The Parable of the Hidden Treasure
The Word of God is from Matthew chapter 13, verses 44 to 46.
“‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.’ ‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.’”
Amen.
The passage we will examine today is the Parable of the Treasure and the Pearl, and these short parables form a pair. Many of you have probably encountered this parable of Jesus multiple times through various sermons.
Parable of the Treasure and the Pearl, Common Misunderstanding: A Parable of Dedication and Sacrifice?
We know well that the treasure mentioned here, as Jesus Himself said, signifies the kingdom of heaven, that is, the kingdom of God. Therefore, we usually understand this parable as a message that it is right to dedicate everything and sacrifice for that precious kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God. So, this passage has often been preached as a parable teaching about our dedication or the lifestyle of believers. However, today, let's approach the truth pointed to by this parable with the mindset of studying it a bit more deeply.
Rediscovering Value: Joy, Not Sacrifice
First, let's examine together whether the keywords of dedication and sacrifice are included in this parable. Have you ever heard of the painting called ‘Salvator Mundi’? This painting is a portrait of Jesus presumed to have been painted by Leonardo da Vinci around 1500, and it holds the record for the highest price ever at auction, traded for about 450 million US dollars. Now, suppose someone visited an old house and discovered that painting rolling around in a corner. But the owner of the house has no idea of the painting's value. The person who recognized the painting immediately thinks about what they should do to possess it. After pondering, to acquire the painting without the owner realizing their intention, the person tells the owner they want to buy the house. They proposed that if the owner also included all the furniture and decorations in the house along with the house itself, they would add 20% more to the house price. So, let's say they paid the owner 12 million dollars, adding 2 million dollars to the proposed house price of 10 million dollars, and bought the house. It's a very large and fine house, so they paid the large sum of 12 million dollars, but the person willingly used that amount for the house. Because they now owned the masterpiece ‘Salvator Mundi’ by Leonardo da Vinci that they saw in that house. That person joyfully paid the large sum. Initially, no one recognized the true value of this painting, and it was sold for a mere 60 dollars. However, recently, news confirmed that this painting was sold to a wealthy individual in the Middle East for 450 million dollars. Now, if that person recognized the painting's value at a glance and gathered all their assets and loans to pay 12 million dollars to buy the house, would this be self-sacrifice or dedication for them? No. In today's popular terms, it's what you would call hitting the jackpot. Because that person spent 12 million dollars to earn 450 million dollars. Similarly, because we know how precious the kingdom of God is, offering all our possessions cannot be considered sacrifice or dedication. It is a jackpot event for us. Because their values are incomparable. Therefore, what is certain is that Jesus' parable today is not intended to emphasize dedication or sacrifice to us. Rather, it shows us that offering everything we have before the value of the kingdom of God is not sacrifice and dedication, but truly the joy and happiness of a believer.
Treasure Hidden in a Field: Unexpected Grace
Yet, why do we keep thinking of this parable in terms of dedication and sacrifice? Let's examine the reasons one by one now. The treasure hidden in the field appearing in today's parable is hidden and not visible. At that time, banking systems or safe deposit boxes were not well-developed, so many people often put their valuable items or treasures in jars and buried them in their fields or yards for safekeeping. However, if the person who hid it forgot about it or passed away, the treasure would simply remain buried in the ground. One day, a person who appears to be a tenant farmer, not the owner of the land, came to work in the field where such treasure was buried. He must have been plowing the field as usual. While plowing, if you encounter a pit, you fill it, and if stones appear, you break them and clear them away. But at some moment while plowing that field, he hears a strange sound, 'Clank!'. It was different from the sound of an ordinary stone. So, he carefully dug it up and found a jar, and inside it, he discovered precious treasure. He didn't dig it up knowing there was treasure in that field. In short, it could be expressed as ‘Surprised by God’s Grace’. This person was astonished by God's grace. He encountered the completely unexpected grace of God.
Experiences of Grace Seeking Us
In fact, in our lives too, it's rare for God's grace to come to us because we planned to achieve something and decided to receive God's grace. Rather, in many cases, God's treasures, His grace, await us where we least expect them, surprising us. We lived thinking we were the masters of our lives, going in the direction we wanted, living full of ourselves. But there must have been a day for all of us when we suddenly realized that there is someone who loves even this version of ourselves, and we were deeply moved. There are moments when we encounter unexpected grace. I remember the most dramatic testimony I ever heard. A person living in America was driving and looking for a restaurant because they were hungry. They got lost and saw a building with a Korean sign. Thinking it might be a restaurant or place to ask for directions, they went in. Of course, they didn't think it would be a church; they just followed the familiar Korean sign. And the moment they opened the door of the building to look for someone, they witnessed people inside reverently worshiping. Flustered, this person couldn't just open the door again and leave out of politeness, so they just stood there quietly, attended the service together, and naturally listened to the pastor's sermon. Then, the message entered their heart, and that day, by the grace of Jesus, they accepted the gospel. Many of us, too, meet the Lord through such special events that were completely unexpected and unthought-of. In the old days in Korea, during early morning prayer times, many deaconesses and female church members would place their husbands' shoes beside them and pray fervently.
Some of you might remember. They brought their husband's shoes to the church and prayed that the owner of these shoes would come to believe in Jesus. Then one day, some men came to the early morning prayer to fetch their wives and ended up believing in Jesus. Some men dropped their wives off for early morning prayer and waited for the prayer to end. Feeling too cold in the car, they went into the chapel to warm up and heard the gospel. We often hear testimonies of people who were walking down the street, were drawn by the sound of hymns, entered the chapel, and met Jesus. Thus, meeting the Lord often happens in ways completely different from what we planned or thought, occurring in entirely unexpected places far too often.
God's Love That Doesn't Let Us Go
This same thing happens even after we meet Jesus. Even though we meet the Lord, are overcome with emotion, and promise to live loving Him forever, as time passes and our hearts cool, we too easily forget the Lord. While living preoccupied with money and the world, forgetting even the fact that we are children of God, one day, while listening to a sermon, reading the Bible, or praying and singing hymns, we often experience moments of realizing that there is Someone who does not forget even this version of ourselves and holds onto us until the end. You have all probably had experiences of being greatly surprised by the fact that there is a Lord who does not forget even me, who was living a faith life unfaithfully, merely treading the courts of the chapel as the Bible expresses, but still seeks my heart. The saints of the Old Testament were not much different from us. This is God's word spoken through the prophet Hosea. “How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboyim? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused.” In our terms, He is saying, ‘My sons, my daughters, how could I abandon you? My love for you burns within my heart’. How could God's heart be different today? It is precisely God's grace that pursues you and me to the very end. Because grace does not let us go, we can be in this place. Not because of our ability or effort, or our dedication and faith towards God, but precisely because of this grace, because of that God who holds onto me, never letting go, pursuing me to the end, we can exist here now. Thus, we encounter the kingdom of God, His love and reign, at times we didn't expect, in places we didn't anticipate. And that unexpected love of God, that story, is the hidden treasure of the story of the treasure hidden in the field.
The Act of Selling All Possessions: For the Highest Value
Secondly, the lesson we can learn can be found in the image of this farmer who sold all his possessions to buy that field. The subsequent story of the pearl merchant who disposes of all his property to acquire a pearl is similar. Both these incidents are not parables demanding our sacrifice, but stories about the jackpot event we discovered. Thus, through the actions of these two characters, we can see that willingly giving up everything I have for the most important and precious thing is nothing. The existence called 'I' is nothing. Because I knew how precious God is and how glorious His kingdom is, my own things came to be regarded as nothing. You will still remember Paul's confession. ‘When I think of the Lord's kingdom and the grace by which the Lord saved me, everything I possess, all my honors, all my career, abilities, and skills I have built up until now, all of that I have come to regard as dung in the Lord.’ After knowing the Lord, Paul regarded all his own things as nothing. Thus, the act of those who have come to know the Lord denying all they have is truly a remarkable event. So, hearing such stories, we also resolve in our hearts to lay down everything for the Lord's kingdom.
The Price of Life: A Cost We Cannot Pay
Then, let me change the wording and ask you a question. In this parable, what if the price to pay to buy the treasure in the field was your life? What would you do? Then the story would change somewhat. No matter how good the treasure obtained, if I give away my life, I cannot enjoy it. Therefore, even if we pay everything, we probably cannot actually lay down our lives. Similarly, deciding to lay down our lives because the kingdom of God is so precious is not an easy task.
The True Protagonist: Jesus Christ
Therefore, to understand the words of this parable more deeply today, we need to consider the following question. Is there really anyone who could readily lay down their life for this kingdom of God? But there was Someone who did just that. There was a person who laid down His life for the kingdom of God. That's right. Jesus Christ.
Jesus, the Fulfiller of the Parable
However, to understand this parable more clearly, we need to grasp the structure of the story contained within it better. Today's parable is a parable of the kingdom of God. The parable of the treasure hidden in the field is meant to explain what the kingdom of God, that heaven, is like. Then, who is the subject of the kingdom of God? It is God Himself, and Jesus Christ. Because Christ is the King of that kingdom. Therefore, this parable ultimately is not about our sacrifice or dedication, but a parable of heaven, that is, a parable of Jesus Christ. Seen this way, we can understand all the contents of this parable much more clearly. Because Jesus Christ Himself was the unexpected grace. No one ever imagined that Christ would come to a manger. If Jesus had come to the splendid palace of Herod or the Roman Empire, we all would have expected and understood that He was a descendant of kings and that the world would change through Him. But He came at a time no one knew, to a place no one paid attention to, the most humble and lowest place. He came to a place we could never have imagined. At that time, God spoke to the shepherds. “Glory in heaven, and peace on earth.” Who could have understood this? When Jesus was growing up, playing joyfully, who could have recognized that the young Jesus was the Savior who would save the world? No one who lived in the same village knew that He would be the Messiah. Only Mary, Jesus' mother, likely kept God's words hidden in her heart. Thus the Lord came to us.
Christ Who Emptied Himself
Paul speaks of this fact in Philippians chapter 2 like this. “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” He was of the same essence as God, but He did not place Himself in a position equal to God. Rather, He emptied Himself and came down to the level of humans. Emptying oneself is truly a difficult phrase. Most English Bibles translate it as ‘He made Himself nothing’. This seems much closer to the meaning of the original text than our Korean translation. This cannot be anything but astonishing. The fact that God's only begotten Son made Himself nothing. The tenant farmer or the pearl merchant we looked at earlier, who sold all their possessions, were actually admitting that all the possessions they owned were nothing. They are saying themselves that what they have is nothing and they themselves are nothing. Therefore, Jesus Christ is not only the One who taught this parable, but also, at the same time, the One who lived out this parable Himself.
Paying the Price with Life
Jesus appeared in the form of a man, humbled Himself, and obeyed even unto death. He laid down even His precious life. Hearing this parable, we think that if it's such an important and valuable treasure, we might sell everything we have to buy it. But if the price is our life, our one and only life, no one would readily offer it. Yet, there is only One who offered Himself, One who paid the price with His life. This parable is certainly for us, but the One who fulfilled this parable is Jesus. The Lord gave everything for us, even His life.
The True Value of the Kingdom of God: Us
In truth, we were people who didn't even know what we needed, and we had no expectations regarding such things. We were thrown into lives lived only for ourselves, and we just lived that way. We lived thinking that life was just a meaningless cycle: having children like others, raising them, watching them grow, and ending our lives. To find true meaning in such seemingly meaningless lives, we valued morality and ethics, considered those who practiced them well as the finest humans, and tried to create our own value by striving to become such people. Because otherwise, we couldn't find true meaning in our lives. For that, we constantly try to find the reason we were born, explore what we should live for, and strive to live a slightly better life. If life lacked such effort, we might be living lives not much different from the pet dogs we raise with love. Just born like that, merely beings thrown into the world. But there is Someone who says we are not beings thrown meaninglessly like that. If you were beings destined to be thrown into the world and disappear meaninglessly, how could we understand the fact that Someone gave His life for such beings as you?
Everyone! Such amazing grace suddenly came upon us. God gave His Son to us. That Christ became a completely unexpected surprise for us. Because this Son of God who came into us is precisely the King of the kingdom of God. And for that, Jesus paid the price. He gave His life for us and bought the kingdom of God. Now, I will tell you the most important part of today's sermon. If the Lord paid even His life to buy the kingdom of God, what do you think that kingdom of God is? When we think of the kingdom of God, the first thing that comes to mind is that God is King, and it is a place full of His glory. For that, the Lord gave even His life. However, He didn't need to pay His life for God and God's glory. We tend to think of the kingdom of God somewhat abstractly, as we anticipate and praise it. We vaguely think of it as a very beautiful paradise we must return to after shedding our physical bodies. But if we speak of the kingdom of God more essentially and practically, the most important thing here is precisely the people of that kingdom, that is, you yourselves. It was for you, the people, that the Lord laid down His life.
The Joy of the Cross for Us
And the Lord calls that joy. That's why Hebrews says this: “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” The Lord knew the joy He would experience, what it was, and could be joyful even while laying down His life to buy the kingdom of God. That is why the word 'joy' is always used in this parable. The tenant farmer who found the treasure returned home rejoicing because of it. It was the same for Jesus. The Lord lived out this parable in His life. Because He gave His all, His life, to buy the kingdom of God for His people, and He completed that kingdom. So, because of the Lord, we come to know the value of the treasure. We learn that the value of the treasure is eternal life, and we also learn that the value of the treasure is God Himself and God's glory. Because that is the kingdom of God. And we learn that all of it is God's love. But we have learned something even more important than all that. It is the fact that the value of the treasure for which the Lord gave Himself and bought, the treasure hidden in the field, that kingdom of God, the true value of that heaven, is precisely you. You, the daughters and sons of God, the people of God, are the true value of this kingdom of God—this is what Jesus helps us understand through this parable.
Our Identity: Treasure Bought by Christ
Because the kingdom of God is you, whom He reigns over. Every time you breathe day by day on this earth, say something, meet someone, and live, the kingdom of God is being revealed within you, and you yourselves are the kingdom of God. This parable says the Lord gave His life for you. We, bought with the Lord's life, are precisely the people of God's kingdom. At that point, we clearly understand what it means in Christ to deny ourselves, to sell our lives and all our possessions to buy this very kingdom of God. We clearly know what we must deny, and what is more precious than our possessions. As we have examined so far, it is the eternal love and glory of God towards us, and at the same time, the kingdom of God ruled by that love, and within that kingdom, it is us who begin to enjoy eternal life. When we realize that, we know that our lives died together with the life of Jesus Christ, and at the same time, we have obtained the life of the kingdom of God, the eternal life of Christ. We begin to know more deeply what the kingdom of God is. The kingdom where I form the body together with the Lord who glorifies me so much—that very kingdom is the kingdom of God. The former things, our former bodies, have passed away with the Lord. Now, we no longer need the former 'I'. Because we have become the kingdom of God. We are now a kingdom belonging not to this earth, but to God. We are people for whom God's reign has become everything in our lives, people for whom every moment God walks with us becomes our glory, and people who have finally come to know how valuable our lives are because of God. So, according to the Bible's expression, we are the people ruled by God, new people. Because God reigns, we become beautiful, precious, and radiant.
Parable of the Pearl Merchant: Christ Seeking Us
That's why Jesus speaks slightly differently in the second story of today's parable, the story of the pearl merchant, compared to the preceding story of the tenant farmer. In the story of the tenant farmer who found the treasure hidden in the field, Jesus says this: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.’ He says heaven is the treasure. But concerning the pearl, He speaks slightly differently: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.’ He didn't say heaven is the pearl, but like the merchant seeking that pearl. Then who is the person trying to buy that pearl? Who is He who constantly seeks and searches for fine pearls and gives everything to buy that pearl? Yes. It is Jesus Christ. Why did the expression suddenly change? Because who we are is determined right here.
Our Dual Role: Treasure and Seeker
We are the treasure hidden in the field. You are not the people who dig up the treasure, recognize its value, realize how great that treasure, the kingdom of God, is, and then sacrifice all your own things to buy it. You are precisely the people of that kingdom of God. Therefore, you are people who can joyfully lay down what is yours, and even lay down your lives without reservation in Christ. Because you are God's beloved people, whom God made His possession even by paying the price of everything He had, risking death. And we, together with Christ, have become people who seek that treasure, who become that treasure with Christ through daily life, who find that pearl and walk that path with Christ. We long for that pearl together with Jesus Christ. We are the people of that kingdom of God, and at the same time, we long for that kingdom of God. We long for God's rule. We had to live our lives by our own strength, making all decisions ourselves, thus inevitably bearing all the heavy burdens ourselves, enduring all pains alone, and secretly wiping away those tears. But we have become people of the kingdom of God to whom the Lord's voice, inviting 'Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,' resonates.
Experiencing the Kingdom of God Here and Now
We have now come to realize the fact that we are people of that kingdom. We have come to rejoice in the time spent seeking the kingdom of God in every moment of our lives. Right now, this might sound a bit abstract. Then let me speak more concretely. When you quarrel with someone, and your heart is hurt and angry, wanting to shout at that person, if at that moment you know you are a child of God, remember the things Christ did for you, and instead of yielding to anger, pray to forgive that person and handle the situation wisely, then the kingdom of God has been established in you at that time. Because you are obeying under God's word. Because you are receiving the Lord's rule. All of us probably have a few things in our hearts that we really don't want to do. Sometimes we don't even want to greet certain people.
Sometimes it's really difficult to forgive someone. Sometimes we don't even like our own lives, living through hardships. All of us demand a slightly better life than we have now and strive for it. However, due to many unachieved things, we often get discouraged and hurt. At that time, you must think about the fact that the place you belong to is the kingdom of God, and what your life, ruled by the Lord within it, is like. The moment you remember that your life is not just a series of hardships and suffering, but that you are walking that path with God, and when we remember the meaning of His promise to me, ‘Do not fear or be dismayed, for I am with you,’ then you finally live a life enjoying the dream of the kingdom of God. And at that time, our mouths will sing praises. ‘Ah, God has ruled over me! The time God is with me is so joyful and pleasant, so I will hope in Him.’ This indeed would be the joy of finding a precious pearl.
God Who Delights in the Process Itself
The joy of knowing the kingdom of God a little more, the joy of understanding God's love a little more—we come to long for that time. So, I really want to convey this final message to you. Everyone! This task of finding the pearl is certainly a joyful one. Your joy will begin when you finally discover that pearl. But God rejoices in the entire journey of finding that pearl with you. You will rejoice only in what you hold in your hands. But God rejoices because of a single conversation shared with you. You will be so happy because of answered prayers. But God rejoices because you called His name Father. You delight in the little happiness you enjoy on this earth. You rejoice when planned things work out a little. But God greatly rejoices in the hand you raise in prayer, coming to God because of your hardships and difficulties.
God's Unceasing Love and Our Joy
But everyone! I hope you remember this one thing. There is no room in our lives not to rejoice. Because God loves you without rest. You may hold onto God and live, yet at some moment let go of that hand, and even live as if He is not there in the very moments you need to seek Him. Yet God never rests for a single moment, never abandons or lets go of us even once, and never takes His eyes off us for a single moment, loving us. Therefore, we can understand the life Paul confessed, which was filled only with joy. “Rejoice always.”
Even Hardship is the Journey Towards the Pearl
You will now have realized that even suffering and tribulation were, in fact, the journey towards finding that pearl. You have gradually come to understand that even the many things that caused tears to flow from my eyes were actually on the path of meeting Jesus and seeking the pearl with Him. It is still difficult, and there may be many challenging pits on that road, and we don't know when it will end. But we have learned that more than God's answer at the end of that suffering, we yearn even more for God's warm embrace where we can nestle in each moment. When we were held in His arms, when we rejoiced, delighted, and danced with Him, when we talked with Him, when we poured out all our hearts to Him, when we knelt before Him, when He held us, when He carried us in His arms—we learned that that time is our joy.
Living As Treasure, Towards Treasure
Therefore, we are the Lord's pearl, enjoying the beauty of that pearl with the Lord, and we are the people who possess it. And at the same time, we are walking the path towards that pearl, towards that unspeakably precious treasure, the path of becoming that treasure. Since you are treasure and simultaneously walking the path to becoming that treasure, until the day you fully enjoy and delight in the joy of the pearl with God and share the glory of the treasure hidden in the field, never be overcome by evil, do not fall for Satan's temptations, but ceaselessly rejoice in the fact that the Lord is with you, and victoriously continue on this path with joy.
Closing Prayer
Let us pray! Until the day God sits at the right hand of God's throne, and we too sit together with the Lord beside His throne, until the day we praise the Lord with all our lives and rejoice in the Lord with all we have, let us live enjoying the joy of that treasure. Let us not forget the fact that we are indeed the pearl God loved so much as to send His Son, and that we are the kingdom of God. Make our precious lives ones that rejoice in the Lord's rule. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen!