“Analysis of Matthew chapter 13 verses 44-51,” by Andrew J. Schatkin
“Analysis of Matthew chapter 13 verses 44-51,” by Andrew J. Schatkin
My dear Christians and non-Christians, and you of all faiths and thoughts and all views and opinions, I bid you and ask you to join with me in another voyage of intellectual discovery where those who may wish to engage in critical thinking and do not engage in and accept media lies, falsehoods, political code words, and hype can join in the effort to gain truth and facts amid the barrage of corruption and virtual darkness we are confronted with and befuddled and made effective fools of. I welcome you in this quest and task of attaining and coming to know intellectual honesty and honest discernment. Join with me in this voyage of discovery to get at and find what is valid and authentic in the world of confusion and to come with me in tearing apart he curtain of lies and darkness that hides from us what is truth and facts.
Once again, I will undertake the daunting and challenging task of seeking to interpret and understand the words and thoughts of Jesus of Nazareth, the son of god and the savior and redeemer of all mankind. I approach this task with great humility and hesitation knowing my great human limitations of even attempting to understand and comprehend the message of the savior whose words are largely beyond most of us and are a challenge to our human minds, spirits, and souls, as we together approach the throne of grace and seek to know his mind and the thoughts of the eternal god in heaven as he speaks to us in his holy word and from the precincts and mansion of heaven amid all the saints, the angels and archangels of heaven and in communion of the holy trinity.
Here my dear friends is the gospel passage from the gospel of Matthew verses 44-51: “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field which a man found and covered up; then in his joy he goes and sells all he has and buys that field; again the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of pearl and on finding one pearl of great value he went and sold all that he had and bought it. Again the kingdom of heaven is like a net which was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind; when it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into vessels but threw away the bad. So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, and men will weep and gnash their teeth. Have you understood all this? They said to him ‘yes.’ And he said to them therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
What are we to make of these words of Jesus the Christ in which he seeks to inform us all of the nature and meaning of the kingdom of heaven? He tells us that it is like a treasure whose value is so great that the man sells all for to have that treasure found in the field. Jesus then likens the kingdom of heaven to a net thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind and when it was full men drew it ashore and sorted the good into vessels but threw away the bad.
Jesus says more in verse 45 where he says the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of pearls and who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all he has and bought it. Jesus in these analogies is trying to make us understand and inform men of how men respond and should perhaps respond to Jesus's message, whether in the form of the treasure mentioned here; the merchant who finds the pearl of great value; or the net which finds both good and bad. Jesus then warns us that so it will be at the close of the age, as the net when the angels will come and separate the good men from evil men, or the righteous and the evil and unrighteous men will be thrown into the fire where men will weep and gnash their teeth. Jesus tells us here that men respond to Jesus’s message only thinking to what it yields and some dedicate themselves to god's kingdom because being able to judge the value of other claims value it more where we are told of the treasure that is found and the merchant who finds a pearl. Finally, there is the warning that, like the dragnet that pulls in the good and bad fish, so the angels will come and in the fashion of the catch separate the good from the bad or the righteous from the unrighteous and throwing the evil into the fire where there will be great suffering and where the evil and unrighteous will weep and gnash their teeth. The problem in interpretation of the treasure and the pearl is to decide whether the value is in the treasure or pearl or the behavior of those who sell all to possess it. This seem to be the case of both the treasure and the pearl. Here the message is clear, that the kingdom of god is such a priceless treasure that wise men would gladly give all he has to obtain it. Half measures will not do. And, finally, the net and its interpretation is that the kingdom is mixed body of saints and sinners good and rotten fish and the final sorting out must be left god of and his angelic agents.
Dear thinkers and colleagues and friends, I hope and trust that I have shed some light and provided comprehension and a grasp of the words and thoughts of Christ in this passage from the gospel of Matthew and urge you first and foremost to return to and read and reread this passage and reflect on and gain an understanding of the words of Jesus, the son of god and the redeemer and savior of the world and us all.