Advancing the Kingdom: Session 5 – The Hidden Treasure and the Pearl of Great Price

Notes:

The Treasure and the Pearl  See Session Slides Here

Matt.13:44-46.These 2 parables are a pair. Jesus is no longer talking with the multitude, but with the disciples, and is back inside the house (Mt.12:46-47; 13:1,36). In parables 1-4 it seems that God’s purpose would end in failure – the kingdom as seen by man. The next parables describe the kingdom as seen by God.

Man-based Christianity sees the Christian as being “the man” in all these parables who diligently seeks salvation. His efforts are rewarded by his finding Christ, the treasure and the pearl of great price. But note:

  • Jesus, not us, is “the man” in these parables. See Matt. 13:3, 24, 31, 37.
  • He was not lost, we were! He does the seeking, not us.
  • We didn’t sacrifice all to gain Him, but He all for us. Isa.64:6. Isa.55:1.

God has two elect peoples who are precious in His sight, and through these two people He will manifest the inexhaustible riches of His grace and glory. One is the treasure hid in the field, i.e. the nation of Israel; the other is the pearl, i.e. the Church. One is an earthly body, and has an earthly destiny; the other is a people with a heavenly calling, citizenship, and inheritance. The order is: “To the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” Therefore, the treasure in the field (Israel) is given before the pearl (the Church).

The Treasure Hid In The Field. In Israel, treasure was hidden in the fields rather than in the house. The field was the only bank, (Job 3:21; Prov.2:4). But sometimes the owner died without revealing where the treasure was hidden! If a workman found treasure in a field that was not his, the only way he could possess it would be to purchase the field. The only way he could do this would be to sell everything he had.

The treasure is Israel (Psa.135:4; Deut.14:2; Mal.3:17). Not once is the word ‘treasure’ used of the Church!

It was hid in the field; the field is the world, (Deut. 32:8-10). The parable starts with the treasure hid in the field, and the OT begins with Israel hidden in the field! Christ finds Israel now as a nation, but it rejects Him and is hidden again amongst the nations of the earth through the Dispersion until the end.

The Pearl of Great Price. In the ancient world the pearl was the loveliest of possessions. Pearl merchants were travelers. This man was seeking a pearl. When he found it he esteemed it of such value that it was worthy of giving up all to gain it. The pearl is the Church. Let’s consider this pearl.

1) A pearl, unlike any other precious stone, is the product of a living organism. The pearl is produced as the result of an injury to an oyster, e.g. a grain of sand or some parasite intruder. It enters and pierces its side. The oyster surrounds the invading presence by secreting mother-or-pearl, a slimy substance also called nacre. It releases thin layers of nacre until gradually, layer after layer, the pearl is formed. So, out of much suffering an object of beauty and value is produced. The offending particle becomes a pearl of great price.

Similarly, we who were the cause of Christ’s death became the pearl of great price. The Church is now precious in His sight because of the price He paid for her. We are redeemed by His precious blood.

2) Matt.13:45. The merchant man deliberately set out to find this pearl. After the death and resurrection of Jesus the price was paid for the Church and the Holy Spirit left heaven to seek out the Bride of Christ.

3) It is a significant fact that a pearl is the only gem whose unity cannot be broken without destroying it. I can take a diamond and cut it into two, and then I have two diamonds. I can take a lump of gold and divide it into two, and I have two lumps of gold. But if I take a pearl and cut it into two, I have nothing: I have destroyed it!

4) The pearl is an object that is formed slowly and gradually. A pearl does not come into existence in a single day. The church might grow numerically very quickly (mustard seed) but its transformation is gradual.


# Answers to this quiz are found in the notes above. Click on quiz to commence. Only correct spelling is recognised. A minimum 70%  correct is required to advance to the next session.