What is the Kingdom of God Worth to You?

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting at St. Alban’s Park Community Room
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. 665 Selby Ave. in St. Paul, MN Info: (651) 283-0568 www.dtminc.org Today’s Date: February 27, 2005
What is the Kingdom of God Worth to You?
by Dan Trygg

"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. 45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, 46 and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it." Matthew 13:44-46

We have been working through the parables about the Kingdom of God, which Jesus delivered to the crowds on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Matthew records four parables delivered to the crowds, and three more which He shared with the disciples alone. After these, there is one more cryptic word picture which was also uttered to the disciples privately. We have looked at the four publicly stated parables, the parable of the soils, the parable of the tares among the wheat, the parable of the mustard seed, and the parable of the leaven. Now we will look at a couple of the word pictures which Jesus shared with His disciples in private. I was surprised to discover that these two parables are recorded only by Matthew. I have heard countless references to them all of my Christian life. While they are powerful and vivid, they were not chosen to be included in all of the first three gospels. That does not at all diminish their importance, however. They are the words of our Lord to His followers, and "he who has ears to hear, let him hear".

The two parables are very similar. In both cases, the person finds something of great value, which he then goes and sells all that he has in order to procure. In both cases, what he purchases is worth much more than the price he had to pay. Let’s take a closer look at the parables, before making any more comments.

In the case of the man who found a treasure hidden in the field, why did he go to buy the property? Why didn’t he just take the treasure? Obviously he was walking through someone else’s property, which was not uncommon. People walked everywhere in those days, and no one thought anything of taking a shortcut across someone else’s land (cf. Matt. 12:1). Apparently, as he was trudging through this field, he noticed something unusual, or stumbled across something, that made him aware of something hidden in the ground. He began digging and discovered a treasure. We don’t know what form this treasure was in, or how big it was. It was clearly worth more than the price of an entire field, so it must have been substantial. It could have been hidden by wealthy landowners of a previous generation during a time of war. There were probably indications that it had been there some time, and was probably long forgotten. Such treasure caches were not unheard of. In fact, archaeologists are still finding them today, thousands of years later. The man had a dilemma. He may have found the treasure, but he had no legal claim to it. It was on another man’s property. By rights, it belonged to the landowner. If he tried to take any of it, he could be discovered, and the owner would then take the remainder of the treasure. Furthermore, he could be accused of stealing. The only way to get a clear legal claim to the treasure was to purchase the property himself. Once the landowner sold the property and moved his things out, whatever remained belonged to the new owner. So the treasure finder reburied the treasure and immediately went and sold all that he had so that he could afford to purchase the property, along with the treasure contained therein.

The next parable is similar. Here a merchant trader was looking for fine pearls. The word translated "merchant" was used for people who traveled around looking for goods to purchase at wholesale and to sell to retailers or buyers elsewhere. It was his business to travel far and wide, to uncover the best deals, and then sell to others, who would then retail the merchandise. Such a person may also have made connections with wealthy people who would communicate their interest in the kinds of goods he dealt with. If he came across some especially valuable merchandise, or merchandise which one of these people were particularly interested in, the merchant would know he had a ready market. In such cases the tradesman could make a larger profit, because he eliminated the middleman. The merchant in Jesus’ parable was seeking or searching for good pearls. Like gems and precious stones, pearls come in a wide variety of shapes, color and size. There is a very complex system of grading pearls today, as there was back in Biblical times. On his travels, the merchant came across a pearl of outstanding quality and size. To his trained eye, it was so exceptional that he was climbing out of his skin with excitement. Furthermore, while the owner of the pearl was asking for a large sum of money for the pearl, it was nowhere near what the pearl would be worth, if offered for sale to the right people. The merchant realized here was the deal of a lifetime. The amount of money he would be able to make off that one exquisite pearl was way more than everything he currently owned. When you think about it, going home and selling all you have, property, house, and goods is no easy task. It would require a lot of time, effort and inconvenience on his part. Yet, it was not even a moment’s hesitation in this man’s mind. He immediately departed to go back home, and sold everything he had in order to purchase that pearl.

The point is clear, isn’t it? The Kingdom of God is like that. Wait, what does it mean that "the Kingdom of God is like" that? Most of us think in terms of salvation being like that. Certainly Jesus speaks about this in Matthew 16:24-27, doesn’t He? "Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. 25 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds." Take note of what Jesus said, and what He did not say. He did not say, "If anyone wants their ticket out of hell, let him believe in Me, and he will get it." In Matthew 16, Jesus’ offer is for those who wish to follow Him. Those who wish to follow Him must deny themselves and take up their cross (a sign of shame and death) in order to do so.

In Matthew 13, the treasure in the field, or the pearl of great price, is not compared to salvation, but to the Kingdom of God. Discovering and becoming part of God’s rule and reign in the earth is what is worth giving everything to get. Without question, salvation is one part of that, but it is not the focus of Jesus’ teaching. I challenge you to go back to the start of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 4:12 and page through the book. You will notice that Jesus does speak of repenting, and about the Kingdom of God, but He is strangely silent (to our ears) regarding getting your ticket to avoid eternal punishment. For the most part, His focus is on what you do here and now. When He speaks of the future, it is to warn us of accountability to God, and the resulting punishment for those who disregard Him, as well as the corresponding blessing to those who do His will. If there is one thing that comes out of a skimming of the book, it is that God is calling us to follow Jesus as subjects obey a king. We are here to do His will in the here and now. Here and now is the focus, not the pie in the sky by and by when you die that many people talk about. Discovering the will of God is the treasure. That in itself is worth selling everything for.

The implication is that knowing God’s will means that you will choose to do it. What is the value of knowing it, if you don’t do it? Jesus’ enemies, …the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees…, those who eventually killed Him, were people who were well educated in what God’s will entailed, but they were not doing it. They had manufactured a multitude of ways to justify themselves, but the bottom line was they were not people who did God’s will.

God does not care what you know. He cares what you do with what you know. The good news (the "gospel") in the first century was that God’s reign was coming, …was near at hand…, and you could join the number of His loyal followers. It didn’t matter what you had done in the past; it didn’t matter if you were from a respected family line or of a noble pedigree; it didn’t matter how much money you had, or how much education you had, etc. All that mattered was that you recognized that Jesus was indeed the God-sent King and Deliverer, and you were willing to devote yourself to Him and to doing His will. For us in the 21st century, the good news is that we know who the Messianic King is, and His Kingdom has been set in motion on planet earth. We are given the great opportunity of joining the movement of those who are aligned with Him as their King and are active followers of His purposes. The great Treasure, the Pearl of Great Price, is God’s Kingdom! We have the incredible opportunity to escape the deception and bondage of this world system and the prince of darkness, and join with God and work to set other people free to do His will. Sure, if we do God’s will we will have His approval and His blessing. Sure, if we stop sinning, we will escape the harmful consequences of our behavior, and He has offered amnesty from His judgment to those who align themselves with Jesus. If we do His will, we will reap the rewards of His blessing, which do not necessarily worldly prosperity, but which certainly include joy, righteousness, peace, sound-mindedness and the ability to overcome what the world, the flesh and the devil throw at us. It is peace with God and intimacy with Him in the Holy Spirit. It is discovering who we really are and accomplishing great things with God in the lives of others. The Kingdom is the treasure. Being able to be part of that Kingdom is worth laying everything else down to obtain.

Make no mistake. God wants people who are serious about following Him. That is what it is all about. There is a false gospel out there that would say that if we believe in Jesus, then we get our ticket. While I would agree that there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation, either before or after we believe, God is looking for those who are ready and eager to do His will. He has great patience for those who struggle, but He has no patience for those who would mock Him by calling on His name, but having no real intent to serve Him. Do you really want to do His will? Do you really want to align with His Kingdom? Are you willing to give up any and everything that gets in the way of that? Then rejoice in the promise that the way to a new life of service to God is open to you.