[That is, when Israel comes back into its right relationship with God, how much more blessing will this world understand and realize when they see worked out before their eyes what a nation can be with God in its midst!] Or we can see Gods kingdom, full of peace, love, forgiveness, freedom, and joy, and want that more than anything else. ii. But even that partial realization was a magnificent model of what God could do with any nation. But there would be one kind of heart in which the seed would grow up into a harvest and produce fruit. These two parables speak of how highly the King values the people of His kingdom. The person has a change of heart, and he or she truly wants to do Gods will. Jesus came, he says, and found a treasure hidden in humanity. Then, as you can read in Mark's Gospel, our Lord went into the temple and he stopped the sacrifices. I have never forgotten something I learned years ago when in Hawaii. But is it only a dream? Usually people take it to mean that God has chosen the Jews for a special destiny, to mean that they are to have special and uniquely privileged treatment, different than any other nation enjoys. 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. Yet it can also be asked out of deep appreciation of the fact that the Son of God took such a noble, lowly place. 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. Yet the point is clear, both in the world and in the kingdom community. 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. He uncovered it. The United Nations exists for this very purpose. And when we know the value of what we have as members of the kingdom, shouldnt we share it with everyone we know? This insulting question seems to intimate that our Lords family was a very obscure one; and that they were of small repute among their neighbours, except for their piety. Clarke), iii. Click to enable/disable _ga - Google Analytics Cookie. " This seems like a very imaginative story to us, but to the people Jesus was talking to, this would not have been all that uncommon. iii. Special thanks to John R. Cross, The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus, GoodSeed International. Something was hidden, lost in the human race, but he uncovered it. The nation's glory was gone. 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. Never, anywhere in Scripture is salvation ever offered to us as something we have to buy, or can buy. So according to the parable he hid the treasure again. You can see that these parables are very much alike. Their hearts receive the message of the kingdom, and the seed takes root and produces lots of spiritual fruit. Ed, Issue 46, Winter 2023. 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? 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. 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). A furnace of fire represents one destiny and radiant glory (shine forth as the sun) the other destiny. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. And he bought that field. Jodi has over 20 years experience teaching children in large and small group settings. Say: Jesus continued by telling another, similar parable. 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. This parable tells us that. They will come and study this little nation of Israel in which the secret of world peace has always been hidden, the strange, chosen nation for which our Lord gave his life. The reference, as in the weeds, is not primarily to a mixed church, but to the division among mankind in general which the last judgment will bring to light. (France), Jesus said to them, Have you understood all these things? They said to Him, Yes, Lord. Then He said to them, Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.. The problem with his emerald treasure was that there was a limited supply. When a person sees it and hears it, it is his duty to sacrifice all that hinders his obtaining it, and to seek it with the earnestness with which other people seek for gold. So we already have clues as to what these mean.The man in these parables is always Jesus himself. If you have that, you are rich; if you do not possess it, you are poor. But the wonderful thing the Lord tells us here is that he has not given up his purpose. Eventually he came again into the city and there he pronounced solemn and serious words of judgment against the nation. It is listening to His voice. 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. It is a visible example to all mankind of the way God deals with humanity. 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. Otherwise you will be prompted again when opening a new browser window or new a tab. That is what our Lord wants us to ask. a. Listen for answers. When our Lord covered the treasure over it was hidden completely in the field of humanity again. And yet they are extremely controlling of human events. Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? e. Will cast them into the furnace of firethe righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father: Jesus used this parable to clearly illustrate the truth that there are two different paths and eternal destinies. Earlier he had pronounced judgment on the outlying cities: "Woe to you, Chorazin! 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. After you have been instructed by me, you have the knowledge, not only of the things you used to know, but of things you never knew before, and even the knowledge which you had before is illuminated by what I have told to you. (Barclay), iv. 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. He entered into all of that. We want to be the kind of good soil that Jesus talked about. That means obedience. The rocky places stood for the people who like hearing Gods word at first, but they dont let it take root in their hearts. Our heavenly Father, how we thank you for the marvelous truth that you, Lord, have bought the world, that it belongs to you, and that you shall some day rule and reign in power and glory in its midst and all your promises shall be fulfilled. Now notice, secondly, the concealment of the treasure. 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.. And there it remains until our Lord's return. How often would have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! John 6:42). (France), ii. Is this not the carpenters son: This question was asked out of ignorant prejudice. 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. Ask: Does anyone know where pearls come from? It was now subject to the Romans, crushed under the heel of an iron-hearted oppressor. 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. But, nevertheless, the Scriptures tell us that the secret is hidden from men until it be revealed through Israel. So he went and sold everything he had. You see, as our Lord indicates, it is something related to the field, to humanity. Subject to permissions policy, all rights reserved. Instead, he leaves it there, sells everything he has, and buys the field in order to get the treasure it contains. He chose them to be a representative nation, to be a working model of what a nation ought to be, in order that other nations might share that knowledge. As opposition began to mount against him and resistance to his message increased, our Lord withdrew from Jerusalem and went out into the desert. By that he indicated that the privilege of demonstrating the grace of God would he taken from Israel and given to the church. These were the best she had to offer. The word peace is on everyone's lips today. If our country forgets that, it will lose its ability to stand as a nation among the other nations of the world. This was a great surprise! Though they are surrounded and ringed by enemies armed to the teeth who are vowing to wipe every Jew off the face of the earth, Nevertheless, as is obvious, they do not understand the secret of their own life and are trying to produce peace and stability by democratic methods and consensus and compromise. 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. III. Nederlandstalige Bijbelstudies door Stan Marinussen, Copyright - Enduring Word | . Treasure seekers searched the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the Indian Ocean to find oysters with pearls inside. The discoveries disrupt normal daily life and priorities; they require risk and sacrifice. He probably laid awake each night thinking about the treasure until it was his. a. 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. This powerfully shows how Jesus gave everything to redeem the whole world to preserve a treasure in it, and the treasure is His people. When a man found it, he hid it again. I. Pearls were especially valuable in Jesus day. That is Israel's purpose and there was a time in their developing history when it was partially fulfilled. Application: When we discover that we can enter Gods kingdom, we have a choice to make, just as the man in the field did. Put dark glasses on her and tie the handkerchief LOOSELY to cover her nose and mouth (bandit style). They said to Him, Yes, Lord. We wonder if the disciples really did understand Jesus here. The first four parables, at which we have already looked, were delivered by the Sea of Galilee on a single memorable occasion when Jesus spoke to a great crowd who gathered about him. 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. [That is, Israel had obviously stumbled at that time, but have they fallen completely?] 45 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. This casts special scorn upon the great evil angel. That means a recognition of his healing power, and of the fact forgiveness is available for all the injuries and mistakes and wrong doings of our past. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. a. We have nothing to offer him, nothing that we can give in return. So they were offended at Him. Place your hands together like an oyster shell. b. So they were offended at Him: When we think of how strongly Jesus is identified with Nazareth (see at Matthew 2:23), it is even more surprising to note that the people of Nazareth did not appreciate it. Click to enable/disable essential site cookies. He was very happy. And do you know that all this is not without its application to us as individuals as well? Take off the glasses and bandana and allow the volunteer to eat the fruit. Therefore, those closest to truly spiritual people see just how normal they are and sometimes think that they arent spiritual because they are normal. 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