The Parables of the Treasure and the Pearl (Mat. 13:44-45)
44 “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.”
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; 46 on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
Some choices in life are difficult because choosing the better necessarily means leaving behind the good. A new job in a different place, complete with new dream home, an ideal church, and good folk in the community might mean the necessity of getting rid of all your belongings and leaving behind friendships in order to accept the new position. Some people would gladly embrace the new while others might refuse the new offer in favor of the familiarity of and satisfaction with the old. But in either case, the decision would be filled with both gladness and sorrow because it would involve both loss of and gain.
This is one of the key dynamics in these two parables. We will begin with joy – “then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field” – which is the hallmark of kingdom life. (In the Parable of the Talents found in Mt. 25:14, the master says to the servant, “Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.”) But we need to be cognizant of the fact that while joy may be the only emotion mentioned in the Parable of the Treasure, it is not the only emotion in the story. The joy of the new possession is preceded by the loss of “all that he has.” There may be no comparison between the newfound joy and the loss (in fact, the joy is incomparably greater than the loss), but the sorrow of loss is absolutely necessary before the joy can be embraced.
If the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure in a field or a pearl of exceeding value, why is it that some people do not embrace it? It is not because there is anything wrong with the kingdom; it is rather that they value too highly that which they already have. For them the immediate loss outweighs the potential of kingdom joy. (More will be said about this in the next essay.)
Beyond the context of joy, there is a fundamental tension within the kingdom that is revealed in the parables. On the one hand, the kingdom of heaven is accessible to anyone. Or, if we stick with the market theme, the “price” of the kingdom is affordable for anyone. In fact even if one is financially or morally bankrupt they are not excluded from the kingdom; they simply have to be prepared to sell all that they have and follow Christ. “You that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Isa. 55:1).
But the other side of the coin is that while it is affordable for anyone, it will cost the buyer everything. “He went and sold all that he had and bought it” (v. 46). This is precisely why it is more difficult for a rich (or self-righteous, which is a form of moral wealth) person to enter the kingdom (Mat. 19:23). By kingdom standards all of us have no wealth and absolutely no bargaining position. But if I do consider myself rich in any way, paying the price of all my wealth for the treasure is a high price indeed.
Consider the people who were attracted to Jesus: women, the unclean, the morally questionable, and children. None of these classes of people could make it on their own standing in the religious society of Jesus’ day. And yet all of them could afford the price of entrance into the kingdom of heaven. In contrast, the morally rich – the scribes and Pharisees – looked down their nose at Jesus and rejected his offer as worthless rubbish.
The kingdom of heaven is affordable but it is anything but free. Let’s consider another facet of what Jesus is saying. Rather than looking at it in market terms, let’s consider it in terms of the cost of discipleship. The Apostle Paul is fond of two very different metaphors for salvation one is economic/judicial in character and the other is athletic/military. Salvation is free in the judicial sense that I have been “redeemed” (a judicial term that has very strong economic overtones for the Hebrew people. See the Book of Ruth.) With this metaphor Paul is addressing the issue of affordability. But Paul also addresses the high cost of discipleship.
25 Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. 26 So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; 27 but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified. (1 Cor 9:25-27)
This is a theme that we will run across time and again in the Gospels and it stands in stark contrast to the popular conception of salvation held in America. The received version is that salvation is very costly for God and free for us. What we have discovered in considering the tension of “free” and “costly” is that such a view is true as far as it goes, but incorrect because it is incomplete.
This is one of the great (possibly the greatest) difference in emphasis between Orthodox and Protestant theology. Protestant theology tends to see salvation as strictly a God thing. In Mat. 13 we see the kingdom presented as an offer from God that must be taken hold of by humans at great cost to them. The Apostle Paul is certainly correct in saying that the gift is free (Rom. 5:15 for instance, “But the free gift is not like the trespass …”), but what we see in Matthew (as well as Paul in 1 Cor. 9, above) is that there are strings of responsibility attached to that free gift. Taking the gift necessarily means taking the responsibility that goes along with the gift. While the burden of that responsibility is light and the yoke easy (as God counts “light” and “easy”), the very act of taking hold of the gift will cost us everything we have: The merchant, “on finding one pearl of great value … went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
Lest this sound burdensome and undesirable, we need to always remember kingdom joy. The person buying the field in order to procure the treasure, in his joy sells everything he has in order to buy it. The treasure is not only of great value, it's a bargain, no matter what it costs us in commitment. The treasure is a tremendous value procured at a tremendous cost, but the cost to us is ultimately insignificant because it is a tremendous joy to have.
We can extend the teaching of these two parables beyond the mere point of cost, affordability, and value. The obvious subtext of these parables is that the kingdom of heaven is not simply one option among many, it is rather the only option, something that is qualitatively different than every other option out there. Once confronted with the kingdom, it is simply crazy to consider anything else. Once the pearl is discovered, we are compelled by joy to grasp hold of it at any cost.
These parables cast a different light on Jesus’ claim, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Jesus’ claim is exclusive to be sure, but it is not merely a narrow exclusivity in the sense of “I’m right and you're wrong.” It is also speaking of a qualitative difference. Someone wants to buy a boat and there are two available. One is a worn out wooden affair with holes that need to be fixed before it is seaworthy, and joints that are so old that it is questionable whether it will even hold together in the water. The other is a brand new fiberglass (or aluminum – choose your favorite) affair with internal buoys and a state of the art four stroke motor. The two boats are the same price, but given the options, there is actually only one choice. The wooden boat so qualitatively different the other boat is the only possible choice. And this brings us full circle to where we started this meditation: This is the joy (in contrast to the oft-perceived sternness) of Christ’s offer of the kingdom of heaven.
