The bigger and more perfectly round the pearl, the more valuable it is. Is this not the carpenters son? For more than four hundred years Israel had been an obscure, tiny little nation. i. 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. But when King Solomon met her he began to give presents to her, and his outweighed hers by far. In 1998, a man named James Hill found a small cave full of emeralds on his familys property in North Carolina. b. This storehouse contains things new and old. In the days of David, and especially in those of Solomon who followed, the world beat a path to Israel to see what God was doing. III. 13:45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: 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 He felt the condemnation of a righteous God. A great misinterpretation of these parables has developed, quite without any basis in the systematic interpretation of symbols in Scripture, which has hidden their true meaning. Treasure seekers searched the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the Indian Ocean to find oysters with pearls inside. Subject to permissions policy, all rights reserved. The sacred writings should be his treasure, and he should properly understand them his knowledge consists in being well instructed in the things concerning the kingdom of heaven, and the art of conducting men thither. (Clarke), v. Ministers of the gospel should not be novices, 1 Timothy 3:6, raw and ignorant men; but men mighty in the Scriptures, well acquainted with the writings of the Old and New Testament, and the sense of them; men that have a stock of spiritual knowledge, able readily to speak a word to the weary, and to speak to men and womens particular cases and questions. (Poole), Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, that He departed from there. The rocky places stood for the people who like hearing Gods word at first, but they dont let it take root in their hearts. The battle is over the control of man who was created by God and was endowed by God with the power of choice. But is it only a dream? Click to enable/disable _ga - Google Analytics Cookie. i. And Congress is trying to put its finger on where you begin and how you relate peace of heart in an individual to peace among men. Jesus makes it clear that we should not let anything keep us from entering the kingdom of God. She was no inconsiderable monarch herself. Instead, Jesus is the man who gave all that He had to buy the field. 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. 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?". 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. The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls: Again, Jesus is the buyer and the individual believer is the pearl that He sees as so valuable that He would happily give all to have it forever. I can take a bite and taste the amazing flavors. 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). Next week we will go on to see how this parable ties very closely with the next one, the parable of the pearl of great price. i. And do you know that all this is not without its application to us as individuals as well? Then, building on that, in the second parable the Lord said that he would take the sons of the kingdom, who are produced by the seed of the Word, and sow them like wheat throughout the world. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field." Basic Supply List: Bible Construction Paper Crayons Candy Bar Sensory Table or large tote Rice 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. i. 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. Instead, they are a call for us to desire the kingdom above all else. The "sea" here is clearly the world, since that is where people are gathered from by the angels (Matt. It represents the experience, not of a careless or a profane man, who stumbles suddenly upon the Gospel when he was in in search of other things, but of one who is awakened, and has begun to seek the true religion, endeavouring to add attainment to attainment sincerely, according to his light. His conscience is uneasy. The point of the parables is completely different; the parable of the soils shows how men receive and respond to the Word of God, and the parable of the tares of the field shows how God will divide His true people from false believers at the end of this age. It is a visible example to all mankind of the way God deals with humanity. Jodi has over 20 years experience teaching children in large and small group settings. When the man found the treasure, he could have covered it back up, gone about his business, and forgotten all about it. (Just as a comparison, the diamond on a womans wedding ring may be about one-quarter or one-half of a carat.) Then it is up to us to sell all that we have, give it all up, and buy him at any cost. Say: This summer we have been studying the parables that Jesus taught. Eventually he came again into the city and there he pronounced solemn and serious words of judgment against the nation. We can see the treasure and we can just go back to our old way of life. It sure was, and it was right in the mans own backyard! 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. By that he indicated that the privilege of demonstrating the grace of God would he taken from Israel and given to the church. The person has a change of heart, and he or she truly wants to do Gods will. When the world sees again a visible manifestation of what God intends a nation to do, then the nations will learn world peace. It is having His peace, His joy, His love, and His power. We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. But such is not the case; God did not choose Israel for that purpose. Last week, we read Jesus parable about the four soils. Jesus came and offered the kingdom. But there would be one kind of heart in which the seed would grow up into a harvest and produce fruit. And His sisters, are they not all with us? Thank God for those documents, but they have no power to hold us together as a people, to preserve our national liberties or our national life. And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? ii. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field." (Matthew 13:44) In our day, we can store treasure in the bank or in a safe deposit box. He is not weary of the old; he is not afraid of the new. (Spurgeon), i. All this has happened exactly as our Lord said and all of it is visible in history. You remember that in the first parable our Lord informed us by means of the story that he would engage in a great sowing of the Word of God throughout the world and that it would fall on four kinds of hearts. Jesus is speaking in parables to describe the kingdom of heaven. It is recorded in the motto of that fiftieth state. Yet it can also be asked out of deep appreciation of the fact that the Son of God took such a noble, lowly place. These two parables speak of how highly the King values the people of His kingdom. '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. Politicians have struggled for centuries to try to find the secret of world peace. We may request cookies to be set on your device. You can check these in your browser security settings. 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. 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. And now, lastly, let us look at the point where the parables converge. (Romans 11:11-14 RSV), For if their rejection means the reconciIiation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? The success and glory of Jesus seemed only to make them more resentful towards Him. When they were cut and polished, they were worth millions of dollars. He was in Israel not long ago. (Matthew uses the phrase kingdom of heaven while the other authors use kingdom of God, but they are one and the same.) (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. But our treasure - our immeasurably better treasure - has no limit! The kingdom of heaven is God's work among men, God's rule and authority in the midst of human affairs. Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean! 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. i. . Say: Jesus often used parables to teach what the kingdom of God is like. It seems by this parable, according to the Jewish laws, that not the finder of a treasure in a field, but the owner of the field, had the propriety in it; when it should seem rather, that it ought to be divided. 4. Now notice, secondly, the concealment of the treasure. And they would remember the words of Psalm 135:4: For the Lord hath chosen Jacob [another name for Israel] unto himself for his peculiar treasure. The treasure was too great to forget about! I have this beautiful fruit. 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. Now we turn to these three private parables given to the disciples: The parable of the hidden treasure, the parable of the pearl of great price, and the parable of the dragnet. But you know what happened. In this parable, we learned that different people hear Gods truth and accept it in different ways. Yet they had lost the secret of their own lives. The main idea is that the disciples who had just claimed to understand what Jesus taught are now responsible to bring forth their understanding to others, as if they were distributing from the storehouse of their wisdom and understanding. 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. As time goes on, the sand is coated with more and more layers of this coating. And then he went and gave all that he had and bought the field in which it is hidden. This parable may be understood of Christ's seeking, finding, and purchasing his elect: for, certain it is, that he has sought after them; which implies, that they were lost and going astray; expresses his great love to them, value for them, and desire after them; in doing which, he took much pains, and used much diligence: and certain it also is, I want them to have it in the fullest possible way. (John 10:10). Changes will take effect once you reload the page. "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the spirit forces that are in high places." 5. 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). It was a partial demonstration, never complete, never full. That treasure is the lost secret of how to get along with other nations, how to discover peace and prosperity and happiness and all the many results of peace that men have been seeking after for centuries. Jodi has a passion for Biblical ac More, The Net Pastors Journal, Eng. But Jesus came to make the kingdom available to everyone (Mark 1:15). Augustine made the interpretation official struggling against the DonatistsMost Reformers followed the same line. (Carson). If you want to see how God will act with you as an individual then look at the way he has been acting with Israel as a nation. Yesterday I spent a few hours with Dr.Billy Graham. (Matthew 13:44-46 RSV). The life of this land, like that of any other land, is preserved by righteousness. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. But in our own time we are facing an amazing wonder, one of the most remarkable things that has ever taken place in the annals of men, and one of the most dramatic demonstrations of the truth of the Word of God! What a beautiful dream. In these two parables our Lord is telling us the reasons for the cross. Thus the extravagance of the parable dramatizes the supreme importance of the kingdom. (Carson), ii. Check to enable permanent hiding of message bar and refuse all cookies if you do not opt in. he said (Matthew 23:13, et al). Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" Pearls were especially valuable in Jesus day. These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features. The oyster creates a coating that covers the sand or shell. 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. "Many turned back," the record says, "and no longer walked with him," (John 6:66). I want to read these twin parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price because they link so closely together, although we will look only at the first one this morning. Through the pages of the Word of God we are afforded tremendous insights into life. Notice that there are two things in this story which are immediately recognizable because we have had them before. Next, the thorny soil stood for those people who trust Gods word and begin to bear fruit.

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