goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth the field: which is not to be interpreted literally and properly; though a man that knows the worth and value of the Bible, rather than be without one, would part with all his worldly substance for one; but figuratively, and denotes the willingness of such souls, who are led into the glory, fulness, and excellency of the word of God, the scriptures of truth, and of the immense treasure of the Gospel therein, to part with all that has been, or is dear unto them; with their sins, and self-righteousness; with their good names and characters; their worldly substance, and life itself, for the sake of the Gospel, and their profession of it: and may also design the use of all means, to gain a larger degree of light and knowledge in the Gospel. (7) Few men understand how great the riches of the kingdom of heaven are, and that no man can be a partaker of them but he that redeems them with the loss of all his goods. The Jewish or the Greek "seekers after God," possessing many pearls, but still dissatisfied, sought others yet more choice, and finding one, true to the simplicity in Christ, renounce all for that; the one his legalism, the other his philosophy. So they were offended at Him. What is it that inhibits us from going forward together to enjoy the fruits of human endeavor and to reap the harvest of human experience? Then he went and gave all that he had and bought that field of humanity. The multitude went away (as most people do from sermons) never the wiser, understanding nothing of what they heard, nor caring to understand it. (Poole), b. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer. The following cookies are also needed - You can choose if you want to allow them: You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page. And he was telling me how divided among themselves the Israelis are and how they are separating into squabbling bickering groups, fighting each other, and into many political parties vying for power. But Jesus came to make the kingdom available to everyone (Mark 1:15). The parables describe how the kin (g)dom of heaven emerges from something almost invisible to the eye and grows exponentially, offering us sustenance, a treasure worthy of all our attention and resources. Every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom: Jesus said that everyone who really knows Gods Word both will know the old and learn the new of the kingdom. In Verses44 and45 Jesus says. 4. The battle is over the control of man who was created by God and was endowed by God with the power of choice. So it will be at the end of the age: There will be both the wicked and the just until the end of the age (as also demonstrated in the previous parable of the wheat and the tares). He has been at work ever since, sending men into all parts of the earth and into all levels of society, among all kinds of people, putting them there in order that there may be a testimony of the Word. The fate of these ungodly ones will be fire, the most terrible of punishments; but this will not annihilate them; for they shall exhibit the surest tokens of a living woe wailing and gnashing of teeth. (Spurgeon). Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a, Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers. (Just as a comparison, the diamond on a womans wedding ring may be about one-quarter or one-half of a carat.) But our treasure - our immeasurably better treasure - has no limit! The kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet: Jesus shows that the world will remain divided right up until the end, and the Church will not reform the world, ushering in the kingdom. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!'" which is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, the truth as it is in Jesus, the glad tidings. (As we saw last time, the parable of the leaven also has been misconstrued to mean something quite different from what our Lord ever intended.) On our own, we cannot be part of Gods kingdom. a. i. By proceeding, you consent to our cookie usage. He himself is deeply involved in it. He bought the field in order that someday he might use that treasure to cause the whole world to blossom and to fill the earth with peace and happiness. God has said that if you will turn back to him, as Israel will some day, he stands ready to heal, ready to forgive, ready to wipe out all the failures, all the transgressions, and to begin in your experience to cause your life to blossom and to come into abundance. As long as God chooses to work in concert with human agency, developing our ability to partner with Him, our unbelief can and may hinder the work of God. Satan has a shoot of iniquity for every shoot of grace; and, when God revives his work, Satan revives his also. (Clarke), iii. Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers. i. The passage for this lection offers a counter-image to this destructive force. It is: Ua mau ke ea o ka aina ika pono, which I am sure you understand means, "The life of the land is preserved by righteousness." Jodi is part of the Childrens Ministry team at Grace Fellowship Church, outside of Atlanta. These two would grow up together and sometimes would be difficult to distinguish, especially at the beginning, but eventually would make their real nature known. Or maybe the field was for sale and the man was looking it over before deciding whether to buy it. He understands that even though he is selling everything to buy that field he is becoming exponentially richer because of the unseen treasure that will belong to whomever owns the field. And he bought that field. We never can understand anything until we see it demonstrated before us. 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.. But the wonderful thing the Lord tells us here is that he has not given up his purpose. b. That is Israel's purpose and there was a time in their developing history when it was partially fulfilled. Matthew 12. As long as Gods people are still in this world (the field), there will be unbelievers among them; but it should not be because Gods people receive unbelievers as if they were believers, ignoring either the belief or conduct of professed believers. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. The shell has two parts that are hinged together like this. Years ago I was struck by the closing words of a great address that Winston Churchill gave at Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1950: What prizes lie before all the people if they are worthy of them: peace, food, happiness, leisure, wealth for the masses never known nor dreamed of, the glorious advance into a period of rest and safety for all the hundreds of millions of homes where little children play by the fire, and girls grow up in all their beauty, and young men strive and win in the free enterprise of life. The life of this land, like that of any other land, is preserved by righteousness. Well, is it not obvious that there is something lost with relation to humanity, something every human being seems to be seeking, consciously or unconsciously, something every thinking person in this room and throughout the world is searching for and longing for with an ache that is almost physical? MATTHEW 13:45-46. In this series Jesus is revealing the work of the kingdom as it is going on throughout the centuries of this present age since his first coming and before his return. This was a great surprise! These were the best she had to offer. And the nations of earth will never learn this righteousness finally, until Israel stands once again as a nation before God, recognizing the presence of God in their midst and providing a working model of how every nation ultimately shall be run by the provision and power of God. The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a. I. Jesus takes away the sin of everyone who trusts in Him (John 1:29). One pearl of great price: It seems crazy for a merchant to sell all that he had for one pearl, but for this merchant it was well worth it. There they stand ready, being prepared right now to discover again, finally, the secret of their life. Last week, we read Jesus parable about the four soils. "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the spirit forces that are in high places." 5. When problems come, they forget all about Gods word. It is a visible example to all mankind of the way God deals with humanity. Yet they do, and are worthy of respect because of that role. He is telling us that it is worth more than everything else. 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 he has, and buys that field. (Matthew 13:44). They speak skeptically and will refer to Him only as this Man.. A furnace of fire represents one destiny and radiant glory (shine forth as the sun) the other destiny. Let me ask you to think that the true treasure for a man lies in the kingdom of God. Divide your class into at least two relay race teams. Consider the words of Jim Elliot, He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose. The emphasis is not on what we give up, but on the unfathomable new life that is being offered to us. And for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field: The treasure so wonderful that Jesus would give all to purchase is the individual believer. 44 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. The person has a change of heart, and he or she truly wants to do Gods will. Application: The point of these two parables is the great value of being a part of Gods kingdom. Eventually he came again into the city and there he pronounced solemn and serious words of judgment against the nation. I have this beautiful fruit. It was a partial demonstration, never complete, never full. As opposition began to mount against him and resistance to his message increased, our Lord withdrew from Jerusalem and went out into the desert. They put their trust in Jesus. Click to enable/disable essential site cookies. THE PARABLE OF THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE "Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a merchant seeking fine pearls" (v. 45). So it will be at the end of the age. The nation's glory was gone. He felt the condemnation of a righteous God. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!" But when King Solomon met her he began to give presents to her, and his outweighed hers by far. I can take a bite and taste the amazing flavors. Matthew 13:44 Meaning of Heaven Is like Treasure Hidden in a Field Oct 15, 2020 by Editor in Chief Matthew 13:44 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. These were men of the Word, and when our Lord spoke this parable, they would clearly remember the words of Exodus19. It is the very ordinariness of Jesus home background that causes the astonishment (cf. a. He is saying that you should be willing to. Then she asked him for the secret and Solomon took her to the temple and there he showed her the worship of Jehovah, showed her how this nation was related to the God of glory and that it was their understanding of God which produced the magnificence she had seen. He revealed for a brief flash of time the glory that was Israel. It is the best life possible. 13:45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Jesus came and offered the kingdom. The man who finds the treasure does not simply take it. God wants ALL people to believe in Jesus and enter into His kingdom (1 Peter 2:9). You cannot read the Gospel stories without seeing that there came a time in our Lord's ministry when he began to change his message and turn away from the proclamation that the kingdom of heaven was at hand, that he was there in their midst. And as we go through life we are the people who some day discover him. [That is, Israel had obviously stumbled at that time, but have they fallen completely?] For more than four hundred years Israel had been an obscure, tiny little nation. The person who finds the treasure joyfully "sells all" to buy the field (13:44). This story is very much like the first parable. I hope you never open your Bibles without the sense that here is a book which gives you vital, inside information which you can get from no other source and which will help you to understand yourself, and life, and the mystery of history, more than you possibly could in any other way. There would be a partial failure of the seed of the Word because of the conditions of some of the hearts into which it fell. Next, the thorny soil stood for those people who trust Gods word and begin to bear fruit. Read the Scripture: Matthew 13:44 In the great series of parables in Matthew 13 our Lord gave us, as he said, "The secrets of the kingdom of heaven." The kingdom of heaven is God's work among men, God's rule and authority in the midst of human affairs. Commentary on Matthew 13:24-30. When the world sees again a visible manifestation of what God intends a nation to do, then the nations will learn world peace. In the interpretation of the parable, the case described is that of a man who, not having started in the pursuit of holiness or truth, is brought by the seeming accidents of lifea chance meeting, a word spoken in season, the example of a living holinessto the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus, i.e., to Christ Himself, and who, finding in Him a peace and joy above all earthly treasure, is ready to sacrifice the lower wealth in order to obtain the higher. The tares represent false believers in the world, the sons of the wicked one, who (like tares among wheat) may superficially look like Gods true people. So, if there are some among us here, who, like Israel, have temporarily turned away from God and have been walking away from him, who may, like Israel, once have had sweet fellowship with the Lord but lately have been resisting, have turned aside and gone back, have lost faith and now are wandering in perplexity, puzzlement, and bewilderment, in obscurity, weakness, and defeat, nevertheless God's promises to you are just as sure as they are to Israel. Paul says of Israel, So I ask, have they stumbled so as to fall? Say: Jesus continued by telling another, similar parable. Julian the apostate, as he is called, once asked a certain Christian, What do you think the carpenters son is doing now? Making coffins for you and for all his enemies, was the prompt reply. (Spurgeon). 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 shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. All rights reserved. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a trader who was looking for fine pearls. But in that same parable he said that an enemy would come and sow tares, or weeds, are that these would grow up right alongside the wheat. God has not forgotten Israel. i. These two parables speak of how highly the King values the people of His kingdom. Jesus came, he says, and found a treasure hidden in humanity. I. That is why it is not enough to preach the gospel to people; you must also live it. Such that have ability and leisure, may consult a controversy in Philostratus (l), between two persons, the buyer and seller of a field; in which, after the purchase, a treasure was found, when the seller claimed it as his; urging, that had he known of it, he would never have sold him the field: the buyer, on the other hand, insisted on its being his property; alleging that all was his which was contained in the land bought by him. 'The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. The oyster creates a coating that covers the sand or shell. This is like the kingdom of God because it grows in the hearts of believers, and it grows throughout the world as more and more people enter the kingdom. Where then did this Man get all these things?. They have not yet grasped again the lost secret of their nation -- that the nation which walks in right relationship to him, God will heal. We often think that spiritual people will be much more strange than normal. They fit together but they are not talking about exactly the same thing. So the secret of world peace is wrapped up, bound up, in this strange nation, Israel. When I peel it, you cant smell it like I can smell it. These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features. The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl. Matthew 13, verse 44: "In his joy, he went and sold all he had and bought that field." These two short parables tell the story of the whole Bible. Why is it that for all our professed ideals, our hopes, and our skills, peace on earth is still a distant objective seen only dimly through the storms and turmoils of our present difficulties?". A buried treasure and a pricy pearl Matthew 13:44-46 44 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. Jesus wants it to grow! b. The Word of God. He was in Israel not long ago. He went into the city riding upon an ass in fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah, "Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on an ass, on a colt the foal of an ass," (Matthew 21:5, Zechariah 9:9). There is additional significance in saying, The field is the world instead of The field is Israel. This brief statement presupposes a mission beyond Israel. (Carson). In these actions, the power of that which has been found is seen to be at work. But it is very evident that neither has found this secret. With a view of obtaining this, Jesus says that a man would go and sell his property and buy the field. Even the Jewish people themselves misunderstand it to a large degree. Only when Israel comes again into its right relationship to God is it ever possible to have world peace. Or maybe the field was for sale and the man was looking it over before deciding whether to buy it. That is the story of the gospels. Now, what is it? When the man found the treasure, he could have covered it back up, gone about his business, and forgotten all about it. i. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field." Explanation and Commentary of Matthew 13:44 Jesus makes it clear that we should not let anything keep us from entering the kingdom of God. Instantly, the man knew that the treasure was incredibly valuable. They concern things which are not quite as easily seen in the historical process. The reason he joyfully goes and sells all that he has and buys that field, is that the man understands its true value. The previous three parables (the wheat and the tares, the mustard seed, and the leaven) each spoke of corruption in the kingdom community. Israel, therefore is not a unique, select people, but rather is a people chosen to demonstrate the kind of relationship that God wants to have with every other people on earth. Matthew 13:45 "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. But is it only a dream? - Matthew 13:44, Props: Small plate of fruit, dark glasses, bandana; Strand of pearls (artificial is fine). This man was like the people who had listened to Gods promises of long ago, and were waiting for the Messiah, the Savior, to come. The old Puritan commentator John Trapp here remarked that unbelief was A sin of that venomous nature, that it transfuseth, as it were, a dead palsy into the hands of omnipotency., 2018 David Guzik No distribution beyond personal use without permission. They are intended to demonstrate how any nation can be blessed and fulfilled and find prosperity and peace and harmony and happiness if they discover the secret of their relationship to God. In the short course of the three and a half years of our Lord's ministry he uncovered the treasure of Israel, the secret of this nation's life. Yet the point is clear, both in the world and in the kingdom community. Nederlandstalige Bijbelstudies door Stan Marinussen, Copyright - Enduring Word       |      . So did Jesus himself, at the utmost cost, buy the world to gain his church, which was the treasure which he desired. (Spurgeon), Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.. Thank your volunteer. The treasure was too great to forget about! Is this not the carpenters son: Because these villagers were familiar with Jesus as a boy and accustomed to unspectacular things from Him, we may conclude that Jesus must have grown up a very normal boy unlike the fantastic stories told in apocryphal books like The Infancy of Jesus. 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His kingdom treasure was incredibly valuable a merchant man, seeking goodly:. Us that it is the very ordinariness of Jesus home background that causes the astonishment ( cf to,!