The Parable of the Hidden Treasure 

Matthew 13:44-58
Key Verse 13:44

"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.”

In this passage Jesus continues to enlighten his disciples in regard to the kingdom of heaven. In the previous passages Jesus taught them many things about God's kingdom such as the way to plant it (in the parable of a sower), or the way it works (in the parable of mustard seed etc.). This time Jesus teaches the disciples something more about God's kingdom. While myriad books can be written on the matters being taught in today's Bible passage, for our own purpose, we would like to think about three points on God's kingdom: 1) how valuable is it?; 2) what are we supposed to do with it?; and 3) why? The first question has to do is 'what' (the parable of treasure), the second question with 'how' (the parable of merchant), and the third question 'why' (the parable of nets). These three questions are sequential in time, for in the pursuit of the gift God has in mind for us, we need to figure out first what we have, then consider how to work to secure it, and then the result will come out either good or bad.

I. The parable of hidden treasure (44)

Look at v. 44. In this passage Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven (which is the same as the kingdom of God, for in reverent fear and respect for God, Matthew chose to use the word God rather sparingly, so instead of the word "God," he used the word "heaven") to 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 the field.

What the man did in the parable corresponds to our day-to-day experience in bumping into something valuable and desiring to secure it by any means before anyone gets it. A while ago there used to be a swap meet in the parking lot of Warren high school next door. One Saturday morning I visited it and bumped into a treasure: "an electrical digital multi meter". It was manufactured by Fluke. Normally, if it is brand new, it is sold for over $300. So upon seeing it, I asked the store owner for the price. He said "$20". "Wow!" I said to myself. But at that time I did not have cash in my pocket. But when I came back to the store the next time, it was already gone. And I still kick myself for not coming back to the store with money as quickly as I could. Since then, I adopted a new strategy, that is, when I bump into a valuable item, the first thing I do is to give a deposit, like $1 or $2 and ask the seller to set it aside until I come back with the full price. And a better practice I recently adopted is always to carry in my wallet enough cash to pay for the item on the spot. In this way even yesterday I was able to buy at a yard sale a stack of color paper for $1, a small fluorescent light (brand new) for $7.50. And each time I think about them I am joyful.

"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." Here the treasure hidden in a field refers to Jesus Christ and all he can offer to those who come and follow him. The "man" who struck a fortune and secured it for virtually nothing denotes people like the early batch of disciples such as Simon Peter. At first Simon Peter did not know who Jesus was. To him, Jesus was just one of Joe Shmoes on the street. But one day when Jesus asked him for the favor of using his fishing boat as a podium, he was struck with the discovery, for after the teaching session was over Jesus asked him to go into the deep water and let down the net. At that time he did not know what he was going to hit. But lo and behold! When he obeyed Jesus' seemingly unreasonable command, he was struck with tons of fish. He never caught so much fish in his life. At that moment his eyes were opened to who Jesus is. He found treasure hidden in a field. Then he left everything (this is as good as selling everything to go for the newly found treasure) and followed Jesus.

"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." Since they were kingdom workers, it was necessary for Jesus to instruct his disciples on the value of God's kingdom. As of the time Jesus gave them the parable of the hidden treasure, the disciples (such as Peter, John, Andrew and so forth) were yet to figure out the full value of the spiritual gold mine they bumped into in Jesus. Why? The answer is obvious. When you do not know the full value of what you are called to sell, how can you be a good salesperson? Nowadays I am sort of split in regard to one issue: that is, apple computer vs. window-based computer. Between Steve Job's Apple and Bill Gates' Widows, which one should I choose? In the past I did not believe in Apple. But since Shep. William keeps emphasizing that Apple is far better than Windows, I am reconsidering. Even in our ministry I've noticed that an increasing number of people are switching to Apple. So most likely when something happens to my Toshiba laptop, I might seriously consider going for an Apple.

"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." Jesus' instruction on the value of God's kingdom for his disciples paid off. Later, as the Holy Spirit fell upon Simon Peter, his eyes were opened to the value of the kingdom. So by the time he was about to suffer martyrdom, he exhorted early Christians to remain faithful to the Lord to the end (at all cost). Let us all rise and read 1 Peter 1:1-9.

II. The parable of a merchant (45-46)

To "see" the value of what is valuable is one thing, to actually go for it is quite another. This is particularly true when it comes down to God's kingdom, for unlike all that is considered "valuable," God's kingdom is far more valuable than all that is valuable, so it comes with seemingly insurmountable obstacles to actually take possession of it for good.

This difficulty (or challenge in seeing and then acquiring the kingdom) gives rise to the need for another parable, that is, the parable of a merchant. Look at verses 45-46."Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine peals. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it." Here Jesus compares the kingdom of God to a merchant. Personally I do not like merchants. When I see any student majoring in marketing, I say to myself, "Well, don't you have a better thing to do with your life?" But since Jesus chose to use a merchant, we better think about him. So let us stop for a moment and think about a merchant. What can (or should) we learn from him? Again there are a lot of things to learn from this parable. But for our own purpose we would like to think about three things:

First, the merchant's purpose

In the passage, the merchant looks for "fine peals". Finally he found something of "great value". The word "fine", "pearls", or "great" (value) indicates that this merchant stands out among all merchants in that the line of business item he chose to go for is far different than those pursued by other merchants, for he is looking for "pearls", not just any pearls but "fine" pearls, the pearls of not any value but of "great" value.

This reminds me of Mr. Christian in John Bunyan's fiction novel, "Pilgrim's Progress". Like the merchant in Jesus' parable, he was looking for the "celestial city" [the city with foundation], the city which the Bible describes as coming with twelve pearly gates. Rev 21:21 Mr. Christian stands out among the citizens in the city of destruction in that he searched and searched for something of "lasting" value. Finally thanks to an evangelist preaching the good news of God's kingdom, he found one. Then, the hope, the vision, the goal, and purpose to go and find a position in the city of God's eternal light "never" departed from his mind. He firmly set this goal in his mind. And he went for it.

Second, the merchant's practice

In the parable five verbs draw our attention: look for; found; went away; sold; and bought. These words indicate that this man did not sit on his discovery. He went for it. And he paid for the price involved. He did it to acquire it. And he acquired it for a price, because he "knew" the value of it.

In practical life, "everything" (as in 'sold everything he had') includes a number of stuff, such as one's career, one's relationship with friends or relatives or family members. Friday night, Msn. Susanna Kim arrived at LAX. I greeted her at around midnight and she is now with us to attend the worship in Downey and then a regional director's conf. on Memorial day. In listening to her life story, I learned that to her the "everything" she had to give up (or sell) was her relationship with her mother vs. her relationship with Jesus Christ. Her mother lost her husband when Msn. Susanna became 8 years old. Her mother has one son and two daughters. Msn. Susanna is the youngest daughter. Since two siblings above her did not perform well, her mother put her hope on the youngest daughter, Msn. Susanna. Then a conflict arose in her life: in 1992 during her freshman year, she met Jesus. From that moment on, her relationship with her mother who was a Buddhist conflicted with her walk in the Lord. Should I follow Jesus or my mother? Finally she made a choice. She decided to follow Jesus. Then leaving her mother behind she went out to Zimbabwe as a missionary.

Missionary Sarah Barry in Chicago is another example. To many, especially "women", the dream for the marriage with a prince charming means "everything". But on seeing the fine pearls in Jesus, she gave up the dream for marriage. And she is now 79. To this very day she is still following Jesus, teaching the Bible to many.

Third, the merchant's principle

"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." In this electronic age it is not always easy to practice what the merchant in the parable did. But when we learn the merchant’s principle (wisdom) we can secure what God has set aside for his children.

This parable gives out the merchant's principle of life: that is, going for what is profitable. As we know, every merchant is guided by one principle, that is, "profit" (or "margin"). A good merchant always looks for a margin. And each time he sees a margin, he goes for it. It does not matter what he buys or sells. When you see even a tumbleweed rolling by the wind in a desert, if you are a good merchant, somehow you see how to make a profit out of selling it, so you gather tumbleweeds and sell them. And a friend of mine who is now in Australia told me about someone selling tumbleweeds online!

Good Christians must be good merchants. As spiritual merchants we need to have a keen sense of value. This point is very important, for in our generation the world offers us (young and old) all attractive looking stuff. But according to the parable of the merchant, we need to distinguish what is good from what is bad, what is better from what is good, what is best from what is better. In so doing, we need to remember: "what is better is always the enemy of what is best." We need to actually "give up" all that seem "better," in order to get what is best. And this is what merchants do: they mercilessly exchange what is better (costing “less money”) for what is best (generating “more money”). 

III. The parable of the net (47-50)

Let us read vs. 47-50 responsively. So far, we talked about the issue of "what" (to pursue) [via the parable of hidden treasure] and the question of "how" [to get what we need to go for, that is, by going for what is truly profitable]. Now we are going to think about the issue of "why".

Why did a man who found hidden treasure sell everything he had and buy the field? Why did the merchant sell everything he had and buy fine pearls? We already talked about these questions to a certain extent. But the answer to these questions is not going to become complete until we find out what will happen when one fails to do what the man in the parable of hidden treasure or the merchant in the parable of merchant succeeded to acquire.

We are told, "Do not be extreme." Or "Be moderate", or "Follow the middle ground". These lines have some values for some purposes. But as far as our journey here on earth to God’s kingdom is concerned, these lines do not work; in fact they lead you to suffer from eternal loss.

Look at vs. 47-50. Most of the disciples listening to Jesus' parables were fishermen. So they understood what Jesus was saying at least in vs. 47-48. But think about what Jesus says in 49 and 50. The ideas there are all "extreme", just as east and west are extremes of each other. But we are able to not just understand, but also accept, these ideas when we think about our life here on earth as a "journey". Our life is a journey. We go somewhere. And in making a journey, we always end up in "one" destination and one destination only. Just think about the journey Msn. Susanna Kim made. Friday, she left Anchorage for LA. After a seven hour flight, she arrived at LAX. She did not arrive at LAX and Anchorage all at the same time. It is impossible for a traveler to arrive at two different locations at the same time. The same is true with our life's journey his kingdom. And at the end of your journey, you are either a good fish or bad fish. You may categorize yourself as a good person, but remember: it is not you who decide; it is the angels. And God's angels never make a mistake. Question: how do you turn out to be a good person? How do you render yourself as worthy of being included in the "basket"? The answer is obvious, that is, by following the examples of people described above like the good merchant. By all means learn to invest what you have (your time, your youth, your talents, your looks, your relationships, your money, your every thing) all in the right place, and do it by mercilessly applying the merchant’s principle.

In verses 51-52, Jesus gave a finishing touch to his teachings for his disciples as kingdom workers. "Have you understood all these things?" Jesus asked. "Yes," they replied. He said to them, "Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old." God's message on God's kingdom is not something new. In fact the idea of the kingdom of heaven runs through from Genesis to the book of Revelation. Actually the kingdom of heaven is the key point of the whole Bible. It begins with the kingdom of heaven (also called the Garden of Delight) (Genesis 2:15) and ends with the kingdom of heaven (called the City of God) (Rev 22:19). At God's right time, God sent Jesus to fully reveal what the kingdom of heaven is all about: his way of life, his love, his compassion, his friendship, his power, his holiness, and all he did especially his death for our sins, resurrection for our ascension, and his ongoing work for all who believe in Him. The disciples, listening to Jesus' parable, were lucky enough to be called as kingdom workers. As they understand the point of the Bible, they can be good kingdom workers, building God's kingdom among many.

Epilogue: in verses 53-58 we see that a number of people came close to getting what the treasure hunter or the merchant secured. Interestingly though, those who missed out the opportunity to become spiritual billionaires were people in his own hometown. This was a great loss to them. Jesus felt sorry for them. We feel sorry for them as well. But there is a warning for all of us, and the warning is that when we lose faith in Jesus (for whatever reasons) we too run the risk of suffering from eternal loss!

One word: Have you understood all these things?

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