingdom to earth and the world’s perspective of the kingdom of heaven.
2. The last 3 had to do with the reality of Christ’s kingdom as God sees it.
3. The first 4 had to do with corruption in the kingdom and the fact that there would come a time when so many false Christians were considered a part of Christ’s kingdom that it would be nearly impossible for men to tell the difference (parable of the tares).
4. The last 3 had to do with Christ’s love for His kingdom and those that make up that kingdom.
5. The kingdom of heaven is not here fully—we are ambassadors of His kingdom to the earth, but one day His kingdom will literally and visibly come to the earth, and Christ will rule and reign from David’s throne in Jerusalem!
C. The Parts of the Parable
1. The field is the world (v. 38).
2. The treasure is Israel.
a. “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth (in the parable, the field is the earth) is mine: and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel” (Exodus 19:5-6).
b. “For the LORD hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure” (Psalm 135:4).
3. The treasure was “hid”.
a. The parable starts with a treasure hid in a field.
b. The Old Testament starts with Israel—hid among the vast and various peoples of the earth.
c. Genesis 1-11 cover 2500 years; 12-50 cover just around 200 years!
d. Where was Abraham when God found him?
e. Was he living in separation from the idolatrous people that surrounded him?
f. No! He was hidden away among them.
g. His father was an idol maker!
h. Jacob spent most of his life away from the Promised Land.
i. Jacob’s children journeyed to Egypt and became enslaved for over 400 years to the Egyptians—they were hid!
4. The man is Christ.
a. In another parable in this chapter, a man is depicted as sowing good seed.
b. Verse 37 identifies the man.
c. Since that is the only point of reference we have, we may conclude that the man that finds the treasure is Christ Himself!
5. The treasure was found.
a. This is a picture of God discovering the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
b. This is a further picture of the children of Israel entering into Canaan victoriously led by Joshua, a type of Jesus—the Hebrew name is the same as Jesus.
6. The treasure was re-hidden!
a. When Israel rejected Christ as their Messiah, Christ rejected them for a time.
b. This is a picture of the dispersion of Israel—for some 2,000 years, the Jews have been dispersed throughout all the earth, having no homeland and being driven from virtually every country except America!
c. They have restored the secular aspect of their country, but their true restoration has not yet taken place—God’s chosen people, Israel will remain hidden until the Millennial Reign of Christ!
7. The entire field was bought!
a. The price was great!
b. Because of God’s great love for His people, both physical Israel and spiritual Israel (all Christians), He gave all that He had to buy the world back from Satan!
c. Adam and Eve lost dominion of the world to Satan because of sin—Christ bought it back!
d. Consider I Timothy 4:10: “For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.”
d. Consider II Peter 2:1: “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.”
f. Christ has paid the price for the entire world to be saved, yet only a few will actually turn to Him in repentance and faith and be born again!
g. Even fewer of those who possess child-like faith in Christ will come from the Jewish nation!!!
h. The story of Ruth gives us a picture of this aspect of the parable (Ruth 4:1-8).
i. Boaz presents the offer of an entire field to Ruth’s nearest kinsman.
ii. He tells the man that for him to get the field, he has to marry the girl.
iii. The kinsman rejects the notion enabling Boaz to buy the field and marry Ruth!
iv. In this parable we see the same theme, but from the opposite perspective.
v. The nearer kinsman wanted the field (the world), but not the woman that came with it (Ruth)—much as Satan desires the world.
vi. Boaz, as a type of Christ, desired the woman (Ruth) and was willing to buy the field (the world) to obtain the her!
vii. Christ loved the woman (church) so much that He gave His life for the field (world)!
II. The Spiritual Implications
A. Christ’s Love for the World (John 3:16)
B. Christ’s Joy over the Discovery of the Treasure
1. “I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance” (Luke 15:7).
2. “Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth” (Luke 15:10).
C. The Worth of People to God
1. “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26).
2. The worth of just one soul is worth more to God than all of creation!
D. The Price God Paid (“…all that he hath”)
1. “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich” (II Corinthians 8:9).
2. “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another” (I John 4:7-11).
III. The Practical Application
A. The Field
1. The field as the church
2. The field as individuals within the church.
B. The Treasure
1. The church is the pillar and ground of the truth.
2. The church is our family—full of relationships we can treasure throughout all eternity!
3. The people in our church are our brothers and sisters in Christ!
4. Each Christian has the treasure of a human soul and the Holy Spirit within!
5. Sure, it is often hidden.
6. Sure, we notice things about the church or some Christians that seem to hide the treasures that lie within, but there is still hidden treasure to be found!
7. Once we have found the treasure within the church or the individuals God has placed within our lives, we can suddenly realize the value of each individual soul to God and so to us!
C. The Field
1. Christ paid for the sins of the whole world that a few might be saved.
2. There are people who have contemplated leaving a church that preaches the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth because of some thorns and briars in the field!
3. There are people who have walked away from friendships because the field had some undesirable characteristics!
4. There are many who have walked away from wedded bliss—not because of adultery or some other extreme case—because of a few idiosyncrasies they could not stand about their spouse!
5. There are folks who have turned their back on their own children because there was mud in their field!
6. There are people who have kicked the preacher out of their church—not because of some heinous crime such as embezzlement or adultery—because his field was not everything they desired it to be!
7. Am I making my point?
a. Ill: stand Brian up and point out that he has flaws and hang-ups (mention a few?) and say, “Bro. Brian, I know that your field needs to be improved, but for the treasure that lies within you, I will overlook the problems with your field (while preaching the whole counsel of God) and love you anyway!
b. Ill: Andrea ~ my wife
c. Ill: Myself—I know that I am not perfect and there are ways about me and my personality that may not be your cup of tea, but I say, if you want to have the treasure of a blessed church and a pastor that is your friend, you have to take me as a whole person—let God do the changing through prayer, the preaching and teaching of God’s word, and the reading of God’s word!
d. Ill: I could stand each one of you up and list off all the undesirable things I know about you and say, in spite of that, I love you. And for the treasure that lies within you, I am willing to put up with the whole field of your life!
e. I am going to try to preach God’s truth and invite preachers in to preach it as well, but let’s try not to criticize each other so much!
8. Husbands, love and accept your wife the way she is and let God do the changing that needs to be done!
9. Wives, follow your husband’s leadership whether he is all he should be or not—let God do the changing that needs to take place!
10. Adults, let’s cut our children and young people some slack—sure they are not all they should be—neither are we—but God sure counts their souls as treasures—let’s buy the whole field and love them the way they are.
11. That doesn’t mean we don’t have standards and rules or that they don’t need to treat us with respect—it just means we don’t burn the field and give it to the devil—we take some time with them—we just might discover some hidden treasure!
12. Church members, let’s accept and love each other in spite of all our pet peeves and personality conflicts.
13. That’s what the world is looking for—some people who can see the treasure in the field and love the whole field for it!
14. That is something Christ-like.
15. That is something God-like.
16. Romans 5:8 states it plainly, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us!”
Conclusion:
1. Let’s put everything we have into our marriages, friendships with each other, and our church as a whole (through attendance, visitation, tithe and offerings, etc…).
2. We have many treasures yet to find in these relationships, but many times we have thrown away the field before we found the treasure!
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