17. The Kingdom Parables – The Fifth – The Hidden Treasure – Part 1 of 4
This message is in 4 parts and it is awkward to break it up as it is one whole. I hope it flows well for the reader.
[A]. INTRODUCTION TO THE PARABLE
So far we have done four of the seven Parables of the Kingdom. They are The Sower, The Tares, The Mustard Seed, and The Leaven. In each of these we studied the parable itself; then looked at the church in Asia Minor that corresponded to the parable (Revelation chapters 2 and 3) and then looked at the place the parable had in Church History.
In all three sections, the order is precise, that is, they all match up, e.g. the Sower equates with the church at Ephesus, and they equate with the first period of Church History, the Apostolic period. The others follow on as shown in previous messages.
In this study of the Treasure Hidden in the Ground (The Field = the World), we will also see this correct sequence operating. The Parables; the Churches, the Historical Periods, are remarkably correlated. Only God could ensure that. With that short introduction we move to the fifth parable, that of the treasure hidden/buried in a field.
[B]. THE PARABLE OF THE TREASURE HIDDEN IN THE FIELD
{{Matthew 13:44 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field.”}}
What we have is this:-
** The treasure is hidden in a field.
** It was found by a man who hid it straight away.
** It caused him great joy (because of its value).
** He sets out to sell all he has to convert his assets to money.
** He then goes to buy the field.
Something to note right away – This treasure was bought at a great price. The man sold all he had to purchase the field. There is a point of similarity with the next parable, that of the Pearl. This is a purchase, purchased with something good (all that the man had). It WAS NOT the acceptance of the field, or the treasure as a gift, that cost nothing. It was obtained at great cost.
[C]. WHAT IS THE GENERALLY ACCEPTED MEANING OF THIS KINGDOM PARABLE?
In nearly every Commentary or sermon, you read and hear the same message about this parable. It is said to be the sinner finding salvation or coming into God’s grace. Not to press the point too much, it is about a sinner buying salvation.
Right away you should have your eyes right open because you know salvation can not be bought. It is a free gift. It is akin to the thoughts in these verses (They are speaking of Israel, but the principle is exactly the same) –
{{Isaiah 52:3 for thus says the LORD, “You were sold for nothing and you will be REDEEMED WITHOUT MONEY.” Isaiah 55:1 “Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters, and you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk WITHOUT MONEY AND WITHOUT COST.”}}
The hidden treasure is not salvation. That should be very clear. Here are some “usual” explanations about this parable. The bracketed comments after each quote are mine.
[A]. From John Calvin:- (John Calvin, Commentary on Matthew, Mark, Luke – Vol. 2, translated William Pringle, CCEL, Matthew 13:44–52.) “The first two of these parables are intended to instruct believers to prefer the Kingdom of heaven to the whole world, and therefore to deny themselves and all the desires of the flesh, that nothing may prevent them from obtaining so valuable a possession. We are greatly in need of such a warning; for we are so captivated by the allurements of the world, that eternal life fades from our view; and in consequence of our carnality, the spiritual graces of God are far from being held by us in the estimation which they deserve.” [[[Calvin avoids the details of the Parable and broadly equates it with denying the flesh. Denying the flesh is not the means of salvation. It is not what the parable means.]]]
[B]. From John Chrysostom: "The foregoing parables of the leaven, and the grain of mustard-seed, are referred to the power of the Gospel preaching, which has subdued the whole world; in order to show its value and splendor. He now puts forth parables concerning a pearl and a treasure, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field.” For the Gospel preaching is hidden in this world; and if you do not sell your all you will not purchase it; and this you ought to do with joy; wherefore it follows, which when a man hath found, he hideth it.” [[[He advocates selling all and purchasing the treasure. How can a sinner sell anything to purchase salvation? This is not true. When a sinner has purchased it, he is then to hide it. That is wrong. All our righteousness is as filthy rags; the sinner has not one decent thing he can offer for salvation. It is God’s free, lovely grace.]]]
[C]. Hilary of Poitiers: "This treasure is indeed found without cost; for the Gospel preaching is open to all, but to use and possess the treasure with its field we may not without price, for heavenly riches are not obtained without the loss of this world.” [[[This is a bit allegorical but essentially is not wrong. It avoids the details of the parable.]]]
[D]. Jerome: "That he hides it, does not proceed of envy towards others, but as one that treasures up what he would not lose, he hides in his heart that which he prizes above his former possessions. Or, That treasure in which are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3), is either God the Word, who seems hid in Christ’s flesh, or the Holy Scriptures, in which are laid up the knowledge of the Saviour." [[[Jerome just takes us the word “treasure” and speaks about matters not related to the parable. He is not specific.]]]
[E]. Gregory the Great: "Otherwise; The treasure hidden in the field is the desire of heaven; the field in which the treasure is hidden is the discipline of heavenly learning; this, when a man finds, he hides, in order that he may preserve it; for zeal and affections heavenward it is not enough that we protect from evil spirits, if we do not protect from human praises. For in this present life we are in the way which leads to our country, and evil spirits as robbers beset us in our journey. Those therefore who carry their treasure openly, they seek to plunder in the way. When I say this, I do not mean that our neighbours should not see our works, but that in what we do, we should not seek praise from without. The kingdom of heaven is therefore compared to things of earth, that the mind may rise from things familiar to things unknown, and may learn to love the unknown by that which it knows is loved when known. It follows, and for joy thereof he goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. He it is that sells all he has and buys the field, who, renouncing fleshly delights, tramples upon all his worldly desires in his anxiety for the heavenly discipline." [[[Some fanciful stuff here. He connects the parable with renouncing fleshly delights for heavenly discipline. In his mind is the Catholic practice of monasteries where the world is renounced. That is not what the parable is about.]]]
[F]. Augustine: "Or, He speaks of the two testaments in the Church, which, when any has attained to a partial understanding of, he perceives how great things lie hid there, and goes and sells all that he has, and buys that; that is, by despising temporal things he purchases to himself peace, that he may be rich in the knowledge of God.” [[[Augustine connects the parable with despising temporal things. He would see it that way having been a monk himself. He is way off the mark. Does he equate peace with salvation? In any case he speaks about purchasing that. IT CAN’T BE DONE!]]]
[D]. SUMMING UP THE GENERALLY ACCEPTED VIEW
The Church Fathers most often avoided the details of the parable, and concluded that it spoke about renouncing the flesh (the world) to obtain the hidden treasure. They looked at it more as denying temporal matters.
On the other hand, most of the Reformers saw the parable as “selling” all you have and “buying” salvation. The problem with that is that there is nothing to sell. Renouncing the world is not selling anything.
[E]. WHAT IS THE REAL TRUTH BEHIND THIS PARABLE OF THE HIDDEN TREASURE?
We need to ask ourselves three questions – (a). What is the field? (b). Who is the man? (c). What is the hidden treasure?
{{Matthew 13:44 “The kingdom of heaven is (c) like a treasure (a) hidden in the field, (b) which a man found and hid; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field.”}}
(a). THE FIELD. When we ask what the field is, the answer is not hard to find in these parables. It has only one meaning. Here is the relevant verse, and remember, types in scripture are uniform. {{Matthew 13:36-38 Then He left the multitudes and went into the house and His disciples came to Him saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” He answered and said, “The one who sows the good seed is THE SON OF MAN, AND THE FIELD IS THE WORLD and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom, and the tares are the sons of the evil one,”}}
The field is the world, and in the parable of the hidden treasure, the treasure is hidden in the world. That immediately excludes those who say the treasure is salvation, because salvation is not hidden in the world. It also excludes individuality.
(b). THE MAN. Again we must look to the consistency of biblical types in this to understand who the man is. Look at this verse – {{Matthew 13:24 He presented another parable to them saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared with A MAN WHO SOWED GOOD SEED IN HIS FIELD.”}}. Who is that man who sowed good seed? Well, it is already answered for us in Matthew 13:36-38 (just quoted above). The man is The Son of Man.
In the Sower, we have the man who is Jesus Christ and the sowing went out into the world. In the Tares we have the man again who is Jesus Christ and the field is the world. In the Mustard Seed, the planting again connects with Jesus Christ and the field there is the world. In the Hidden treasure the field is the world and the man must again be Jesus Christ. We have to be consistent about this.
However when we consider the Leaven which was the wickedness one threw into the fine flour to make it all corrupt, this can’t be Jesus Christ, so the word says it was a woman who did this, not a man.
(c). THE TREASURE. There is this consistent, erroneous teaching that this parable means a sinner buying salvation which is the treasure. However that is ludicrous because as we now know, the field is the world and no sinner can buy the world and get salvation from that! The treasure has to have an entirely different meaning.
What do we know about the treasure from this parable?
1. It is hidden in the (field) = the world.
2. The man found and hid it (man = Jesus Christ who has the treasure hidden.)
3. It causes Him much joy.
4. He sells all that he has (Jesus Christ gives up all that belongs to Him).
5. He buys the field (Jesus Christ purchases the world) BUT THE TREASURE IS STILL HIDDEN IN THE FIELD/WORLD.
What is it that is very precious to Jesus Christ and gives Him great joy? The answer is two items. The first is Israel and the second is the Church. What is it that Jesus Christ gave up everything for (sold all that He had; surrendered them, going to the cross) and purchased at great price? The answer is two items. The first is Israel and the second is the Church.
The Parable of the Hidden Treasure is about Israel, and the Parable of the Pearl is about the Church. This will be shown as we progress. One is earthly; the other is heavenly. One remains in the earth; the other is lifted from the “sea”/ earth. We will see that in the “sea” in the Pearl.
In both the parables the purchase price is very great. The Man who goes to buy the field is He who purchases the world by His own blood. It is Christ who redeemed the world but part of that redemption is that special possession He has hidden among the redeemed. That treasure is still hidden in the world, but will not always be so.
The meaning of “hidden” here is interesting. Hidden in the original = forgotten or ended or delayed action or a future purpose.
Part 2 will follow on. This is a very interesting Parable.
