Parables of the Treasure and the Pearl - 6
The Holy Grail of the world of Physics is to discover “the theory of everything”
• Physicists recognize there are powerful forces of nature at work governing the dynamics of our universe
• There is light, gravity, electromagnetic waves, matter etc
• However they know there is one force holding all these powerful forces together but as yet they have been unable to discover what it is
• So the race is on to discover what it is. This is what they call the “Theory of Everything”
• One interesting side comment on physicists. There are very few atheists in this branch of science
The next two parables in this series on the Parable of Jesus are the ones on the Treasure hidden in the field and the Pearl of Great Price
• At this early stage of Jesus’ ministry He is still talking about the mystery of the kingdom and so they too are called the Parables of the Kingdom
• Matthew 13:44-46 (NLT)“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field—and to get the treasure, too!
• The word, “hidden” here is the same word that is used in the parable of the leaven last time about the mysteriousness of the Kingdom hidden in the lump of leaven
• There are a number of important gospel verses that also use this word and when we put them together they give the full force of the hiding of the mystery
Let’s look at a couple
• Jesus had just criticized certain cities for not responding to his message
• Matthew 11:25 (NLT)Then Jesus prayed this prayer: “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding the truth from those who think themselves so wise and clever, and for revealing it to the childlike.
• Not even brilliant scholars and academics can discern the work of the kingdom operating right in their midst
• The intelligencia of the world chooses to ignore or disregard what God is doing behind the scenes on the world stage
• Even the disciples had a difficult time with the concept of the kingdom
• Luke 18:31-34 (NLT)Gathering the twelve disciples around him, Jesus told them, “As you know, we are going to Jerusalem. And when we get there, all the predictions of the ancient prophets concerning the Son of Man will come true. 32 He will be handed over to the Romans to be mocked, treated shamefully, and spit upon. 33 They will whip him and kill him, but on the third day he will rise again.” 34 But they didn’t understand a thing he said. Its significance was hidden from them, and they failed to grasp what he was talking about.
• This by the way was the third time Jesus had explained to them the fact that he was going to His death and Resurrection
• So even when the details of the kingdom are literally spelled out for them, they don’t understand
• And finally in one of the most mysterious verses in scripture Paul says in Col 3:3-4
• Colossians 3:3-4 (NLT) For you died when Christ died, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 And when Christ, who is your real life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.
• So when you put these verses together and you begin to get some idea of the mysterious power of the Kingdom that is operating behind the scenes
• However its not some sort of invisible proposition that won’t bother you if you don’t bother it
• Rather it is the primary spiritual principle operating behind the whole creative redemptive order
• It is the theory of everything as far as salvation is concerned
• It is in other words it is the power that Jesus said of Himself, “If I am lifted up I will draw all men to me!”
• It is the power drawing this whole sordid mess of this humanity inextricably towards Him
• And it is worth selling everything you have in order to obtain it
• So don’t allow anything to distract you from possessing it
In fact this treasure seeker in his excitement to gain possession of the treasure buys the whole field
• The field as in the other parables represents the world into which the kingdom, seed, leaven, is sown or mixed
• Now you wouldn’t be a very good farmer if you just planted part of the field you had prepared for sowing, or a good baker if you just mixed leaven in part of the flour
• So in the same way the churches job is to “buy” or “deal” with the whole world so that it is the “salt” and “light” of the world
• The church can never afford to leave “unbought” any part of the field in which God has hidden his treasure
• When he purchased the field the man not only bought the part of the field that had the treasure in it, he also bought the blackberries, the mine shafts the old rusted machinery and the vermin that inhabited the place
• And isn’t that the role of the church to bring the spiritually maimed, the sick, the sinner into possession of the same treasure
• The church is to be an outward manifestation or a sign of what the “Word” is up to in the world
• The mystery of the kingdom is made manifest in the work of the church
• We have to sow the whole field. We have to leaven the whole bunch and we have to buy the whole field
And what is that Treasure hidden in? The ground, like a tomb
• And isn’t it true that Jesus died for the sins of the whole world or “field” and the only way we can enter into His life is through our own spiritual death
• And the churches job is to lead people to their own spiritual death so they to can experience the “treasure” of the Kingdom
Parable of the Pearl Merchant
• 45 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a pearl merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. 46 When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!
• Notice the difference in the story. In the first one, the treasure is likened to the kingdom. This time the kingdom is likened to the pearl merchant on the lookout for choice pearls
• As I said last time, all human being have been created with a “God shaped hole in their heart”
• This guy is searching for that elusive pearl and we have to assume the rest of humanity is as well
• Acts 17:26-28 (NLT)From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand which should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries. 27 “His purpose in all of this was that the nations should seek after God and perhaps feel their way (grope) toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. 28 For in him we live and move and exist. As one of your own poets says, ‘We are his offspring.’
• And we have to assume that when they find it, like the treasure seeker and this pearl merchant, they will spend any price to secure this treasure
So as the church we need to portray the kingdom for what it is – a treasure or a pearl or great price
• A pearl is quite different from other precious jewelry
• A pearl is not a stone like the diamond. It is formed by a living organism. A grain of sand or other foreign matter intrudes itself into the shell of a small sea creature. It hurts and harms it. The response of the organism is to send out a secretion that coats over the foreign matter. That fluid builds up until a pearl is formed—not a ruby or a diamond, but a beautiful white pearl. A pearl is not like other gems. It cannot be cut to enhance its beauty. It is formed intact. The minute you cut it, you ruin it.
• So it is something simple, beautiful, precious, and yet unlike precious stones, a living organism
• And this is the concept of the kingdom we need to present to the world. Something simple, something beautiful, something precious and a living breathing organism
• Unfortunately down through the centuries the church has peddled the gospel more like a rattlesnake than this simple treasure
• Too often we talk more about hellfire rather than the love of God
• Too often the gospel has been sold at the point of a gun rather than the touch of a hand
• Too often the church is more representative of the Law of God than the Grace of God
• The treasure and the pearl in these stories are no less than Jesus Christ – we need to be careful how we portray Him
• And it is precisely because of “joy”(notice, not fear, not gunpoint) at the prospect of possessing this great treasure that this man sells all that he has in order to possess it
• And not surprisingly, the response in heaven is exactly the same
• Luke 15:7 (NKJV)7 I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.
• And so it should be with us
• And guess what, when you have found this treasure or this pearl of great price you will also have found the “Theory of Everything”
• The answers been in the Bible all along
• Hebrews 1:3 (NKJV)3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power,
• Want to know what holds the old physical universe together? Here’s the answer
• Want to know what holds the new spiritual creation together
• Acts 17:27-28 (NKJV) 27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and have our being,
