The Hidden Treasure and the Pearl

A spade strikes something hard. Not a stone. Something that rings. A man kneels in the dirt, brushes away the soil, and lifts the lid of an old clay jar. And he forgets to breathe.

Jesus has spent the day teaching the crowds by the Sea of Galilee. Now he has gone into a house, and his disciples gather around him. He has told them stories about seed and soil, about wheat and weeds, about yeast in a bowl of flour. Now he tells them two more. Very short. Just a sentence or two each. But they might be the most exciting stories he tells all day, because they're about finding something worth more than everything you have.

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.” Picture a man working a field that isn't his own. His spade hits something. He digs a little deeper. And there it is. Coins, silver, perhaps jewellery, hidden long ago by someone who never came back for it. More wealth than he could earn in a lifetime. And what does he do? He covers it up again. Pats the earth flat. Glances around. And walks away with his heart pounding.

Jesus says he goes off full of joy. He goes home and starts selling. His tools. His furniture. His animals. Everything he owns. The neighbours must think he's lost his mind. But he isn't sad. He's grinning. Because he knows what's in that field. He takes the money, buys the field, and the treasure is his. Some readers have asked whether it was fair not to tell the owner. Jesus doesn't stop to discuss that. His story is aimed at one thing: the man's joy, and how gladly he gave up everything for something far better.

Then a second story. “The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.” This man isn't stumbling across anything. He's an expert. He has spent years travelling, searching the markets, weighing pearls in his palm and holding them up to the light. He knows a good one when he sees it. And one day, he sees it. One pearl of great value. Flawless. Glowing. Unlike anything he has ever held.

And he does exactly what the man in the field did. He goes away and sells everything he has, and he buys that pearl. Two very different men. One was just doing his work and found treasure by surprise. The other searched for years. But both of them, when they found it, knew straight away that it was worth more than everything else they owned. And neither of them looks back.

Why would anyone bury treasure in a field? In a land that had been invaded and fought over again and again, the ground was one of the safest places to keep your valuables. In another of Jesus' parables, a servant does exactly that with his master's money. Sometimes the owner died or fled, and the treasure stayed hidden for generations. And pearls? The Roman writer Pliny the Elder said that pearls held the very highest rank among all precious things. A single great pearl could be worth a fortune.

The Hidden Treasure and the Pearl. You'll find them in Matthew chapter 13, verses 44 to 46. Some people stumble on God's kingdom when they least expect it. Others search for years. Either way, those who find it discover that it's worth more than anything they could ever give up. So here's the question to carry with you. What do you treasure most, and what would it mean to treasure God's kingdom even more?