Sunday, January 4, 2009: Priceless.

Priceless.
Matthew 13: 44 – 46.

I. Introduction.

I read a story in Reader’s Digest several months ago about a boy who was visiting at a friend’s house. He called his mother to tell her that he had accidentally broken a vase while he and his friend were playing. He quickly told his mother, “Don’t worry about trying to replace the vase. Johnnie’s mother said it was irreplaceable.”

There are some things that we can discard and replace with very little difficulty. We can just buy another one just like it at the corner store. And then there are some things that can never be replaced because they have value all their own…A value that goes far beyond monetary value…

This makes me think of the popular Master Card advertising. One of my favorites is one of the first ones to come out. A father and son attend a Major League Baseball game together. It quotes the incredibly high price of Baseball tickets…Overpriced Hotdogs and Programs…Then it states that the time spent as father and son together is “Priceless”…

The commercial is right…There ARE some things money cannot buy. Because they are worth much more than money. They may be Priceless…But they are certainly not cheap…Or even free…

Read Matthew 13: 44 – 46.

Matthew 13 shows Jesus as teaching in parables…It gives at least two different reasons why Jesus taught in parables…

1. Verses 10 – 11…Jesus told his disciples that they know the secrets of the Kingdom while the crowds do not know the secret…Parables both reveal and conceal…cf. the prophecy of Isaiah in vv. 14ff…

2. Verses 33 – 34…Matthew told the readers that Jesus spoke in parables in order to fulfill the words of the Psalmist…

It is interesting that in all four Gospels most of Jesus’ parables deal with the Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven. What is the difference between the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God? No difference between Kingdom of Heaven and Kingdom of God! We believe Matthew was the most Jewish of all the Gospel authors…Therefore, he was afraid to use the name “God” carelessly.

In this passage, Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to two things…A Treasure Hidden in a Field…And a Pearl of Great Price…


II. Verse 44.

One day a man went to work in the field just as he had done the day before and the week before that. He worked for the standard wage of the day—one denarius per day—and had virtually no hope of ever getting a raise or of ever reaching the point where he was self-sufficient. He would always work for someone else and be thankful for whatever pay they were willing to give him.
That all changed one afternoon as he was working in his boss’ field. This field hand made a discovery that would forever change his life for the better. He discovered a large treasure buried in the field that no one else knew about.

This seems a little strange to you and me as we compare this parable to our modern day banking system. We would NEVER bury treasure in a coffee can in the backyard. But in the ancient world, this was very common. Since enemies often invaded the land and took over property from the landowners, it became common for people to bury their valuables in jars. The invading enemies would not find treasure in the house, and the rightful owners could sneak back later and regain their treasure by digging it up in the cover of darkness.

Treasure hidden in a field…This begins like the American dream…You have just won (found) a Million dollars!…Something for nothing! What are you going to do about that Million dollars? Are you going to tell anyone? Of course not! That is your money…That is your treasure…You found it fair and square!

A man found it and hid it again…This is kind of sneaky…The man hid the treasure so that he could have it all to himself…He also hid it so that he could get a good price on the purchase of the land…Land owner would raise the price if he knew how valuable the land really was…

Then in his joy…Imagine how joyful you might be if you won (found) a Million dollars…But wait a minute…Jesus was not really talking about money or treasure…Jesus was talking about the Kingdom of God.

Imagine how joyful you might be if you inherited an Eternal Relationship with God…Imagine how excited you might be if God gave himself to you, that you might have forgiveness of all your sins…

You might just act like you did the last time your team or college won the championship…

The story may have started out as the American Dream—Something for Nothing—but that is not how it continued. No, this parable is not about Something for Nothing. This parable is about Something that Costs Everything!

He goes and sells all that he has and buys that field…This seems a little selfish to us…We like to think of the Kingdom of God as something to be shared with other people…Nobody ever teaches us about taking the Kingdom for ourselves…But think about what this man just did…He got rid of everything else in his life so that he could have just one field that everyone else seems to have overlooked. Why? Because this field was worth more than all his other possessions combined.

This field was the only thing in all the world that would truly satisfy all the desires of his heart.



III. Verses 45 – 46.

Like a merchant seeking fine pearls…These parables have several things in common…They both describe the Kingdom of God as an incredible treasure…They both involve the discovery of something overlooked by other people…And they both stress that the Kingdom of God costs everything…

But here is one big difference…In the first parable the discovery is made by accident…A common day laborer, working out in the field, just “happened” to find treasure…But notice that the second parable is about a merchant who was an expert. He knew exactly what he was looking for and went out and found it… (He was like the antique dealers and experts on Antique Roadshow!)

The first parable was about an unexpected surprise…The second parable was about an expected discovery…Both were Once-In-A-Lifetime opportunities…

And upon finding one pearl of great value…How many pearls was he looking for? (Many) How many pearls did he find? (One)

Did you ever think you could be satisfied with just one thing? It is interesting how this relates to the problems of our modern world…Nothing really satisfies us…No matter how much we are able to accumulate, it is NEVER enough…How much will be enough?…Just one more…

How much money will it take to adequately compensate you for your daily work? How much fame and notoriety will satisfy your ego? How much stuff (toys, houses, cars, boats, clothes, etc…) will be enough? Just one more. Just one more Million dollars. Just one more house. Just one more car.

That is not the case with the Kingdom of God…You are satisfied with just one…The Kingdom of God is enough!…And it promises to satisfy…

He went and sold all that he had and bought it…How much did it cost him?…Just money?…Just property?…What about relationships?

Jesus did not describe exactly what he meant, and we could make a case that he was only referring to money and wealth…But the Kingdom of God does not just cost us money and wealth…It costs us everything we have…Money, Possessions, Property, Family, Friends, Jobs, Security, and on and on and on…



IV. Conclusion.

Why did the first man buy the land?

Why did the second man buy the pearl of great price?

You and I are so Americanized that I don’t think we could ever understand what Jesus is trying to teach us…Because we think in terms of investment…The man bought the land so he could turn around and resell it for more money…The man bought the pearl so he could turn around and sell it for more money…

That is NOT what Jesus was teaching… We think that was the meaning of the parable, because we think money can satisfy.

The first man bought the field so he could have the field…The second man bought the pearl so he could have the pearl…

The first man bought the field and kept it for himself and then what did he do?…He SAT in his field…

The second man bought the pearl and kept it for himself and then what did he do?…He SAT and looked at his pearl…

Why?…Because he was satisfied! He had discovered that his treasure was enough! He didn’t need anything else!

These two parables illustrate what Jesus taught us earlier in Matthew 6: 33… But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you…