Treasure in a Field and a Pearl of Great Price
David W Palmer
(Matthew 13:44 DKJV) “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which when a man finds, he hides; and for joy over it, goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”
In this revealing explanation, God’s own Son shows us the level of value we need to place on discovering God’s heart. In his parable, Jesus says that a “man” who understands true treasure finds one hidden in a field. Obviously, the man had not yet bought into that field, so he hid the treasure there until he could get his life to the point where he could own the whole field. Only then could he gain from the treasure he knew was there. He realized its immense value, and he knew it was concealed so no one else could steal it. The man then set out on a determined quest to own it—no matter how long it took, despite how much effort he had to expend, and even if it cost him everything he currently owned and valued.
First, he had to go and sell all that he had to buy the field. This was no simple process; it involved renouncing, relinquishing, and clearing his life of all he had treasured up to that point. He truly had changed his thinking about what has true and lasting value. This was a profound change of his heart, his direction, and his whole life’s purpose.
The selling required him to invest wholeheartedly in a long and tedious process. The implication of this word, “sells,” is that he had to go to the marketplace and busy himself trading, bartering, etc. He wanted to offload everything that could be an encumbrance or hindrance to his new, true vision; in fact, every and any thing that was not crucial to his quest to acquire the true treasure would have to go. But he couldn’t just dump it; he needed to maximize its pecuniary worth, so he could accumulate the purchase price of the field that contained the one treasure that he now truly valued. Only by completing the whole process of selling off his old life, could he move successfully and permanently into his new one.
Jesus emphasized this same idea and process in his parable about the camel going through the eye of a needle:
(Matthew 19:24 DKJV) “Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to enter the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter God’s kingdom.”
In Aramaic, the word translated here as, “camel,” could equally mean, “heavy rope.” This would imply that the “rich man” would have to unravel his fortune strand by strand to enter God’s Kingdom, like a rope unraveling strand by strand to enter the eye of the needle.
Another popular interpretation is that the camel was laden with goods, and that the “eye of a needle” referred to a small door next to the main gate of the city. If a merchant arrived after the main gate was locked, he would have to completely strip his camel of its load so it could squeeze through the small door on its knees. Once inside, it was free to take on a different cargo. This is like the man who had to offload all he previously treasured to buy into the one field that contained the true treasure. Jesus is calling us to do this too—offload all our old life, squeeze into God’s life-filled knowledge on our knees through a narrow door, and then take up his [light and easy] load and burden (See: Mat. 11:28–30).
We also note that the man who discovered the treasure could not simply take it without buying the whole field. Jesus is saying that when we find the “treasure” of his Father’s kingdom, we must buy into the whole package of what Father’s vision entails. For example, we must adopt his heart for evangelism; we must accept his assignment to be his ambassadors on earth, and importantly, we must accept and love his vision for his church. This involves buying into a local church, and participating in its family dynamics, along with its multifaceted personalities. Committed church involvement requires us to practice much [supernatural,] unconditional love and forgiveness.
Perhaps for you, the field includes the “field” of ministry into which God has called you: missions, evangelism, teaching, encouraging, contributing, showing mercy, leading, prophesying, or shepherding, etc. If so, if you relinquish all else to own that whole field, you will enjoy a rewarding treasure that far surpasses anything this world has to offer.
This is what the apostle Paul said about the reward that he treasured:
(1 Corinthians 9:18 ESV) “What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge …”
Truly to obtain the treasure, we need to treasure what God does. We must not be like the prodigal’s “older brother,” who merely obeyed for what he could get out of it. Instead, we need to be like the father of the prodigal; he loved and valued the repentance of a potential son so much that he invested a significant portion of his kingdom into the risky process of changing his rebel son’s thinking (See: Luke 15: 11–32).
Today, I encourage you to follow God’s call to his chosen field of ministry for you, unreservedly. Start today with a plan to buy into his whole field—his entire kingdom and its values, your call and assignment in it, and his church. Sell off whatever you need to, to disencumber yourself from all that is not helping you get what you truly now value:
(Matthew 13:45–46 DKJV) “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like what happened with a merchant man seeking fine pearls: {46} who, when he had found one extremely valuable pearl, went and sold all that he had, and purchased it.”
In explaining the surpassing value of discovering and emulating Father’s heart, the second parable Jesus eternalized for us is about an “extremely valuable pearl”—the “pearl of great price” (Mat. 13:46 KJV).
The “man” in this story found the pearl because he was “seeking.” He treasured fine pearls, and dedicated himself to searching for one whose value was worthy of the investment of his whole life.
Like this merchant, our heavenly Father wants us to seek. Jesus encourages us in this process, he said, “Seek and you will find” (Mat. 7:7 ESV); and the Holy Spirit said in the proverbs, “The glory of God is to conceal a thing, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter” (Prov. 25:2 LITV). God wants us to “search” until we find what he has hidden for us—it is a “pearl of great price.”
When the merchant finally found the valuable pearl that he had been seeking; like the man who found the treasure in a field, he too went and busied himself travelling and trading until he had liquidated all of his stock and assets. This required an all-consuming investment of his time and energy. But only by wisely and conscientiously using all of his skills as a merchant, was he able completely to offload his old “pearls” profitably. This enabled him to amass enough cash to buy the one pearl he could see was of ultimate and lasting value.
Are you willing to relinquish all you currently hold dear for the sake of obtaining the “one thing” that Jesus said is “needed”? Are you ready to invest the effort and discipline required to exchange your current treasure for the one God treasures? Remember the camel that had to squeeze through a very narrow entryway to get in. You cannot enter your desired future, or obtain the true treasure, while encumbered by a huge load of “stuff” that is of no eternal value.
Unburden to Choose What Heaven Values:
What is the treasure to which Jesus refers in the two parables we have looked at today? Perhaps his own words in the following passage reveal what he has in mind:
(Luke 10:39–42 NKJV) … Mary … sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. … {41} And Jesus answered … {42} “But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
In this scenario, Jesus introduced a completely revolutionary idea: “One thing is needed!” What’s more, our Lord said that it is a choice that we are responsible to make—choose to sit at his feet and really hear his word.
Putting this together with his teaching on the camel, pearls, and treasure, we could conclude the following: perhaps Jesus is saying that we would be wise to set up our lives in such a way that we actually do have time to sit at his feet and listen to his words. That is, that we sell, trade, and do whatever is necessary to remove all of our current time-stealing commitments and distracting encumbrances. I believe that Jesus wants us to “make time”—create a lifestyle—that can prioritize the “one thing” that he says is “needed”: sit at his feet, and listen to his word.
If you do this—even though it may be a lengthy and costly process requiring great sacrifice—then you can, finally and without excuse:
Today, I encourage you to seek, find, and obtain the “pearl of great price”—God’s kingdom and your role in it. We don’t have time, space, and energy to dedicate our lives to the “one thing” that is “needed”; we make the time, space, and energy available. Sell what you have to, get free of time and resource-consuming encumbrances—even if you have to rearrange you whole life and assets to do it. Ensure you can sit at his feet, listen to his word, and seek his kingdom priorities as the one true value of your life.