Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
44. The Parable of the Hid Treasure, in this Gospel only
In ancient times, and in an unsettled country like Palestine, where there were no banks, in the modern sense, it was a common practice to conceal treasures in the ground. Even at this day the Arabs are keenly alive to the chance of finding such buried stores. The dishonesty of the purchaser must be excluded from the thought of the parable. The unexpected discovery, the consequent excitement and joy, and the eagerness to buy at any sacrifice, are the points to be observed in the interpretation.
when a man hath found ] Here the kingdom of heaven presents itself unexpectedly, “Christ is found of one who sought Him not.” The woman of Samaria, the jailer at Philippi, the centurion by the Cross.
selleth all that he hath ] This is the renunciation which is always needed for the winning of the kingdom, cp. ch. Mat 10:38. Thus Paul gave up position, Matthew wealth, Barnabas lands.
buyeth that field ] Puts himself in a position to attain the kingdom.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The kingdom of heaven – The gospel. The new dispensation. The offer of eternal life. See the notes at Mat 3:2. The Saviour in this parable compares that kingdom to treasure hid in a field; that is, to money concealed; or more likely to a mine of silver or gold that was unknown to the owner of the field.
He hideth – That is, he conceals the fact that he has found it; he does not tell of it. With a view of obtaining this, Jesus says that a man would go and sell his property and buy the field. The conduct of the man would be dishonest. It would be his duty to inform the owner of the field of the discovery. He would be really endeavoring to gain property belonging to another at far less than its real value, and the principle of real integrity would require him to inform the owner of the discovery. But Christ does not intend to vindicate his conduct. He merely states the way in which people do actually manage to obtain wealth. He states a case where a man would actually sacrifice his property, and practice diligence and watchfulness to obtain the wealth which he had discovered. The point of the parable lies in his earnestness, his anxiety, his care, and his actually obtaining it. The gospel is more valuable than such a treasure, Psa 19:10; Pro 3:13-15. It is hidden from most people. When a person sees it and hears it, it is his duty to sacrifice all that hinders his obtaining it, and to seek it with the earnestness with which other people seek for gold. The truth often lies buried: it is like rich veins of ore in the sacred Scriptures; it must be searched out with diligence, and its discovery will repay a man for all his sacrifices, Luk 14:33; Phi 3:8.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mat 13:44
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field.
Treasure
1. The Holy Scriptures contain an inestimable treasure-wisdom, grace, comfort, joy.
2. Many not aware of this. They are like some landowners, who can watch with delight the growth of grass, corn, and flowers in their fields, but who lose sight of the precious ore beneath the surface. Can cull a bouquet of flowers-the poetry, history, and imagery-but lack the tools (repentance, faith, hope) for delving to the rich mineral beneath.
3. This treasure can only be discovered by careful search.
4. The greater our desire for the blessings of Divine grace, the greater will be our fear lest we should fall short of them.
5. The discovery of this hid treasure should fill the believer with gladness-the Ethiopian Eunuch went on his way rejoicing.
6. Having discovered the excellency of Divine things, we should be ready to renounce such pleasures and habits as hinder their attainment. Moses gave up the attractions of the Egyptian court, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God. So now the true convert will give up worldly vanities, unfair dealing, uncharitableness, insincerity, and will learn to crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts. (Essex Remembrancer.)
The parables of the hid treasure and the pearl, or how men find Christ
I. There are certain estimates of the kingdom of God, and certain things that are done in relation to it, which both parables agree in representing.
1. The first and most prominent is that both parables represent the gospel as a very precious thing, and as commending itself to men as a very precious thing. A forgiven soul the highest good of man.
2. The parables further agree in representing the secret character of the spiritual blessings of the new kingdom. It is a secret life as well as a visible society. Its truths require the spiritual faculty to discern them.
3. The parables agree further in their representation of the earnestness and determination with which the precious treasure of the gospel is secured.
II. But now they broadly diverge and teach important lessons concerning the diversities of the Christian life.
1. The first point of difference is the way in which the riches of the kingdom are discovered. The treasure-finder stumbles upon his prize unexpectedly; the pearl-merchant finds his in earnest search. This is not the representation of a careless, unspiritual man, who does not so much find the gospel as he is found by it; but of a man whose desires and efforts are right, but who does not all at once find the thing that he wishes. The pearl-seeker seeks with determination. He has many pearls. It is one pearl amongst many that can satisfy him. Touching the law he was blameless, but what was gain he now counts loss for Christ.
2. But the different ways in which men meet God are also indicated in the contrasted emotions and conduct of the two finders of treasure; and these are in exquisite harmony with the character described. The man who unexpectedly finds treasure is impulsive in his joy; the other is joyous, but calm. The treasure-finder buys the entire field; this indicates the feverish, unintelligent way in which such characters realize their salvation. We must not think more of the field than of the treasure. The pearl-seeker buys only the pearl. He distinguishes the essential from the accidental. (H. Allen.)
The kingdom of heaven
Subject religion to the ordinary tests of value: there are four great tests of value.
I. The first is rarity. An old master who painted pictures many a hundred years ago, and sent down a worthy name and fame to posterity, is represented in these days by only two or three. One canvas is hung here, we will say in the National Gallery, and another in Vienna, and another somewhere else: all the rest are burned by fire or rusted and moulded away by the influence of time. The bare fact that there are only three specimens extant of that mans master-pieces gives them a value that cannot be covered even though you cover that canvas with gold. According to their rarity is their value. For what is true religion? If there is anything in it at all, if it is not a gross deception, I will tell you what it is. It is holiness and happiness-rare things in the world, my masters, look for them where you will.
II. Let us take another test of value, one that you are all acquainted With more or less-I mean the verdict of a competent authority. If a child is playing at the mothers door with what appears to be a piece of beautifully-coloured or transparent glass, it may flash so brightly that even the mother is curious enough to take it from the little palm of her child and hold it up to see how the sun rays dance around it; but she is content then to pass it back again as a thing of no more moment. But lo, a lapidary comes that way who, with keen and practised eye, catches the peculiar scintillations that rise from it, and he takes it in his hand, holds it between him and the sun, weighs it, judges of the comparative weight and measure, and then passes it into the mothers hand, saying, Madam, are you aware that that is a diamond, and not glass? In a moment the verdict of a competent authority has increased its value fifty thousand fold. So with a picture which has hung on a cottage wall for years, an unvalued heirloom, that hangs there simply because it is its accustomed place. There comes in one who knows, and he uses means to take away the canker and the rust of time, and unburies a patch of subtle colour that lies beneath, and he says in a moment, Why that is a Rembrandt, and in a moment the verdict of a competent authority gives it a value that it never possessed before. I want to rest religion on the same ground, the verdict of a competent authority. Ah, but I hear somebody there saying, where will you find an authority that is sufficient for us? Where will you find one that we are bound to believe? Brothers, on the principle that experience is the grandest teacher.
III. Not only rarity, not only the verdict of a competent authority, but durability is an important test of value. Why, you will scarcely give your child a sixpence to go and buy a toy without giving it a little wise motherly counsel at the same time not to buy something that will break almost before it gets home. That is true right along the whole of your business transactions. How long will it last? as old Humphreys says, is one of the wisest questions that a buyer can inquire after. Well, let us put that test to religion. You know beauty has a value, a wondrous value, as we have seen in the diamond already; but if you ask for the value of beauty alone, then I protest to you that I know nothing in this world that is more beautiful than a full-blown bubble rising from the lips of a schoolboy on a summers afternoon, floating out in a stately silence of its own, a beautiful crystal globe, dancing in the sunlight as though it loved its congeners. As it passes over field and tree and house and passer-by, is photographed in many colours upon its brilliant walls, and as it rises higher and higher in the sunlight, you are ready to say, How beautiful! And yet you say, As worthless as a bubble. Why? Because it will not last.
IV. Now, there is only one more that I know anything about myself, but I declare to you I think it is the most important of the four, and that is the test of adaptation. What is the use of a telescope that does not bring a thing nearer and magnify it to the eye? What say you of yonder sailor who is out on the seas shipwrecked; all his chance of life is his gripping power to a slippery, craggy rock that rises just above the surging seas; he can see nothing; no hope of life, blood starts from his fingers ends as he grips, lest he plunges in the deep. What is the most precious thing in the world to him? You wont offer him a fortune, will you? Millions are of no use: the most precious thing to that man is a boat; it is adapted to his special necessity. (J. J. Wray.)
The particle of the treasure
I. THE excellency of the gospel is not generally understood by men. It is a hid treasure. Illustrate the fact:
1. In its nature. The reference under this metaphor is not designed to apply so much to the case of men to whom the gospel is not exhibited, as with the heathen. It applies to men who have the gospel; yet they will not estimate it.
2. In its source. The cause is the universal depravity of the heart.
II. The gospel does intrinsically possess vast and inestimable valve. It is a treasure. The value of the gospel will appear if you consider
(1) The source in which it originates;
(2) The blessings which it communicates;
(3) The mediation upon which it rests;
(4) The diffusiveness of which it is susceptible;
(5) The permanence with which it is invested.
III. The discovery of the actual value of the gospel must exert a master influence upon the principles and habits of those by whom it is acquired.
1. The discovery of the value of the gospel must arise from the influence of the Divine Spirit.
2. Then men practically abandon all that may interfere with their enjoyment of the blessings which the gospel exhibits.
3. This abandonment will never fail of procuring the desired result.
4. The treasure is offered to all freely and fully. (J. Parsons.)
Hid treasure
Says old Thomas Fuller, Lord, this morning I read a chapter in the Bible, and therein observed a memorable passage whereof I never took notice before. Why now, and no sooner, did I see it? Formerly my eyes were as open, and the letters as legible. Is there not a thin veil laid over Thy Word, which is more rarified by reading, and at last wholly worn away? The Word of God is like unto treasure hid in a field. Its best things are ever below the surface. Then shall ye seek them and find them, when ye shall search for them with all your heart.
Points in parable of hid treasures
I. Vital religion is an individual matter.
2. To the individual it must come in direct, personal relations.
3. A man must be prepared for effort and sacrifice to gain a personal interest in religion. (Anon.)
Hiding treasures
Owing to the insecurity of property in the East, from war and oppression, joined to the necessity of keeping valuable property in hand, for want of secure banks of deposit, the practice of hiding precious utensils and ornaments, money and jewels, has always been common. Often these are built up into the walls of the owners house, often buried in fields and gardens. (Kitto.)
Jewish law of things found
According to Jewish law, if man found treasure in loose coins among the corn, it would certainly be his, if he bought the corn. If he had found it on the ground, or in the soil, it would equally certainly belong to him, if he could claim ownership of the soil. (Edersheim.)
The parable of treasure hid in a field
There is a twofold hiding of this treasure.
I. An evil hiding which is not intended here. When a man hath received light and knowledge of Christ and Divine truth, and he (through Satans temptations and the evil of his own heart) strives to smother it in his own breast, or conceals what he knows, this is an evil hiding. Now the reason why some do this I shall show.
1. Because truth is only discovered to his understanding. They may be much enlightened, but his will consents not, subjects not to the power of it. Nor is he in love with it, his affections being not changed, or as the apostle says, Such do not receive the truth in the love of it.
2. It may be occasioned through shame. He s ashamed of Christ and His word; the visible profession of religion exposeth much to reproach and contempt.
3. It may be through idleness he is not willing to be at further pains, nor at the charge to sell all that he hath to buy this field, or publicly to receive Christ.
4. Moreover, fear may be one cause of the sinful hiding of this treasure. He knows not what the losses may be he may meet withal, or what he may suffer for Christs sake, if he visibly confesseth Him.
5. An evil hiding imports a non-improving of their light and knowledge (Mat 25:18).
II. There may be a good hiding of this treasure, which may denote-
1. Such endeavour to the uttermost, whatsoever it may cost them, to make it their own, and will not wickedly conceal what Christ hath done for them (Psa 66:16).
2. They make use of all means to secure it, and in prayer crying to God continually to help them to persevere and keep this treasure against all attempts of enemies whatsoever.
Why Christ is called treasure
1. Rich treasure is counted an excellent thing, and therefore it is much desired; the hearts of mankind naturally run after riches and earthly treasure; Christ may upon this account be compared to treasure.
2. This spiritual treasure makes all that find it very rich (Rev 3:18).
3. Much earthly treasure makes men to be envied and hated by many persons, and are in danger to be robbed by thieves. So a believer is hated and envied by the devil and wicked men. Satan, like a cunning thief, strives to rob them of their treasure.
4. Such who have much riches, or store of earthly treasure, live high; they feed or fare not as the poor do; also they are more richly clothed, and delivered from the care and fears which the poor are vexed with continually.
5. A man that hath much earthly treasure can do more good to his neighbour than multitudes of others are able to do. So believers, rich in faith, rich in promise, rich in experience, can do more good to others-they can give better counsel, more and better comfort (Pro 10:21).
6. He that hath much earthly treasure values himself accordingly, rich and honourable are his companions, and with them he communes every day. So he that hath much spiritual treasure values himself upon the best grounds; he is a child of God; he hath God for his portion; he is allowed communion with God; he is assured he shall never want any good thing (Psa 119:63).
7. Hid treasure is not found without much pains and diligent searching, no more is this spiritual treasure (Pro 2:2; Pro 2:5).
8. He that hath much earthly treasure, commonly sets his heart upon it, and it is his chiefest delight; so he that hath found this treasure, sets his heart upon it. God and Christ are his chiefest delight (Mat 6:21).
9. Such who find great treasure rejoice; so he that finds Christ, this spiritual treasure, rejoiceth; he selleth for joy all he hath to buy that field. A believer has cause of joy, he is happy for ever.
I shall now show you the nature of this treasure
1. It is heavenly, not earthly, treasure; as far as heaven excels the earth, so far heavenly treasure excels all the riches and treasures of this world.
2. It being heavenly and spiritual treasure, it followeth that it must be incorruptible treasure.
3. It is soul-satisfying treasure, the treasures of this world can never satisfy the immortal soul of man.
4. It is durable and everlasting treasure, not uncertain riches, which are compared to vapour (Pro 23:5).
I shall show you how this treasure is hid
Christ is like hidden treasure.
1. He was long hid in God, or covered and out of sight of men. The salvation by Jesus Christ was hid from the Jews who believed not under the law, under dark shadows and beggarly elements, so that they could not find this treasure.
2. Christ and His benefits are hid in the dispensation of the gospel, so that very few can find this rich treasure. They have the field, viz., word and administration of the gospel, but carnal men see not the mysteries of the gospel.
3. This treasure was hid (and is still); dark, parabolical, symbolical, or tropical expressions uttered by our blessed Lord. Many had the field; the parables and similitudes were spoken to multitudes, but the treasure in them few saw. It is evident that the treasure is still hid from most in our days.
4. This treasure is hid by the Lord from multitudes, as an act of His Sovereign will and pleasure (Rom 9:18; Mat 21:25-26).
5. That may be said to be hid which mankind cannot find without God reveals it to them in a supernatural way. Now the knowledge of Jesus Christ and the mysteries of the gospel mankind naturally cannot know.
6. That which needeth many gradations to unfold it is a hidden thing, but the knowledge of Christ the Redeemer, and mysteries of salvation, needed many gradations to unfold it. To our first parents it was made known by the promise, The seed of the woman shall break the serpents head. Then to Abraham God gave a further discovery thereof (Gen 22:18). Afterwards it was revealed by types, ceremonies, and sacrifices of the law, and then we come to the gospel dispensation.
7. That which requires our uttermost skill, wisdom, and diligence to search and find out is a hidden thing, but the true knowledge of Jesus Christ requires our uttermost skill, wisdom, and diligence in searching to find out, and therefore it is a hidden thing (Pro 2:1-5). As men know not the price thereof, so many know not the place thereof where it is hid. It is hid from many by the devil (2Co 4:3-4).
I shall now show why he rejoices that finds this treasure
He that finds this treasure, finds the Lord Jesus Christ, the Pearl of great price, which far exceeds all hid treasure and mountains of prey. Therefore it is from the worth of this treasure that a believer that finds it cloth rejoice. It may be from the great use of this treasure to him. He was poor before, this treasure enricheth him; he was naked, he is gloriously clothed; he was forced to feed on husks, now he is fed with rare food, the Bread of Life. This treasure mainly consisteth in the saving knowledge of God and Jesus Christ (2Co 4:7. It is an experimental, not a mere speculative knowledge. It is a practical knowledge (Job 22:21-22; 1 John if. 4). It is an enlivening knowledge (Col 3:10). It is a translating and transforming knowledge (Rom 6:3-4; Rom 6:6). It is a progressive knowledge (2Co 3:18). He that finds this treasure makes the field his own, he secures the field. (B. Keach.)
The hidden treasures, and the pearl of great price
I. These parables do not teach that the blessing of salvation is cofined to any one particular enclosure.
1. It is not confined to the Church.
2. The field is not confined to the Bible. Many are saved who do not know the Bible: In whatsoever connection it is that a man first discovers Christ, that to him is the field.
II. These parables are not to be construed as teaching that salavation is a Thing which a man can buy. It is not a commodity outside of the man which he can transfer by purchase; it is a nature within him that can be imparted only by God.
III. These parables do not counsel concealment in the matter of our salvation. Men hide that of which they are ashamed; none need be ashamed of Jesus and His salvation. Men hide that which they are afraid of losing, or of having stolen from them; but who can deprive of that which is within us. No man has any exclusive property in salvation. The new life will make itself felt. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 44. The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field] , to a hidden treasure. We are not to imagine that the treasure here mentioned, and to which the Gospel salvation is likened, means a pot or chest of money hidden in the field, but rather a gold or silver mine, which he who found out could not get at, or work, without turning up the field, and for this purpose he bought it. Mr. Wakefield’s observation is very just: “There is no sense in the purchase of a field for a pot of money, which he might have carried away with him very readily, and as honestly, too, as by overreaching the owner by an unjust purchase.”
He hideth – i.e. he kept secret, told the discovery to no person, till he had bought the field. From this view of the subject, the translation of this verse, given above, will appear proper – a hidden treasture, when applied to a rich mine, is more proper than a treasure hid, which applies better to a pot of money deposited there, which I suppose was our translators’ opinion; and kept secret, or concealed, will apply better to the subject of his discovery till he made the purchase, than hideth, for which there could be no occasion, when the pot was already hidden, and the place known only to himself.
Our Lord’s meaning seems to be this: –
The kingdom of heaven – the salvation provided by the Gospel – is like a treasure-something of inestimable worth – hidden in a field; it is a rich mine, the veins of which run in all directions in the sacred Scriptures; therefore, the field must be dug up, the records of salvation diligently and carefully turned over, and searched. Which, when a man hath found – when a sinner is convinced that the promise of life eternal is to him, he kept secret – pondered the matter deeply in his heart; he examines the preciousness of the treasure, and counts the cost of purchase; for joy thereof – finding that this salvation is just what his needy soul requires, and what will make him presently and eternally happy, went and sold all that he had – renounces his sins, abandons his evil companions, and relinquishes all hope of salvation through his own righteousness; and purchased that field – not merely bought the book for the sake of the salvation it described, but, by the blood of the covenant, buys gold tried in the fire, white raiment, c. in a word, pardon and purity, which he receives from God for the sake of Jesus. We should consider the salvation of God,
1. As our only treasure, and value it above all the riches in the world.
2. Search for it in the Scriptures, till we fully understand its worth and excellence.
3. Deeply ponder it in the secret of our souls.
4. Part with all we have in order to get it.
5. Place our whole joy and felicity in it; and
6. Be always convinced that it must be bought, and that no price is accepted for it but the blood of the covenant; the sufferings and death of our only Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Whatsoever belongeth to the kingdom of God, whether the word, which is called the word of the kingdom, or the grace and favour of God, which he by me dispenses out under the administration of the gospel, is like, that is, should be adjudged, esteemed, and used like as
treasure hid in a field. Men should do by it as they would do upon the discovery of a great sum of money, buried up in the earth, in some field not yet their own. Suppose a man had made some such discovery, what would he do? He would rejoice at it, he would hide it, he would sell all he had and buy that field. So should men do to whom there is a revelation of the gospel, and the grace thereof; they should inwardly rejoice in the revelation, and bless God for it, and, whatever it cost them, labour that they might be made partakers of that grace. Earthly possessions cannot be had without purchasing, and those who have not ready money to purchase with must raise it from the sale of something which they have; therefore our labour for the kingdom of heaven is set out under the notion of buying. But the prophet, (Isa 55:1,2) let us know that it is a buying without money and without price. However, there is some resemblance, for as in buying and selling there is a parting with something that is ours, in exchange for something which is anothers, so in order to the obtaining of the grace of the gospel, and the kingdom of glory, to which the remission of sins leadeth, we must part with something in order to the obtaining of it. We have no ready money, nothing by us, that is a quid pro quo, a valuable price for Divine grace; we must therefore part with something that we have, and it is no matter what it be, which God requireth. Where this discovery is made, the soul will part with all it hath, not only its old heart, its unlawful desires and lusts, but its riches, honours, and pleasures, if it can by no other means obtain the kingdom of heaven, that it may obtain it; they are all of no value to it. Nor is it at all necessary in order to buying, that the thing parted with be of a proportionable, value. Amongst men, wedges of gold have been purchased for knives and rattles, &c; nor doth any thing we can part with, that we may obtain the kingdom of heaven, bear any better proportion; yet it is a buying, because it is what God is pleased to accept, and upon the parting with gives us this heavenly kingdom.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
44. Again, the kingdom of heaven islike unto treasure hid in a fieldno uncommon thing inunsettled and half-civilized countries, even now as well as inancient times, when there was no other way of securing it from therapacity of neighbors or marauders. (Jer 41:8;Job 3:21; Pro 2:4).
the which when a man hathfoundthat is, unexpectedly found.
he hideth, and for joythereofon perceiving what a treasure he had lighted on,surpassing the worth of all he possessed.
goeth and selleth all that hehath, and buyeth that fieldin which case, by Jewish law, thetreasure would become his own.
The Pearl of Great Price(Mat 13:45; Mat 13:46).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Again the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure,…. By which is meant, not eternal life, the incorruptible inheritance, riches of glory, treasure in heaven; nor Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and all the riches of grace and glory; but the Gospel, which is a treasure consisting of rich truths, comparable to gold, silver, and precious stones; of the most valuable blessings, and of exceeding great, and precious promises; and reveals the riches of God, of Christ, and of the other world; and is a treasure unsearchable, solid, satisfying, and lasting: this is said to be
hid in a field. The Gospel was in some measure hid, under the former dispensation, from the Old Testament saints; and for a long time was hid from the Gentile world; and is entirely hid from them that are lost, who are blinded by the god of this world; and even from the elect of God themselves, before conversion: this is sometimes said to be hid in God, in his thoughts, counsels, and purposes, and in the covenant of his grace; and sometimes in Christ; who is the storehouse of truth, as well as of grace; and may be thought to be hid under the Mosaic economy, in the types and shadows of the ceremonial law: but here “the field” means the Scriptures, in which the Gospel lies hid; and therefore these are to be searched into for it, as men seek and search for silver and hid treasures, by digging into mines, and in the bowels of the earth:
the which when a man hath found; either with or without the use of means, purposely attended to, in order to find it; such as reading, hearing, prayer, and meditation: for sometimes the Gospel, and the spiritual saving knowledge of it, are found, and attained to, by persons accidentally, with respect to themselves, though providentially, with respect to God; when they had no desire after it, or searched for it, and thought nothing about it; though by others it is come at, in a diligent use of the above means:
he hideth; which is to be understood not in an ill sense, as the man hid his talent in a napkin, and in the earth; but in a good sense, and designs his care of it; his laying it up in his heart, that he might not lose it, and that it might not be taken away from him: and
for joy thereof; for the Gospel, when rightly understood, brings good tidings of great joy, to sensible sinners;
goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth the field: which is not to be interpreted literally and properly; though a man that knows the worth and value of the Bible, rather than be without one, would part with all his worldly substance for one; but figuratively, and denotes the willingness of such souls, who are led into the glory, fulness, and excellency of the word of God, the scriptures of truth, and of the immense treasure of the Gospel therein, to part with all that has been, or is dear unto them; with their sins, and self-righteousness; with their good names and characters; their worldly substance, and life itself, for the sake of the Gospel, and their profession of it: and may also design the use of all means, to gain a larger degree of light and knowledge in the Gospel. It seems by this parable, according to the Jewish laws, that not the finder of a treasure in a field, but the owner of the field, had the propriety in it; when it should seem rather, that it ought to be divided. Such that have ability and leisure, may consult a controversy in Philostratus l, between two persons, the buyer and seller of a field; in which, after the purchase, a treasure was found, when the seller claimed it as his; urging, that had he known of it, he would never have sold him the field: the buyer, on the other hand, insisted on its being his property; alleging that all was his which was contained in the land bought by him.
l De Vita Apollonii, lib. 2. c. 15.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| Various Parables. |
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44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. 45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: 46 Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. 47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: 48 Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. 49 So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, 50 And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 51 Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord. 52 Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.
We have four short parables in these verses.
I. That of the treasure hid in the field. Hitherto he had compared the kingdom of heaven to small things, because its beginning was small; but, lest any should thence take occasion to think meanly of it, in this parable and the next he represents it as of great value in itself, and of great advantage to those who embrace it, and are willing to come up to its terms; it is here likened to a treasure hid in the field, which, if we will, we may make our own.
1. Jesus Christ is the true Treasure; in him there is an abundance of all that which is rich and useful, and will be a portion for us: all fulness (Col 1:19; Joh 1:16): treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. ii. 3), of righteousness, grace, and peace; these are laid up for us in Christ; and, if we have an interest in him, it is all our own.
2. The gospel is the field in which this treasure is hid: it is hid in the word of the gospel, both the Old-Testament and the New-Testament gospel. In gospel ordinances it is hid as the milk in the breast, the marrow in the bone, the manna in the dew, the water in the well (Isa. xii. 3), the honey in the honey-comb. It is hid, not in a garden enclosed, or a spring shut up, but in a field, an open field; whoever will, let him come, and search the scriptures; let him dig in this field (Prov. ii. 4); and whatever royal mines we find, they are all our own, if we take the right course.
3. It is a great thing to discover the treasure hid in this field, and the unspeakable value of it. The reason why so many slight the gospel, and will not be at the expense, and run the hazard, of entertaining it, is because they look only upon the surface of the field, and judge by that, and so see no excellency in the Christian institutes above those of the philosophers; nay, the richest mines are often in grounds that appear most barren; and therefore they will not so much as bid for the field, much less come up to the price. What is thy beloved more than another beloved? What is the Bible more than other good books? The gospel of Christ more than Plato’s philosophy, or Confucius’s morals: but those who have searched the scriptures, so as in them to find Christ and eternal life (John v. 39), have discovered such a treasure in this field as makes it infinitely more valuable.
4. Those who discern this treasure in the field, and value it aright, will never be easy till they have made it their own upon any terms. He that has found this treasure, hides it, which denotes a holy jealousy, lest we come short (Heb. iv. 1), looking diligently (Heb. xii. 15), lest Satan come between us and it. He rejoices in it, though as yet the bargain be not made; he is glad there is such a bargain to be had, and that he is in a fair way to have an interest in Christ; that the matter is in treaty: their hearts may rejoice, who are yet but seeking the Lord, Ps. cv. 3. He resolves to buy this field: they who embrace gospel offers, upon gospel terms, buy this field; they make it their own, for the sake of the unseen treasure in it. It is Christ in the gospel that we are to have an eye to; we need not go up to heaven, but Christ in the word is nigh us. And so intent he is upon it, that he sells all to buy this field: they who would have saving benefit by Christ, must be willing to part with all, that they may make it sure to themselves; must count every thing but loss, that they may win Christ, and be found in him.
II. That of the pearl of price (Mat 13:45; Mat 13:46), which is to the same purport with the former, of the treasure. The dream is thus doubled, for the thing is certain.
Note, 1. All the children of men are busy, seeking goodly pearls: one would be rich, another would be honourable, another would be learned; but the most are imposed upon, and take up with counterfeits for pearls.
2. Jesus Christ is a Pearl of great price, a Jewel of inestimable value, which will make those who have it rich, truly rich, rich toward God; in having him, we have enough to make us happy here and for ever.
3. A true Christian is a spiritual merchant, that seeks and finds this pearl of price; that does not take up with any thing short of an interest in Christ, and, as one that is resolved to be spiritually rich, trades high: He went and bought that pearl; did not only bid for it, but purchased it. What will it avail us to know Christ, if we do not know him as ours, made to us wisdom? 1 Cor. i. 30.
4. Those who would have a saving interest in Christ, must be willing to part with all for him, leave all to follow him. Whatever stands in opposition to Christ, or in competition with him for our love and service, we must cheerfully quit it, though ever so dear to us. A man may buy gold too dear, but not this pearl of price.
III. That of the net cast into the sea, v. 47-49.
1. Here is the parable itself. Where note, (1.) The world is a vast sea, and the children of men are things creeping innumerable, both small and great, in that sea, Ps. civ. 25. Men in their natural state are like the fishes of the sea that have no ruler over them, Hab. i. 14. (2.) The preaching of the gospel is the casting of a net into this sea, to catch something out of it, for his glory who has the sovereignty of the sea. Ministers are fishers of men, employed in casting and drawing this net; and then they speed, when at Christ’s word they let down the net; otherwise, they toil and catch nothing. (3.) This net gathers of every kind, as large dragnets do. In the visible church there is a deal of trash and rubbish, dirt and weeds and vermin, as well as fish. (4.) There is a time coming when this net will be full, and drawn to the shore; a set time when the gospel shall have fulfilled that for which it was sent, and we are sure it shall not return void, Isa 55:10; Isa 55:11. The net is now filling; sometimes it fills faster than at other times, but still it fills, and will be drawn to shore, when the mystery of God shall be finished. (5.) When the net is full and drawn to the shore, there shall be a separation between the good and bad that were gathered in it. Hypocrites and true Christians shall then be parted; the good shall be gathered into vessels, as valuable, and therefore to be carefully kept, but the bad shall be cast away, as vile and unprofitable; and miserable is the condition of those who are cast away in that day. While the net is in the sea, it is not known what is in it, the fishermen themselves cannot distinguish; but they carefully draw it, and all that is in it, to the shore, for the sake of the good that is in it. Such is God’s care for the visible church, and such should ministers’ concern be for those under their charge, though they are mixed.
2. Here is the explanation of the latter part of the parable, the former is obvious and plain enough: we see gathered in the visible church, some of every kind: but the latter part refers to that which is yet to come, and is therefore more particularly explained, Mat 13:49; Mat 13:50. So shall it be at the end of the world; then, and not till then, will the dividing, discovering day be. We must not look for the net full of all good fish; the vessels will be so, but in the net they are mixed. See here, (1.) The distinguishing of the wicked from the righteous. The angels of heaven shall come forth to do that which the angels of the churches could never do; they shall sever the wicked from among the just; and we need not ask how they will distinguish them when they have both their commission and their instructions from him that knows all men, and particularly knows them that are his, and them that are not, and we may be sure there shall be no mistake or blunder either way. (2.) The doom of the wicked when they are thus severed. They shall be cast into the furnace, Note, Everlasting misery and sorrow will certainly be the portion of those who live among sanctified ones, but themselves die unsanctified. This is the same with what we had before, v. 42. Note, Christ himself preached often of hell-torments, as the everlasting punishment of hypocrites; and it is good for us to be often reminded of this awakening, quickening truth.
IV. Here is the parable of the good householder, which is intended to rivet all the rest.
1. The occasion of it was the good proficiency which the disciples had made in learning, and their profiting by this sermon in particular. (1.) He asked them, Have ye understood all these things? Intimating, that if they had not, he was ready to explain what they did not understand. Note, It is the will of Christ, that all those who read and hear the word should understand it; for otherwise how should they get good by it? It is therefore good for us, when we have read or heard the word, to examine ourselves, or to be examined, whether we have understood it or not. It is no disparagement to the disciples of Christ to be catechised. Christ invites us to seek to him for instruction, and ministers should proffer their service to those who have any good question to ask concerning what they have heard. (2.) They answered him, Yea, Lord: and we have reason to believe they said true, because, when they did not understand, they asked for an explication, v. 36. And the exposition of that parable was a key to the rest. Note, The right understanding of one good sermon, will very much help us to understand another; for good truths mutually explain and illustrate one another; and knowledge is easy to him that understandeth.
2. The scope of the parable itself was to give his approbation and commendation of their proficiency. Note, Christ is ready to encourage willing learners in his school, though they are but weak; and to say, Well done, well said.
(1.) He commends them as scribes instructed unto the kingdom of heaven. They were now learning that they might teach, and the teachers among the Jews were the scribes. Ezra, who prepared his heart to teach in Israel, is called a ready scribe,Ezr 7:6; Ezr 7:10. Now a skilful, faithful minister of the gospel is a scribe too; but for distinction, he is called a scribe instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, well versed in the things of the gospel, and well able to teach those things. Note, [1.] Those who are to instruct others, have need to be well instructed themselves. If the priest’s lips must keep knowledge, his head must first have knowledge. [2.] The instruction of a gospel minister must be in the kingdom of heaven, that is it about which his business lies. A man may be a great philosopher and politician, and yet if not instructed to the kingdom of heaven, he will make but a bad minister.
(2.) He compares them to a good householder, who brings forth out of his treasure things new and old; fruits of last year’s growth and this year’s gathering, abundance and variety, for the entertainment of his friends, Cant. vii. 13. See here, [1.] What should be a minister’s furniture, a treasure of things new and old. Those who have so many and various occasions, have need to stock themselves well in their gathering days with truths new and old, out of the Old Testament and out of the new; with ancient and modern improvements, that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished,2Ti 3:16; 2Ti 3:17. Old experiences, and new observations, all have their use; and we must not content ourselves with old discoveries, but must be adding new. Live and learn. [2.] What use he should make of this furniture; he should bring forth: laying up is in order to laying out, for the benefit of others. Sic vox non vobis–You are to lay up, but not for yourselves. Many are full, but they have no vent (Job xxxii. 19); have a talent, but they bury it; such are unprofitable servants; Christ himself received that he might give; so must we, and we shall have more. In bringing forth, things new and old do best together; old truths, but new methods and expressions, especially new affections.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
And hid ( ). Not necessarily bad morality. “He may have hid it to prevent it being stolen, or to prevent himself from being anticipated in buying a field” (Plummer). But if it was a piece of sharp practice, that is not the point of the parable. That is, the enormous wealth of the Kingdom for which any sacrifice, all that one has, is not too great a price to pay.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
FIFTH KINGDOM OF HEAVEN PARABLE,
THE HIDDEN TREASURE V. 44
1) “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like,” (homoia estin he basileia ton ouranon) “The kingdom of heaven (also) exists similar,” or very much like, relative to:
2) “Unto treasure hid in a field;” (thesauto kekrummeno en to argo) “To a treasure that has been hidden in the field;” the field is the world, Mat 13:38. The treasure is the church, the pearl of great price, which Jesus found, as in prepared material by John, Mat 13:45-46; Mat 3:1-3; Act 15:14; Joh 3:28-29; Act 1:21-22.
3) “The which when a man hath found, he hideth,” (hon heuron anthropos ekrupsen) “Which upon finding a man hid;” That man who found and brought this treasure together was Jesus Christ. The nature, simple organizational structure, and function of the “kingdom of heaven,” the New Covenant church, was an enigma, an hidden thing, to the astigmatized Jews, Mat 13:10-17.
4) “And for joy goeth and selleth all that he hath,” (kai apo charas autou hupagei kai polei hosa echei) “And from the joy he has, he goes and sells what things he has (his all);” Having established His church, taught and indoctrinated it, He then gave Himself to purchase it, with His own blood, Act 20:28; Eph 5:25.
5) “And buyeth that field.” (kai agorazei ton agron ekeinon) “Arid buys that field,” and all that was in it. He not only gave himself to purchase the church, the treasure then hidden in the field, but He also died for the whole world (Gk. kos mos), to secure the restitution of all things to the Father. The chief (centerpiece) thing, in that field” (world) He purchased, was and is His church, the “pearl of great price,” Mat 13:44-45. One day He will receive her as His Holy Bride, Eph 5:26; Rev 19:5-9.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
The first two of these parables are intended to instruct believers to prefer the Kingdom of heaven to the whole world, and therefore to deny themselves and all the desires of the flesh, that nothing may prevent them from obtaining so valuable a possession. We are greatly in need of such a warning; for we are so captivated by the allurements of the world, that eternal life fades from our view; (232) and in consequence of our carnality, the spiritual graces of God are far from being held by us in the estimation which they deserve. Justly, therefore, does Christ speak in such lofty terms of the excellence of eternal life, that we ought not to feel uneasiness at relinquishing, on account of it, whatever we reckon in other respects to be valuable.
First, he says, that the kingdom of heaven is like a hidden treasure. We commonly set a high value on what is visible, and therefore the new and spiritual life, which is held out to us in the Gospel, is little esteemed by us, because it is hidden, and lies in hope. There is the highest appropriateness in comparing it to a treasure, the value of which is in no degree diminished, though it may be buried in the earth, and withdrawn from the eyes of men. These words teach us, that we ought not to estimate the riches of the grace of God according to the views of our flesh, or according to their outward display, but in the same manner as a treasure, though it be hidden, is preferred to a vain appearance of wealth. The same instruction is conveyed by the other parable. One pearl, though it be small, is so highly valued, that a skillful merchant does not hesitate to sell houses and lands in order to purchase it. The excellence of the heavenly life is not perceived, indeed, by the sense of the flesh; and yet we do not esteem it according to its real worth, unless we are prepared to deny, on account of it, all that glitters in our eyes.
We now perceive the leading object of both parables. It is to inform us, that none are qualified for receiving the grace of the Gospel but those who disregard all other desires, and devote all their exertions, and all their faculties, to obtain it. It deserves our attention, also, that Christ does not pronounce the hidden treasure, or the pearl, to be so highly valued by all. The treasure is ascertained to be valuable, after that it has been found and known; and it is the skillful merchant that forms such an opinion about the pearl (233) These words denote the knowledge of faith. “The heavenly kingdom,” Christ tells us, “is commonly held as of no account, because men are incapable of relishing it, and do not perceive the inestimable value of that treasure which the Lord offers to us in the Gospel.”
But it is asked, is it necessary that we abandon every other possession, in order that we may enjoy eternal life? I answer briefly. The natural meaning of the words is, that the Gospel does not receive from us the respect which it deserves, unless we prefer it to all the riches, pleasures, honors, and advantages of the world, and to such an extent, that we are satisfied with the spiritual blessings which it promises, and throw aside every thing that would keep us from enjoying them; for those who aspire to heaven must be disengaged from every thing that would retard their progress. Christ exhorts those who believe in him to deny those things only which are injurious to godliness; and, at the same time, permits them to use and enjoy God’s temporal favors, as if they did not use them.
(232) “ Que nous venons a oublier la vie eternelle;” — “that we come to forget eternal life.”
(233) “ C’est le bon marchand qui fait telle estime de la perle ;” — “it is the good merchant who sets so high a value on the pearl.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE FOUR PARABLES OF THE FIELD
Mat 13:24-30; Mat 13:36-40; Mat 13:31-32; Mat 13:44-46.
THE ministry of Jesus Christ was matchless in many ways. His words so amazed men that they said, Never man spake like this Man; His works so impressed them that they remarked, We never saw it on this wise; and His ministry was so many-sided that it seemed inexplicable, and in astonishment, they asked, Is not this the carpenter, the son of Joseph?
A few years ago, two of our greatest theological seminaries came into prominent debate. One of them proudly affirmed itself engaged in the larger task of making men ready for the metropolitan pastorates of America, and the other insisted that it was seeking to equip men for any station to which they might be called, high or low, communities of culture or of comparative ignorance, city-centers or country-districts.
The latter had evidently undertaken the larger task. The man who is equally adapted to open country and crowded city; the man who can compel audience in either place, is the unusual man the Spurgeon of his century, the Moody of the moment. Only the truly great can easily adapt themselves to violent changes and varying circumstances. The centuries have known no man who had such messages for the metropolis as did the Man from Nazareth, and yet, perhaps, the greater portion of His ministry was given to the open country, and to the industrial classes. He went to the men in the fields and taught them the greatest moral truths by employing the parables of the field.
To four of these we call attention today: the Parable of the Tares, the Parable of the Mustard Seed, the Parable of the Hid Treasure, and the Pearl of Great Price. In these four we find no disconnected argument, but a logical exposition of the Kingdom of God.
The first presents The KingdomOpposition; the second, The KingdomApostasy; and the third and fourth, The KingdomPurchase.
THE KINGDOMOPPOSITION.
Mat 13:24-30.
This parable, like that of the sower, Christ interpreted to His disciples (Mat 13:36-43), and thereby provided us with the second illustration of how to interpret parables. By this interpretation He gives such an exposition of the Kingdom-Opposition as clearly reveals the contending forces, the continued conflict, and the Christians conquest.
The contending forces! The Son of Man on the one side; Satan on the other. The children of the Kingdom on the one side; the children of the wicked one on the other. These indeed are the Captains and armies of all centuries. By comparison, they dwarf to insignificance those that have ever assembled under any other leaders, or for that matter, all other leaders; or contended for any other, or all other fields; or fought over any other, or all other subjects of division. John Milton, in his Paradise Lost sees the beginning of this battle in rebellion raised in heaven by him who set himself in glory beyond his peers, and trusted to have equalled the most High if He opposed; who, with ambitious aim, raised impious war in heaven and battle proud. But it took a Christ to properly depict it. What war! The whole world as the prize of the contention! The Son of God, and all good men on one side; Satan and his every duped subject on the other!
Christs interpretation of this parable is a death-knell of a good deal of New Theology! The universal Fatherhood of God is not found here! Men are divided into two camps rather, the children of the Kingdom, and the children of the wicked one. The first, begotten of Gods own will, by the Word of Truth (Jas 1:18), and made good seed, children of God by being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God (1Pe 1:23). The second are of their father, the devil (Joh 8:44), not alone because conceived and shapen in iniquity, but by the wilful choice, having made Beelzebub their Captain.
Christs interpretation of this parable is a blow to the universal brotherhood of which men speak. The children of the Kingdom and the children of the wicked one, while they may be of one blood in natural generation, are made to be of altogether different spirit by the regeneration of the former and the degeneration of the latter.
We meet people quite often who tell us they see very little difference between the members of the professing church and the men and women of the world. To this it is sufficient to reply, first of all, that the phrase the professing church is not identical with the phrase the children of God. And second, the tares and wheat look much alike, to a certain point, but when the tares bloom, then they become not only distinguishable, but prove themselves possessed of a peculiar poison which is borne about over the true wheat destroying even its fruitage. So it is in the Kingdom of God! The blight of many a Christians life, the loss of many a believers power is directly traceable to his too-close contact with the opposition. That is why the Apostle Paul wrote:
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness, and what communion hath light with darkness. And what concord hath Christ with Belial, or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
Little wonder that he quotes his Lord as saying, Come ye out from among them and be ye separate.
The continued conflict! The contention of these forces is not for a day. Satan will not easily quit the field; the Son of Man will never surrender. The children of the Kingdom multiply; the children of the wicked one increase. No Christian rightly estimates the enemy if he believes that a generation will see the whole world Christianized by present methods; and the Haeckel-Atheist, who thinks that tomorrow will witness the surrender of the faith once for all delivered, the repudiation of the Bible, and the collapse of the church, is so puny a seer as to be the subject of scornful pity. When Satan undertook the capture of the world, he originated a conflict, the continuance and end of which he himself could scarcely have dreamed. It is easier to raise rebellion than it is to bring it to an end; it is easier to start war than it is to proclaim peace; it is easier to produce weeds than to grow wheat; but the harvest of the former is frightful to contemplate. Phillip and Edward III could go to battle over throne and crown, but all their followers could not produce peace, or even keep treaties when once they had been made; and so for 116 years, from 1337 to 1453, long after both these men had lain in their graves, the battles waxed and war between France and England went on. Think also of the thirty years war, shorter in duration, but more extensive in territory. It involved Austria; it reached England; it covered Holland; it affected Saxony; it swept to Spain; it compassed Switzerland and Sweden; in fact, the known world was caught in its sanguinary swirl. But what are the 116 years beside the thousands on thousands in which the forces of this parable have been in conflict; and what is battle in a dozen of the little states of Europe as compared with the battle that has been waged on every continent and in every island between Christ and the good seed on the one side, and the devil and every degenerate follower on the other?
There are those who would make short work of this. They would turn the trick of the Turk and put to death those who did not agree with them; or of the Papist and shed the blood of all such as spoke not their shibboleth; or even as the Protestants who sent to the stake Servetus and his allies. But their conduct is not of the Christ, Let both grow together until the harvest.
What did Christ mean then, that the church was not to engage in discipline at all; that the unruly were not to answer to officers; that transgressors were never to be brought to trials; that irreconcilibles were never to be excluded? Remember that Christ is not here talking of church discipline at all, but of the great world-field into which the children of the Kingdom and the children of the adversary are to continue to be sown, and to stand side by side and to bear their respective fruits, and to do silent battle till He send forth His angels to cut short the work by gathering degenerates to judgment. This is Christs protest against coercion in the name of Christianity; and this is Christs repudiation for the post-millennial philosophy that the Kingdom will speedily come through social reconstruction, ethical philosophy, and moral reformation.
On the one hand, the Kingdom will never come by the proclamation of the Evangel. The King Himself must come and exalt righteousness and bring unrighteousness to judgment. At the close of summer, there comes a season when the wheat can be separated from the chaff; when the one can be gathered into barns and the other assigned to the flames; so will there be a harvest in the end of the world, when Christ, by His angels, shall gather out His own and judge His opponents.
The Christians conquest!
Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father.
There are those who upon every observation on the battle between light and darkness, sin and righteousness, the Saviour and Satan, grow discouraged and become pessimistic. They believe that the battle has gone against the Church of God already, and that eventually it will go against the Christian faith, and against Christian fellowshipthe cohorts of God. There is no danger! Prophecy is the mould of history! The defeat of the devil is as certain today as is the destiny of the Son of Man; the overthrow of His followers as sure as the march of time! The consummation of the age will see the conquest of Christ and His hosts, and it will be complete. In the struggle between light and darkness, life and death, the Son of Man and the Satan of the centuries, the victories shall be to the former. Monkhouse, in his magnificent sonnet, depicts the battle after this manner:
From morn to eve they struggleLife and Death,At first it seemed to me that they in mirth Contended, and as foes of equal worth,So firm their feet, so undisturbed their breath.
But when the sharp red sun cut through its sheath Of western clouds, I saw the brown arms girth Tighten and bear that radiant form to earth,And suddenly both fell upon the heath.
And then the wonder came; for when I fled To where those great antagonists down fell,I could not find the body that I sought,And when and where it went, I could not tell;One only form was left of those who fought,The long dark form of Deathand it was dead.
Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father.
It is the day of the mighty conquest of the Son of God, and the manifestation of the sons of God.
THE KINGDOMAPOSTASY.
In passing from the parable of the tares to that of the mustard seed, we have our attention turned from the KingdomOpposition, to the Kingdom Apostasy. I am compelled to consent with those who so interpret this parable as to bring it largely into line with its predecessorsthe parable of the sower, and the parable of the tares. To be sure, it suggests the rapid and even the unexpected growth of the Kingdom, but it also hints that in that very growth is a sign of weakness rather than of strength, of conflict rather than conquest. We believe it is not straining of Scripture to see in this parable the fungus growth, the false appearance and the foul lodgers.
The fungus growth! Campbell Morgan insists that it is unusual for the mustard seed to become a tree; and yet admits that there are exceptional instances. It is unusual for cotton to become trees, but it does so, south of the frost-line. Credible writers declare that in hot countries, with moist atmospheres and rich soil, mustard, like cotton, becomes a perennial; and instances are even cited in which a mans weight could be supported by the branches; and in the season of its fruitage, birds flocked into it both to feed and rest.
The churchthe Kingdom in embryostarting from the first disciples of Jesus, small indeed in pretence and prophecy, found itself at the end of the first century an institution of might, and in the fourth century, under Constantine, sent its branches into all the world. And whatever may be said concerning the genuine growth and progress marking the first century, few thoughtful folk outside of Rome could be found who would approve the ample proportions of the fourth century churchproposed as a world-kingdom. It was only because that seed of the Pseudo-Kingdom was fertilized with the worlds wealth, and enveloped with the worlds atmosphere, and cultivated by the worlds husbandman, that it took on such proportions, and by its very growth brought its own name into disrepute, and raised the question as to its genuine character.
The false appearance! The mustard under certain circumstances, assumed to be more than it was. It belongs to the herbs; its very texture is not woody; and yet, its pretence is that of a tree. It professes what it does not possess. The phraseology of religion at the present moment falls into the same hypocrisy. Men talk glibly of the Kingdom of God, praise its proportions, reckon up its millions of subjects, prophesy its speedy conquest on the last continent and island, and all with a show, but without the substance, of truth. There is no such Kingdom. There is not even a Christian nation in the world! Every time you speak of one such, you coerce language. There are nations partially civilized by the touch of Christianity; but even in these, the majority are outside of the church, and the overwhelming majority have no kinship to the Kingdom of God. The three or four hundred millions of people who are in the professing church would be terribly reduced in number if there were applied any Christian test. The so-called Christian governments of the world, in their greed of territory, and in their conscienceless commerce, are illustrating a new cannibalism, more refined, perhaps, but not less consuming than that of the old savagery. R. F. Horton, the higher critic, is hardly chargeable with chiliasm, and yet, he says, The sorrow of history is the comparative rareness of humanity in it. And he adds, Our own government is partially humane because it is partially Christian. Some faint aroma of justice and mercy and truth is in our state apartments because the Son of Man has passed through them. The same writer remarked, Heaven is a state in which the will of God is entirely done; and earth is a place in which the will of God is habitually violated. The present constituted society is, as Trench remarks, like that of the ark, where unclean and clean mingle; like that of the pasture, the goats and the sheep are together; like that of the threshing floor, the chaff and the grain are mixed; like that of the field, the tares and the wheat growing together. At present, it is like the mustard seed, tree-like in appearance, but weed-like in nature and character.
The foul lodgers,
The birds of heaven come and lodge in the branches thereof.
There are two interpretations of this sentence, both of which, in my judgment, are correct. One set of teachers see in this sentence the beautiful shadowing and sustaining character of the Church of God. The worlds needy may find a refuge in it, be sheltered and fed by it; and some have even reminded us that the mustard seed is more than food; it is medicine. Thereby they have made their appeal that the church recognize its social obligations, and intelligently enter into the discharge of them.
Another class of interpreters say, No, birds in the preceding parable were agents of the adversary, and in other parts of Scripture, are commonly described as unclean, and the sentence suggests the great fact that the Church of God essaying to be a world-kingdom has been taken possession of by the unregenerate, who build their foul nests in its branches and bring up their broods under its shadow, and turn its beneficent character to the ends of commercial advantage, so that church-membership and corporate wealth are related the one to the other as birds are related to the hospitable, fruitful boughs.
Both are correct! The Kingdom of God, so far as it voices itself at all in that Church, which is preparing the way for it, should be a refuge to the worlds needy, clean or unclean. Jesus Christ was no canting Pharisee. He hesitated not to stretch out His hand of help to even the demonized; and He drew not His skirts about Him when the strange woman sought His counsel and begged His forgiveness. The Church of God that does not provide for the downs and outs, the branches of which suggest neither lodging nor food, nor medicine for the worlds children, is a poor representative of the Christ who received sinners, and did more than eat with them; He fed, counselled and healed them. Truly, as Bruce remarks, The choice few are to seek the good of the many; the fit are to strive to help the unfit. This is their special vocation, and when they cease to do it, they themselves become useless and reprobate!
Yet the other interpretation is equally and even more true. The very methods by which men in modern times have been rapidly increasing the growth of the church, are calculated to call the world into its membership, so that the unregenerate, in the interests of social standing and for the sake of commercial advantage, are joining themselves to the same. A minister told me that he had lost three of his best families to a wealthy neighboring church of the same denomination; that they had deliberately pulled them off through social functions, which tempted women whose husbands were men of moderate means, by offering them a fellowship with the wives of millionaires. This gives an appearance of the coming of the Kingdom, but no promise of it, save as it is a part of the apostasy that is to characterize the consummation of the age.
THE KINGDOM-PURCHASE.
The third and fourth of these field parables look to the Kingdom purchasethe purchase of the hid treasure and the peerless pearl of great price.
The hid treasure!
Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
A part of this parable has been interpreted for us already. The field is the world; the man is Christ; the price paid is His precious Blood. But what is the treasure hid?
Sometimes God hides from the wise and prudent that which He proposes to show to babes. I have read within the week from the pens of almost a dozen men attempting the interpretation of the hid treasure. Many of them were great men, but I found from the pen of one of less learning and less pretense the most intelligent interpretation, namely, that Israel is the hid treasure. Again and again in the Old Testament, she is called Gods treasure, and that she is hidden away now, in the nations, neither students of history nor prophecy can possibly dispute; and that Christ paid the price of His life for the whole world, knowing that by so doing He could win, first of all, His own, dearer to Him than all othersthe treasure, the very attractions of which brought Him from Heaven to earth, is the truth of many a text. Let one read Jer 32:37-42, and let him ponder Eze 37:21-25, and listen to the Psalmist while he sings also (Psa 135:4),
For the Lord hath chosen Israel for His peculiar treasure (Exo 19:5).
Paul loved his people with all the ardor of a Jew, and he could say,
I could wish myself accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites.
But Christ loved them even better, and He put His all upon the altar that they might be saved.
The peerless pearl!
Again the Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a merchant seeking goodly pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
The jewels of Jesus will come out of the Gentile world. If the converts of Paul were his joy and his rejoicing, the Gentile converts to Christ shall shine forth with a brilliance beyond the sun in that day when He makes up His jewels. Truly one is justified in changing the hymn and making it read not
Ive found the pearl of greatest price,My heart doth sing for joy,
but rather,
He found the pearl of greatest price,My heart doth sing for joy,And sing I must for I am His And He is mine for aye.
The price paid in each of these purchases is the same: For the hid treasure all that he hath; for the goodly pearl, all that he had. When Christ redeemed Israel, it took all that He had; when Christ redeemed the Gentile world, it cost all that He had. The purchases are not two different ones made at different times; they are the same purchase! God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, and Christ so loved the world that He gave Himself, and the world is the Jew and the Gentile.
This purchase was not the barter of a man who was buying something from the Adversary, for Satan never owned the world. As its God, he is a usurper; and the transaction is not that of a son, who is trying to come into the selfish possession as against his fathers ownership, for, from the beginning, the world has belonged to Jesus. He made it. Without Him was not anything made that was made. This buying back, then, is the barter of the goelprecious purchase of redemption. In the Old Testament, when for any reason whatever, an estate was lost to the household, the son who was able to redeem it, did so; or if the members of a family went into slavery, the relative who could accomplish it, paid the price of their freedom. Oh, what a Son in the house of our Father, and what a kinsman in the Christ of Calvary! When my Heavenly estate was forfeited absolutely and I was in spiritual bankruptcy; yea, when I had fallen into the power of the enemy and was stripped of my citizenship, destroyed and stained, He appeared as my kinsman to pay the price and make me free. He is the Goel; He is the Redeemer! Truly, as one says, His very Name delivers a message and it is this: dark, defiled, demon-haunted spirit, black with venom and despair; you, the worst of men, you are a man, therefore the Son of Man does not despair of you. Rather, He has set His heart on saving you. He has come to seek and to save that which is lost. Herein is the ground of our hope, the occasion of our confidence, the answer to our need, the redemption from our defilement, the release from our captivity, the establishment of our citizenship in the Kingdom, the pledge of our eternal heritage with Him who loved us and gave Himself for us.
Len Broughton tells of a friend he knew in youth who was always seeking, but could never find the Lord. On one occasion, Dr. Broughton went back to preach in the country neighborhood. This young man rushed up to him, flung his arms about him and expressed his joy in seeing him again, and Dr. Broughton said, You are to spend the night with me, and he said, No, I must go back home to my wife and children. Well, just send word you are going to spend the night with me. He did so, and we went back into the old room where we used to frolic in bed at night, where we had kicked each other out of bed a hundred times. There in that old bed, once more boys, I said to him, Have you ever found Jesus? He hesitated a moment before he said, No! Have you continued to seek Him? Yes, and I expect to be seeking Him until I die! I will never give up. I said, Why havent you found Him? I do not know! I have thought of your being a preacher and wondered why it was that I just could not find Jesus. I have tried as hard as you ever did and as hard as anybody ever did. I said, Will you let me tell you the secret of it? Yes, if you can. You have not found Jesus because you have not realized the fact that all this time and even before you began to seek Jesus, He was seeking you. It didnt take hold of him at first. He asked me some questions about it, and I put it to him again. Jesus is seeking you. He came to this world to seek and to save that which was lost. Are you lost? Of course I am. Well, He is seeking you, instead of your seeking Him; you have been running from Him, thinking that you were seeking Him. You were seeking something else besides Jesus. You have been seeking feeling; you have been seeking somebody elses experience. Jesus has been seeking you; now stop running after experience and let Jesus find you right here and now. I gave him Joh 3:16, For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten San, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. In a moment or two I felt an arm slip around my neck and he began to cry; but it was not the cry of the seeker; it was the rejoicing cry of the saved. There in that bed, where we had frolicked in childhood days, he stopped running after an experience and simply let Jesus find him.
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
CRITICAL NOTES
Mat. 13:47. Net.The reference is to the large drag-net or seine, [hence sagena (Vulgate) and English sean or seine]. One end of the seine is held on the shore, the other is hauled off by a boat and then returned to the land (Carr).
Mat. 13:52. Instructed unto the kingdom of heaven.The new law requires a new order of scribes who shall be instructed unto the kingdom of heaveninstructed in its mysteries, its laws, its futureas the Jewish scribes are instructed in the observances of the Mosaic law (ibid.). Things new and old.
1. Just as the householder brings from his stores or treasury precious things which have been heirlooms for generations, as well as newly acquired treasures; the disciples, following their Masters example, will exhibit the true teaching of the old law, and add thereto the new lessons of Christianity.
2. Another interpretation finds a reference to Jewish sacrificial usage by which sometimes the newly-gathered fruit or corn, sometimes the produce of a former year furnished the offering (ibid.).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Mat. 13:44-52
The price of truth.Two of these parables appear as like to each other as they seem different from the third. It is not difficult, however, to trace in all of them one general thought; a thought which comes in, also, in what the Saviour afterwards says to His disciples, in bringing this series of parables to a close (Mat. 13:51-52). Briefly expressed, this general thought is the exceeding value of truth. No possession is better. No beauty is greater. Nothing will show this like the end.
I. No possession is better.The kingdom of heaven is a treasure (Mat. 13:44). So the first parable says. Even the man who is desirous of treasure may not see this at first. It is treasure hid in a field. He does not appreciate at first the full value of what is before him. But when he does see itobserve the facthe hides it again. He covers it up as being that which he wants to keep for himself. He covers it up also, as being the only thing which he desires to possess. For joy thereoffor its sakehe parts with all else that is his. He goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. That is what truth isthe truth of the gospelto him. It is the thingthe one thingwhich he desires to possess (cf. Luk. 10:39; Luk. 10:41-42).
II. No beauty is greater.This seems the further idea of the parable of the pearl. A pearl is not only a valuable possession. It is a lovely one, too; a thing of grace and adornment; a thing of lustre and glory. It is also to be observed that the man described here is a man who appreciates this. He is a merchant seeking goodly pearls (Mat. 13:45). The very reason why he is seeking them is because of their goodliness and beauty. And the thing he sets store on in his seeking and selecting is that they should be eminent in this way. Hence, therefore, the great significance of his final decision. In his search he comes across one particular pearl, such as he had never previously seen. He believes it to be one which it is impossible to surpass. He finds it thereforehardly surprisinglyto be of very great price. That matters not in his eyes. He goes and sells all that he has, and brings the money together, and thankfully hands it over in exchange for that pearl (Mat. 13:46). So it is, also, that we ought to feel and do by the gospel of grace. As it was with the Apostle, so should it be to ourselves, the glorious gospel of the grace of God, the thing in comparison with which all other things are but as dung and dross (Php. 3:8), and for the sake of which all that is inconsistent therewith, is parted from with delight (cf. Psa. 27:4, the beauty of the Lord, Psa. 96:9 etc.). Even so, in brief, the word of salvation is to those who view it aright, something as super-excellent in its methods and means as it is in its end.
III. Nothing will show all this like the end.For the present, no doubt, it often appears as though the reverse were the truth, and as though it signified little whether a man saw or did not see the preciousness and beauty of truth. But that is simply because of what the third parable tells us with regard to the present; and of what the parable of the tares had previously told us of it in a different way. The present is a permittedly mingled condition of things. This had been represented in the previous parable by the tares and the wheat growing together. This is represented hero under a different figure, that of a net. The kingdom of heaven, as it is now, is like unto a net cast into the sea, and having within it, therefore, gathered together fish of every kind. For the present, therefore, and while the net is still in the sea, its contents are mingled together. The good and the bad are both there, sharing a common lot, for the time. But it was for a timeand for a time onlythat this state of things was meant to continue. By and by, in the nature of things, the net would be drawn up on the beach. And when on the beach, in the nature of things again, its contents would remain mingled no more. There were those there, on the contrary, who would sit down and begin separating between them, and who would not conclude, also, till they had made a thorough and permanent end of the task. Then would be seen finally, what was sometimes so hidden now, how great was the difference in their lot; and how much it signified whether men saw or did not see the true character of the word. Where are the good fish now? Gathered in vessels. Where are the bad now? Cast wholly away. Where those persons now that once despised the word and yet were allowed for a time to stand by the side of those who honoured and prized it? Severed now from among them by the hands of those angels who have come forth for that purpose. Severed from among them and cast away from themto where? To the same place and state as were previously spoken of in the same connection in the parable of the tares (cf. Mat. 13:50; Mat. 13:42). So doubly assured is it, therefore, that it shall not be with them, as with those who love the word, in the end.
Hence briefly, and to the disciples especially, as to those appointed to sow that seed of the word, the application of all. Let them, as such, take very good care:
1. To understand the gospel themselves (Mat. 13:51).How could they teach it unless they did? How could they lead into truth if they themselves were in error?
2. To prize it themselves.This word of the kingdom, we have just seen, should be a peculiar treasure (Mat. 13:44-46) to all. It should be especially so to the scribe who should be of all men the most familiar with its meaning. And almost more so to the householder or steward (1Co. 4:1), who has to dispense it to others. Let neither know of any treasure but this (end of Mat. 13:52).
3. To follow in doing so the example and teaching of the Master Himself.This method of parables had been emphatically a bringing forth of things new and oldof illustrating and teaching the unfamiliar by means of the familiar (see before on Mat. 13:1-17). Also, as we saw before (Mat. 5:17 etc.), all that both seemed and was new in the teaching of the Saviour, was in very truth only the further extension and so the fulfilment of the old. Let those who were to go forth in the Saviours name adopt the same plan. Never be stale. Never be crude. Never obsolete. Never new-fangled. Always up to date. Never despising the past.
HOMILIES ON THE VERSES
Mat. 13:44. Treasure hid in a field.
1. Another parable teaching us that the church, in regard of the precious doctrine of grace and salvation to be had by Christ in it, is, a rich treasure, able to relieve and supply all wants and necessities; therefore called a hid treasure, which the misbeliever, how wise soever in the world, cannot perceive.
2. The believer who findeth it will make no reckoning of the worth of any earthly thing in comparison of it, but will part with whatever is pleasant or profitable unto him in this life, rather than be deprived of this grace.
3. As he laboureth to have this treasure, so he hath a care to keep it.David Dickson.
The hidden treasure.I. There is a treasure, placed within our reach in this world, rich beyond all comparison or conception; a treasure incorruptible, and undefiled, and unfading.
II. The treasure is hidden.
III. The hidden treasure is at last found.
IV. The instant, ardent effort of the discoverer to make the treasure his own, now that he knows what it is and where it lies.
V. He parts with all in order that he may acquire the treasure.
VI. When the man had discovered the treasure, for joy thereof he went and sold all, in order to buy the field that contained it.W. Arnot, D.D.
Mat. 13:45-46. The pearl of great price.
I. The person represented by this merchant.Different characters, different classes of sinners, are represented as being saved in the two parables of the hid treasure and the pearl of great price. For examples of these, let me select two remarkable menColonel Gardiner and John Bunyan. Gardiners was a sudden and remarkable conversion. In salvation he found as much as the man in the treasure which his ploughshare brought to light, what he never sought nor expected. Bunyan, on the other hand, seeking the pardon of sin, a purer life, and a holier heart, had been a merchant seeking goodly pearls; and, in his case, the seeker became the finder.
II. The pearl of great price.As all which the merchant sought in acquiring many goodly pearls was found in oneone precious, peerless gemJesus teaches us that the soul finds in Himself all it feels the want of and has been seeking in other wayspeace with God and peace of conscience, a clean heart and a renewed mind, hope in death and a heaven of glory after it.
III. How this pearl was obtained.It was not bestowed as a gift. On the contrary, the merchantman, trading in goodly pearls, bought it at the price of all he had. Though we cannot, in the ordinary sense of the term, buy salvation, no man is saved but he who gives up his sins for Christ, takes up his cross, and, denying himself daily, follows Jesus.
IV. Some lessons taught by this figure of a merchant.
1. To make religion our chief pursuit.
2. To guard against deception.
3. To examine our accounts with God.T. Guthrie, D.D.
Mat. 13:46. Goodly pearls.No heart is, at this moment, quite vacant, quite listless, quite objectless. We will not speak of men whose goodly pearl is mere thoughtless self-indulgence. But we speak of three goodly pearls, sometimes reflecting, sometimes counterfeiting, the pearl of great price.
I. The pearl of true reality.The thing that is a substance of which there are ten thousand shadows. Is there a goodlier pearl than this in all Gods universe? We do not complain of this object of search, but of the method of seeking. How often is the search of truth not a business, but a pastime, not a struggle, but an excuse! Away with the worship of doubting.
II. The pearl of virtue.Let no man disparage it. God does not; Christ does not; but let no man make the pearl a thing which looks only at the act, and never enters into the heart, out of which, God says, are the issues of life. The seeker of the pearl of virtue must listen to what God has to say about it, and be wrapped within the folds of the righteousness of Christ.
III. The goodliest pearl of all to be threaded on this string is the pearl of love.But who can tell the sorrows of the pursuit, or the disappointment of the attainment? One loves and the other does not. Oh, the merchant seeking this pearl, is a very sorrowful man ere all is done! But God is the Fountain of love, and offers Himself as its satisfaction. That is the Pearl of price.C. J. Vaughan, D.D.
Mat. 13:45-46. Finding something better than sought.The application of the parable is, intellectually at least, a short and easy process. It is not precisely the case of a man who finds the kingdom of God when he is seeking something else; neither is it the case of a man who first thoroughly knows the worth of that kingdom and then sets out in search of it. There is no such example; no man knows its worth before he obtains it. The merchant knew the value of pearls and set out in search of them, but such a pearl as that which he found he had never seen before, and never expected to see. So, although a man has some spiritual perceptions and spiritual desires, although by a deliberate judgment he determines to seek the life eternal in preference to all the business and pleasures of the world, he does not at the outset understand how exceeding rich the forgiving grace of God is. Nay, he thinks, when he first begins his search for salvation, that it may be accomplished by the union of many attainments, such as men may possess. Precious pearls and a number of them indeed; but still such pearls as he has often seen in the possession of other merchants, and as he has in former times had in his own store. He goes out with cash in hand to buy pearls, but he leaves his house and land still his own. He expects to acquire many excellent pearls and retain all his property besides. He did not conceive of one that should be worth all he had, until he saw it. It is thus that people under conviction set out in search of something that will make them right before God.W. Arnot, D.D.
Mat. 13:46.Sacrifice for gain.If a man wants money, he must seek it; if he wants learning, he must pay its price in hard study. Ignorance he may have without effort. To raise thistles a man need not prepare the ground nor sow the seed; to raise wheat he must do both. Toil is evermore the standard of value. Cost and worth are ever close neighbours. Only by the rugged path of toil do men reach the heights of great attainment; only by paying the price of heroic effort do they write their names high in the temple of fame. We are all familiar with the answer of Euclid to King Ptolemy Lagus when he asked, Is there not a shorter and easier way to the study of geometry than that which you have laid down in your Elements? His reply was, There is no royal road to geometry. There is no road to heaven but that of sacrifice, that of cross-bearing; we must go in this narrow way or not at all. But it is also a way of joy, a path of pleasantness and peace. You must not expect to become a Christian by accident. That blessed experience must be the result of deliberate determination, of intelligent seeking, and of faithful enduring. This truth is earnestly affirmed in many parts of Christs teaching. Christs honesty is worthy of commendation. He clearly lays down the conditions of discipleship; we must take up the cross and follow Him.R. S. MacArthur, D.D.
Mat. 13:47-50. The net.
I. The net gathers of every kind.This is set before us as a picture of the church of Christ as it now is. It embraces every variety of character.
II. This mixture arises from the manner in which the kingdom of heaven is proclaimed among men.It is not proclaimed by addressing private messages to selected and approved individuals, but publicly to all. The recruiting sergeant watches for likely men and singles them out from the crowd; but the kingdom of heaven opens its gates to all, because it has that which appeals to humanity at large, and can make use of every kind of man who honestly attaches himself to it.
III. But this mixture is at length to give place.The end is not a mere running down of the machinery that keeps the world going, it is not a mere exhaustion of the life that keeps us all alive, it is not a hap-hazard cutting of the thread; it is a conclusion, coming as truly in its own fit day and order, as much in the fulness of time and because things are ripe for it, as the birth of Christ came.
IV. The distinction which finally separates men into two classes must be real and profound.It is here said to be our value to God. It is possible some one may defend himself against the parable by saying, I will not alarm myself by judging of my destiny by my own qualities; I am trusting to Christ. But precisely in so far as you are trusting to Christ, you have those qualities which the final judgment will require you to show. If any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. You are useful to God in so far as you have the Spirit of Christ.M. Dods, D.D.
The draw-net.The net is not the visible church in the world, and the fishes, good and bad, within it, do not represent the true and false members of the church. The sea is the world. The net, almost or altogether invisible at first to those whom it surrounds, is that unseen bond which, by an invisible ministry, is stretched over the living, drawing them gradually, secretly, surely, towards the boundary of this life, and over it into another. As each portion or generation of the human race are drawn from their element in this world, ministering spirits, on the lip of eternity that lies nearest time, receive them and separate the good from the evil.
I. Some of the reasons which commend this interpretation.
1. It assumes, according to the facts of the case and the express terms of the Scripture, that the same persons who draw the net also separate the worthy from the worthless of its contents on the shore.
2. In owning this along with Olshausen, it owns also that the angels who separate the good from the evil at the end of the world are angels, and does not, with him, explain them away into the human ministry of the gospel.
3. It is perfectly congruous with the habits of fishermen, and the character of the instruments which they employ. When you allow that the angels cast and draw the net as well as divide its contents, the incongruities disappear and the picture starts into life, true to the original.
4. If any struggles are made against the encircling net during the slow, solemn process of drawing, any efforts on the part of the captives to leap out into freedom, they are made, not by one kind in displeasure at being shut up with another, but by every kind indifferently in displeasure at being shut up at all. Like the indefinite terror of mute fishes when they feel the net coming closer in, is the instinctive alarm of human beings when the hand of death is felt gradually contracting the space in which the pulses of life are permitted to play.
II. Objections which may be urged against this interpretation.
1. The Lord at another time, in calling some of His Apostles, said, Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men (Mat. 4:19). He did; and I think it is by a mistake in instituting an analogy between that fact and this parable that interpreters have been led into a wrong track.
2. But has not the Lord said in this parable, as in all the rest of the group, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea? He has; yet the fact does not prove that He meant to represent the church by the net, and the labour of Apostles by the spreading and drawing of the net. The closing lesson about the kingdom relates to the closing scene of the kingdomthe separation of the wicked from the good on the great day. From the order of the subjects in the series you might expect this; from the picture actually presented you are logically led to infer this; but, especially, you know this from the spontaneous explanation then and there given by the Lord.W. Arnot, D.D.
The parables of the net and the tares.There is obviously considerable resemblance between this parable of the net and the parable of the tares. But the one is not a mere repetition of the other under a different figure. Every parable is intended to illustrate one truth. Light may incidentally be shed on other points, as you cannot turn your eye, or the light you carry, on the object you wish to examine without seeing and shedding light on other things as well. Now the one truth which is especially enforced in the parable of the tares is that it is dangerous in the extreme to attempt in this present time to separate the evil from the good in the church: whereas the one truth to which the parable of the net gives prominence is that this separation will be effected by and by in its own suitable time. No doubt this future separation appears in the parable of the tares also, but in that parable it is introduced for the sake of lending emphasis to the warning against attempting a separation now; in this parable of the net it is introduced with no such purpose.M. Dods, D.D.
The emphasis in the parable.The parable sets the present mixture of good and bad in the kingdom of heaven or in the church over against the eventual separation.Ibid.
Mat. 13:51-52. The householder and the disciples.
I. All truth is of necessity old as well as new.The truths Christ taught were only new truths because men, from sin and neglect, had overlooked them.
II. As things new are in reality old, so things oldthe things of the Spirit of Godnever become obsolete.They take new life, and are seen in new developments day by day.
III. Every mans experience is a treasure-house of old and new things, by which it is allowed him to profit. The past is a precious possession of every one of us.A. Ainger.
Things new and old.What were the things which our Lord was anxious to assure Himself that; His disciples had understood? Evidently the things which they had just heard. Therefore is a particle of inference; but the argument from which the conclusion comes is not explicitly given. We can have little difficulty, however, in supplying it.
I. Our Lord is arguing from His own example.You say you have followed Me; well, then, note My practice; let My method show you what yours must be; let it show you what is the duty of every scribe who is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven; his teaching, like Mine, must blend the old and the new. It was, no doubt, strange to the Twelve to hear their work set forth under the image of the text. They could understand being disciples of a prophet, or heralds of a kingdom; they were, perhaps, not greatly startled when they were told to be fishers of men; but the name of scribe must have had sinister associations for them. Jesus would have it understood that in itself the office was not only a necessary, but a great and noble thing. It was right that those who had the leisure and capacity should make a special study of the words of inspiration, that they should not keep to themselves the knowledge they gained. Our Lord would have His Apostles know that work of this honourable kind awaited them. They were not to be the mere preachers of a new doctrine. The later prophets and the Psalms were to be as dear to them as to the greatest of Rabbis; nay, infinitely dearer and more suggestive because vocal with life-giving truths hidden from the wise and prudent. Yes, they also were to be scribes and interpreters. We hardly realise, I think, how closely our Lords own practice corresponded with this remarkable precept; but in all His teaching how careful He was to blend the old and the new! His discourses are filled with thoughts and illustrations, the germs of which it is easy to discover, and with sayings which had become the common property of generations. When He pointed His disciples to the parables they had heard that day, He intended them to observe this very fact, that they were a fusion of old and new. He laid no claim to a perfect originality, but freely chose His materials out of the popular teaching of the day. We know that some of the most impressive parables He spokethe surprise parables, as they are called, because they tell of the Masters coming, as well as the fixed limiting of Christs workare expansions of sayings to be found in the Jewish Talmud. And not a few of the terms most characteristic of Christianity were current in our Lords day. Baptism, regeneration, kingdom of God, kingdom of heaventhese were words and expressions not strange but familiar to Jewish ears. They were not the coinage of Christianity, but they were minted anew by its Author; they were stamped afresh with the Divine image and superscription.
II. As in His teaching, so in the choice of His witnesses we see the action of the same principle.He calls the fishermen from their craft, not to obliterate their old experience, but to utilise it in the new when He should make them fishers of men, to prove that the patience and fertility of resource in which they were trained on the Sea of Galilee had ample scope in the higher vocation. He calls Matthew, bidding him abandon the most secular for the most sacred of employments; but must not the publican have found abundant opportunity of bringing out of his treasury things new and old?
III. The Christian teacher is assumed by our Lord to have a treasure on which to draw, and a varied treasure.And this, of course, implies that it is a treasure which is for ever growing. It is true both of teachers and the taught that our Lords ideal is in many cases an alarming one. They are uneasy when the old is presented in a new garb; suspicious when old terms and formularies are exchanged for equivalents which make a fresh appeal to the conscience or demand fresh exercise of thought. Through a dread of innovation, the secret of which is often nothing else than mental indolence, people identify truth with a certain set of words, any revision of which is felt to be profane. The old, imperishable truths must be fused with new and living thought. Surely no view of Scripture does it less honour than the assumption that it has been completely explored, and that no new methods of inquiry, no new conditions of the church and the world, can ever make it yield what it has not yielded already. I am verily persuaded, said the pastor of the Pilgrim Fathers, as they embarked in the Mayflower, that the Lord has more truth yet to break forth out of His Word. It is not incredible, says Bishop Butler, that a book which has been so long in the possession of mankind contains many truths as yet undiscovered. Yes, the old prayer of the Psalmist is that which befits every student of the Bible: Open Thou mine eyes that I may see the wondrous things of Thy law. And yet, precious as is the treasure of the written revelation, it does not constitute the whole treasure of the Christian scribe. Our confidence that the words of Christ shall never pass away lies in thisthat they are not rigid rules for spiritual life; they have a power to consecrate all human interests, and to adjust themselves to all conceivable social conditions, until the kingdoms of this world shall be finally brought under His sway. The attempt has been made to treat Mohammedanism as a religion worthy to be placed in competition with Christianity. Is not this the essential quality which differentiates Christianity from all other religious and professed revelations, that whereas they profess to be complete and final, the Christian revelation is not confined within the covers of a book, but consists in a life and a spirit? But the essential weakness of Mohammedanism is this, that it has upon it the mark of finality. It is a religion of the letter, and not of the spirit.
IV. But is not the text intended to describe the attitude of mind incumbent upon us all in regard to truth?We cannot fulfil our Lords description unless we are keeping our minds loyally open, and while reverentially tenacious of the old, are ready to hopefully welcome the new. Look at the map of the world according to Strabo or Ptolemy. Can anything be more ludicrously incomplete than that strange medley of fact and guesswork? But the geography of Strabo and Ptolemy satisfied the ages in which they lived, and was, no doubt, regarded at the time as a final achievement. It took centuries to develop the knowledge we have to-day. And the map of human knowledge is in the same condition. It is made up of ascertained facts and conjectures more or less wide of the mark; while beyond the regions of the explored or guessed at there lies the vaster domain for which no voyager has set sail. But this courageous openness of mind, which is the mark of a firm, manly faith, is a very different thing from the restless, inconstant spirit which is ever on the look out for novelty, which grasps at the new because it is new, and distrusts the old because it is old; which makes no distinction between facts and theories, but takes up eagerly with the latest speculation. In a stirring, excitable time, we cannot too carefully remember that while facts have an imperious claim upon us, theories have no such claim. They are not yet parts of the truth, and they may never be parts of it. They are only tentative efforts to combine facts, explain facts, or manipulate facts.Canon Duckworth.
Mat. 13:51. Understanding the word.
1. Hearers of the gospel should labour to understand what they hear.
2. The minister by catechising should take account of his hearers, for so doth Christ, saying, Have ye understood?
3. People, of what quality soever, should be willing to give account to their teachers of their profiting in knowledge: for the disciples answer, Yea, Lord.David Dickson.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
D. THE INESTIMABLE VALUE OF THE KINGDOM: THE PRICE OF TRUTH
1. THE PARABLE OF THE HIDDEN TREASURE
TEXT: 13:44
44 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in the field; which a man found, and hid; and in his joy he goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
THOUGHT QUESTONS
a.
The long-awaited Kingdom of the Messiah was the object of the prayers and aspirations of the Jewish nation, and yet, by means of this parable and its companion, Jesus would convince His hearers to seize their opportunity to make the Kingdom their own, as if there would be some danger that they would not. How would you explain this?
b.
Jesus describes the Kingdom of God, i.e., the Kingdom proclaimed in HIS message and seen from HIS view of it, as worth all the sacrifices we could ever be called upon to make. What should we think about Him, if He is wrong? What must we determine to do, if He has deceived us? How could we ever know, before it is too late, whether or not He has, in fact, done this? If you object to these questions, what gives you confidence to think them to be improper?
c.
Do you suppose that the man acted in perfect honesty to hide the treasure and buy the field that contained it without informing its owners about his discovery? Should Jesus use stories about people with such dubious ethics as models for our imitation? Or, is that what He did? How would you go about unraveling this mystery?
d.
What is there about the Philippian jailor that makes him an excellent example of this fortunate finder? (See Act. 16:23-34.)
PARAPHRASE
The Kingdom of God is similar to a treasure someone had buried in a field, which another man found and reburied. This latter, for the joy of his discovery, went and sold all he possessed in order to buy that piece of land.
SUMMARY
The Kingdom will not be forced upon anyone now. When a man stumbles onto its inestimable preciousness and recognizes its value, he wisely surrenders all else unquestioningly and unhesitatingly to make it his own, Our service to God is worth all it costs.
NOTES
The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure: this is the main point of this parable. All else may be nothing but scenery necessary to make this one point, which is perfectly parallel to that of its companion story, The Parable of the Precious Pearl. In both stories three points make this lesson clear:
1.
There is first the discovery of the inestimable value of Gods divine government.
2.
There is the consequent desire to make it ones own.
3.
There is, last, the necessity to give everything else one possesses to acquire it.
How much else is proper to interpret is debatable, as is evident from the contradictory results achieved by conscientious, believing interpreters. The following points seem to find echoes in the reality for which they are but the illustrations:
1.
A treasure hidden in the field. In a land racked by centuries of war and harassed by banditry, often the safest deposit for ones treasure is the earth. But what one man hid, by sheer coincidence another can find. (Long-forgotten arms caches hidden by partisans during the Second World War are still turning up in Italy more than thirty years after their hiding.)
Whatever the field may signify, Gods Kingdom is there present, but hidden from common view. This concealment reaffirms with the Sower Parable that the message of the Kingdom, because it encounters widely varying receptiveness among its hearers, would produce varying results ranging from total failure to qualified success, leaving an uneven, spotty control of the Kingdom over the world. Neat, black-white distinctions between good and evil people are impossible, because of the presence of evil in the world, as explained in the Weeds Parable. This fact leaves the Kings control over the world apparently in doubt and His Kingdom practically indistinguishable from other world systems until the judgment. So, here too in the story of the hidden treasure, He describes a state of the world where happy surprise over the unexpected discovery of the Kingdom of God is really possible.
Did Jesus mean to communicate meaning through the detail where the man purchased the field in order to have the treasure? The field itself took on supreme value for him because of the treasure it contained, as if before the discovery the field was relatively valueless to him.
a.
Some with Trench (Notes, 46) see the field, as picturing
. . . the outer visible Church, as distinguished from the inward spiritual. He who recognizes the Church not as a human institute, but a divine, who has learned that God is in the midst of it, sees now that it is something beyond all earthly societies with which he has confounded it; and henceforth it is precious in his sight, even to its outermost skirts, for the sake of its inward glory, which is now revealed to his eyes. And as the man cannot have the treasure and leave the field, so he cannot have Christ except in his Church; he cannot have Christ in his heart, and at the same time separate his fortunes from those of Christs struggling, suffering Church, The treasure and the field go together.
b.
Others, with Lenski, (Matthew, 542), think of the field as the Scriptures which had seemed so common and ordinary to the reader. But, suddenly, he comes alive, because he has just discovered the vital truth of the Kingdom and Jesus Christ, the Bibles grand subject. Whereas before, the Bible had been treated as if it had belonged to others, now he must make its true treasure his very own personal possession.
c.
Is it not simpler to see the field as parallel to the various pearl markets among which the merchant found the one pearl of inestimable value? (Cf. on Mat. 13:46) If so, we see that this field was not the previous possession of the fortunate finder, because his possessions and interests lay elsewhere. Nevertheless, while present in THIS field for whatever reason (was he plowing it or just walking through it?) he stumbled onto its treasure. Could it be that by the field He means to suggest the intellectual field of specifically religious ideas which a person does not necessarily make his own unless he sees some compelling reason to do so? Until this discovery, his material interests and cares could effectively block any concern for buying anyones religious ideas. But when he gets a glimpse of Jesus Christ and the live possibility to realize at least in his own life the Kingship, beauty and order of God, he no longer chokes on religious ideas, but accepts them readily in order to possess Him who is the highest treasure. (Cf. Mat. 11:25; 2Co. 4:3-6; Col. 2:3-4; Luk. 19:42)
2.
which a man found and hid; and in his joy he goeth . . . His unexpected discovery brings him joy, but also to the crisis of decision. No matter what made the discovery possible, he finds himself face to face with Truth and must decide whether to seize it or lose it by default. The morality of his covering up his discovery has been doubted by some who leave Jesus use of this story in question, despite their attempts to defend Him. They argue that the treasure belonged technically to the present owner of the field, so that the principle of personal integrity would have required the finder to inform him of the treasure. Then, they correctly insist that Jesus did not justify the mans conduct nor hold his (im)morality up for imitation. They rightly see the point of the story as the mans earnestness in obtaining the treasure. But they assume too much and thus leave the Lord open to criticism:
a.
Is the present owner of the field any more the true owner of the treasure than the happy finder? Edersheim (Life, I, 595f) shows that then-current Jewish law vindicated the finder as the proper owner.
b.
The treasures original owner may as easily be presumed dead and forgotten long before the finder arrives on the scene, rather than think of him as the current owner of the field. It is not necessary, of course, to assume that the field had ANY owner. To whom belong, for instance, the treasures found on the Mediterranean Seas floor beyond the territorial limits of any nation, treasures that once represented the wealth of Rome or Greece? And if it be presumed that the happy finder had stumbled onto a fortune in Babylonian gold coins no longer in circulation but whose intrinsic value represented a fortune reminted, all in a field whose original owner left no heirs, and if it be imagined that his nation had no laws specifically protecting its own ownership of such antiquities, then it would be possible for the man easily to pay to his township the fields value, thus clearing his title to the treasure. (Did abandoned lands revert automatically to government disposition at the death or in the absence of their heirless owners? Cf. 2Sa. 9:9 f; 2Ki. 21:16; 2Ki. 8:3-6) At any rate, the captivities would have effectively interrupted, if not altogether ended, the normal execution, especially in the case of some families wiped out, of the ancient patrimonial inheritance laws whereby such lands would pass to ones next of kin, thus keeping them and any improvements thereon within the ancient tribal families. (Cf. Lev. 25:25-34; Lev. 26:31-32; Lev. 26:34 ff; Lev. 26:43 ff; 1Chron. 36:21; Isa. 1:7; Isa. 6:11-12) Because of these disorders it would be perfectly imaginable for the field to have no known private owners to whom the treasure would supposedly belong, It is unfair to judge the mans morality on the basis of modern legislation or obligations that do not represent his actual ethical responsibility in his own time-period and legal situation.
c.
The brevity of Jesus story does not permit those who doubt the mans morality to prove that he did not in fact inform the present owners of the fields treasure. They might have let the treasure go to the new buyer, because of indifference or some other unstated technicality. (Cf. Boaz purchase of Ruth ahead of his kinsman who had prior rights. Rth. 4:5)
d.
His reburying the treasure is no indication of immorality, but of prudence lest he lose it by theft during his absence, and of haste lest someone else buy the field ahead of him while he dallied. He honestly cleared his own title to the property before moving the treasure. In fact, his rehiding the treasure (krupsen) is merely the act of putting the treasure back exactly as he found it: hidden (kekrummno, from the same verb krpto).
3.
In his joy he goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Possession costs everything, but cost is no object, since his joy motivates him to part with whatever was dear and closest to him in order to make the field his own. All that he hath is the price, but how much is that if we would purchase the Kingdom? All that a person thinks important or of value: place and possessions, fame, wealth, ones former religious system, family, philosophies, etc. Any ambition, however dear, any habit or way of life that obstructs our possession of the Kingdom must go. Whatever sins a man quits for Jesus sake are part of his price. (Cf. Mat. 10:37-39; Mat. 16:24; Mat. 19:29; Mar. 9:43 ff) Often our dearest possessions are but garbage in contrast to the supreme joy of having the Father and the Son! (1Jn. 1:3; 1Jn. 2:23; 1Jn. 5:11-12) Listen to Paul describe HIS great find! (Php. 3:1-17) Or Philip and Nathanael (Joh. 1:43-51)
By means of this illustration Jesus pleads with people not to be ashamed of the price they pay for the Kingdom of God in comparison with the value they receive. Many would refuse the fortune of Christ, because fools gold is less expensive. Yet the only sure way to purchase peace of mind, genuine joy, unmarred beauty, enduring righteousness and that crowning happiness to be found nowhere else is to accept the discipline, the self-denial and the cross. Any happy finder of the Kingdom should be willing to part with any prejudices, any previously dear values and ideas, in order to possess and enjoy all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden in Christ.
Matthew himself is one such fortunate finder, because this publican probably never dreamed that one day he would look up from his ledgers into the face of a Jesus fully ready to invite him into special service in His Kingdom as an Apostle. This sudden hope so gripped him that he was willing to drop instantly and permanently his lucrative tax job and cast his lot with the Lord. He goes and sells all that he has for Jesus the yet-uncrowned King? Despite the apparent ridiculousness of staking everything on this one investment, something more than a good head for figures brought Matthew, wide-eyed, to his feet. It took some real vision, some true understanding of Jesus of Nazareth, and much real faith to think the yet undefined service of an itinerate, controversial Rabbi worth chucking away his cozy, materially rewarding position, in order to make his own all the Lord offered! (See notes on Mat. 9:9.)
On the basis of this mans sagacious personal acquisition of the Kingdom, Trench (Notes, 50) shares the following suggestive outline on buying well:
1.
Purchase truth, instruction, wisdom and understanding: all things of the spirit! (Pro. 23:23)
2.
Buy what has real value, ironically at no cost whatever! (Isa. 55:1)
3.
Buy while there is still time! (Mat. 25:1-13)
4.
Buy from Jesus the deep needs of our soul! (Rev. 3:18)
More comments on the impact of this parable will follow the Precious Pearl Parable.
FACT QUESTIONS
1.
What single point does this story have in common with that about the precious pearl?
2.
What is there in the background of the disciples that made this story necessary?
3.
What is there in the immediate teaching of Jesus that rendered this story essential at this point in His message?
4.
Explain the historical situation of the happy finder by illustrating the customs of Jesus time that make His story a living reality to His original hearers, and, at the same time, prove the legitimacy of that mans course of action.
5.
How does the happy finder of the treasure differ from the pearl merchant in the companion parable? Does this indicate a difference in emphasis between these stories? What, precisely, was the man doing when he discovered the treasure, or can we know this? Is this important?
6.
To what (if anything) is reference made by the following symbols:
a.
The hidden treasure?
b.
The fortunate finder?
c.
The field?
d.
The finders former possessions? (all that he hath)?
7.
What texts indicate that Jesus had already taught this truth before the great sermon in parables?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(44) The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field.Probably no parable in the whole series came more home to the imagination of the disciples than this. Every village had its story of men who had become suddenly rich by finding some hidden hoard that had been hastily concealed in time of war or tumult. Then, as now, there were men who lived in the expectation of finding such treasures, and every traveller who was seen searching in the ruins of an ancient town was supposed to be hunting after them. As far back as the days of Solomon such a search had become a parable for the eager pursuit of wisdom (Pro. 2:4). Now they were told to find that which answered to it in their own experience. The conduct of the man who finds the treasure, in concealing the fact of his discovery from the owner of the field, hardly corresponds with our notions of integrity, but parablesas in the case of the Unjust Steward (Luk. 16:1) and the Unjust Judge (Luk. 18:2)do not concern themselves with these questions, and it is enough if they bring out the salient pointsin this case, the eagerness of the man to obtain the treasure, and the sacrifice he is ready to make for it. Jewish casuistry, in such matters, applied the maxim, Caveat emptor, to the seller rather than the buyer, and the minds of the disciples would hardly be shocked at what would seem to them a natural stroke of sharpness.
In the interpretation of the parable, the case described is that of a man who, not having started in the pursuit of holiness or truth, is brought by the seeming accidents of lifea chance meeting, a word spoken in season, the example of a living holinessto the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus, i.e., to Christ Himself, and who, finding in Him a peace and joy above all earthly treasure, is ready to sacrifice the lower wealth in order to obtain the higher. Such, we may well believe, had been the history of the publicans and the fishermen who made up the company of the Twelve. The parable had its fulfilment in them when they, at the bidding of their Lord, forsook all and followed Him. Such, it need hardly be said, has been the story of thousands of the saints of God in every age of the Churchs life from that day to this.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
FIFTH PARABLE . The Hid Treasure, Mat 13:44.
44. Again The following three parables were not spoken, like the previous ones, to the multitude by the sea side, but privately to the disciples in the house. They mainly illustrate the same subject, and affirm the same views as the previous parables. The kingdom of God, as bringing an invaluable Gospel, and as implying a time of probation, is set forth in brief similes. Treasure hid in a field Divine truth is a treasure from its value; it is hid because men’s eyes are apt to be morally blind to its reality. But the true seeker of it is ready to give everything for it. And as the former parables were delivered to the multitudes, and then explained to the disciples alone, there may be an allusion to the fact that the deeper instructions of Christ are reserved from the incapable multitude and delivered to his disciples.
“It is not difficult to account for this hid treasure. This country has always been subject to revolutions, invasions, and calamities of various kinds, and hence a feeling of insecurity hovers over the land like a dismal spectre. The government robs, and so do the nobility and clergy; Arabs rush in from the desert and plunder; warriors and conquerors from every part of the world sweep over the land, carrying everything away that falls into their hands. Then there are and always have been intestine commotions and wars, such as laid Lebanon in ruins in 1841, and again in 1845. At such times multitudes bury their gold and jewels, and in many cases the owner is killed, and no one knows where the treasure was concealed. Then again this country has ever been subject to earthquakes, which bury everything beneath her ruined cities. On the first day of 1837, Safed was thus dashed to the ground in a moment, house upon house down the steep mountain side, and many entire families were cut off. Some were known to have money, and it was a shocking spectacle to see hardened wretches prowling about under the ruins, amid putrifying carcasses, in search of these treasures.” Dr. Thomson.
It is thus because the state of society is insecure, and no safe public depositories exist, that money is often hid by the owner in the earth. By the Jewish law, and partly by Roman law, the owner of the ground was owner of its concealed treasure. In the parable the finder uses his knowledge of the fact to guide himself in the bargain, as men use professional knowledge for their own profit. He pays the owner all the field is worth to his ignorance. Was the purchaser bound or not to inform the owner of the fact of the concealed treasure?
The finder purchases not the treasure alone, but the field that holds the treasure. So good men embrace not naked truth alone, but the Bible and the Church, which possess that truth. He who loves religion loves the unity, peace, and prosperity of the Church of God, with her blessed Gospel, her divine law, and her sanctifying ordinances.
The following incident from Dr. Thomson forcibly illustrates this parable: “About three years ago some workmen, digging over the ground of this garden on our left, found several copper pots, which contained a large quantity of ancient gold coin. The poor fellows concealed the discovery with the greatest care; but they were wild with excitement, and besides, there were too many of them to keep such a secret. The governor of the city heard of it, apprehended all who had not fled, and compelled them to disgorge. He recovered two of the pots, placed them beside him, and required them to refill them with coin. In this way he obtained between two and three thousand; but it is certain that there remain hundreds, if not thousands, which he could not get. The French consul told me that the whole number was over eight thousand. They are all coins of Alexander and his father Philip, of the most pure gold, each one worth a little more than an English sovereign. As there is no mixture of coins later than Alexander, the deposit must have been made during his reign, or immediately after. I suspect it was royal treasure, which one of Alexander’s officers concealed when he heard of his unexpected death in Babylon, intending to appropriate it to himself; but being apprehended, slain, or driven away by some of the revolutions which followed that event, the coin remained where he had hid it.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“The kingly rule of heaven is like to a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found, and hid, and in his joy he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field.”
Here the Kingly Rule of Heaven is likened to a treasure that a man stumbles across as he is working in a field. In the days when there were no safety deposits it was common practise to bury valuables in order to keep them safe (compare Mat 25:25). And the burier might then often die, with the result that the treasure was never reclaimed. No doubt this man was working the field for someone else, thus he was a relatively poor man, but once he had set eyes on the treasure he found in the field he wanted it more than anything else in the world. So he hid it again and sold everything that he possessed in order to buy ‘the field’ (a strip of land), in order that the treasure might be truly his. That is the main point of the parable. The determination, once he has discovered the Kingly Rule of Heaven, to possess it for himself. The world saw him as obtaining a small strip of land. He knew that he was obtaining a treasure.
There are differing views about precisely what the law was on the discovery of buried treasure at this time. Roman law has been cited which indicated that if a man owned a field and discovered treasure it was his. This would explain why the man was so keen to buy the field before he ‘found’ the treasure. Rabbinic law suggests that anything portable that was found belonged to the finder, although an alternative view is that if found by a worker who ‘lifted it up’ (thus doing it in his employer’s time) it belonged to the owner of the field. Again by hiding the treasure and buying the field before he lifted it he removed the problem. But his fear might simply have been that the owner would claim that the treasure was his because he, the owner, had buried it there. (Whereas if he was prepared to sell the field it would prove that he did not know that the treasure was there). Whichever may be the case the idea here is not of dishonesty but of the finder’s determination that the treasure would be his at whatever cost. To him its value was seen to be such that any price was worth paying.
He was thus like many people who are not seeking the Kingly Rule of Heaven but stumble on it and then discover that suddenly, without warning, it forces itself on their attention. And once this has happened, they desire nothing else. ‘The Kingly Rule of Heaven comes to them forcefully’ (Mat 11:12). The world would have called him ‘lucky’ until they discovered what the treasure actually was. Then their view might depend on how much they appreciated its value. This man could be very much compared with the ‘public servants and sinners’ who had been heedlessly going through life until they had ‘found’ the words of Jesus.
The fact that its discovery was by accident does not make the lesson of the parable any the less powerful, for the idea behind the ‘hiding’ was to demonstrate that as a result of having found it he valued it so much that he would do anything in order to prevent himself losing it. It demonstrated a total and single-eyed determination, not a dishonesty of purpose. The man is ‘seeking first the Kingly Rule of God and His righteousness’ (Mat 6:33), and is giving up everything that it might be his. His heart is totally captured by the Kingly Rule of Heaven. Again we note that the Kingly Rule of Heaven is something that he can experience and enjoy in the present. The Kingly Rule of Heaven is among them.
The rehiding of the treasure may be intended to parallel the hiding of the leaven. The treasure is not to be exposed to the spiritually vulgar. Pearls are not to be cast before swine (Mat 7:6). It is to be treasured and passed on to those who will appreciate it.
However, it should be noted that Jesus is not here saying that it is possible to buy one’s way into the Kingly Rule of Heaven. He is simply bringing out its inestimable value. He is saying that the moment a person truly appreciates the Kingly Rule of God he will do anything, however costly, in order to participate in it. Of course it has not altered the method of entry. It still requires repentance and responsive faith. But that is seen as evidenced by his determination to be a part of it.
‘In his joy.’ Note the contrast with the later ‘weeping and gnashing of teeth’ (Mat 13:50). The treasure he found gave him immediate joy, and it would be a joy that would last for ever. Not for him any future desolation.
‘Sells all that he has, and buys that field.” The present tenses indicate the excitement of the moment. In direct contrast with the merchant’s, which will be slow and considered, his reaction is instantaneous,. He does not hesitate for a moment, for he recognises its worth.
Note that he bought the field because he wanted the treasure. He did not buy the treasure. That was a free gift from God. But his desire to have that free gift meant that he was willing to sacrifice all that he had in order to receive it and enjoy it. He held nothing back.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Two Further Parables of the Kingly Rule of Heaven (13:44-46).
Each of the next three parables commences with ‘the Kingly Rule of Heaven is like unto –.’ The first two are basically parallel pictures, but in the first case the man, who would seem to be relatively poor, comes across the treasure by accident, in the second the merchant, who is wealthy, comes across his precious pearl after a continual search. Both, however, give all that they have in order to obtain the Kingly Rule of Heaven.
These two parables parallel the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven. Just as the leaven was hidden in the meal, so the treasure is hidden in the field. And just as the seed became the largest herb of all, so the merchant finds the largest, most expensive pearl of all. Thus it is emphasised that the Kingly Rule of Heaven must be valued above everything else, and is indeed the biggest thing in life.
Analysis.
a
a “Again, the kingly rule of heaven is like to a man who is a merchant seeking goodly pearls, and having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it” (Mat 13:45-46).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Parables on the Glorification of the Kingdom – The fifth and sixth parables, the Parables of the Hidden Treasure and Pearl of Great Price, emphasize the hope that every believer must have in order to anchor his soul in his decision to follow Christ amidst persecutions and hardships. The final seventh Parable of the Fish Net serves to explain the end result of making disciples of all nations, the glorification of the saints and judgment of the sinners. On the final Day of Judgment believers will be represented from all nations. This the Great Commission, to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
Here is a proposed outline:
1. Fifth Parable: The Parable of the Hidden Treasure Mat 13:44
2. Sixth Parable: The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price Mat 13:45-46
3. Seventh Parable: The Parable of the Net of Fishes Mat 13:47-50
4. Conclusion to the Parables Mat 13:51-52
Mat 13:44 Fifth Parable: The Parable of the Hidden Treasure In Mat 13:44 Jesus tells the Parable of the Hidden Treasure. This parable is unique to Matthew’s Gospel. It is taught as a pair with the Parable of the Pearl of Great Price so that Jesus explains the same divine truth in two ways. These two parables emphasize the aspect of a believer’s hope in his eternal rewards. This hope serves as an anchor of the soul to help us persevere in this life, which is the underlying theme of this third discourse.
Mat 13:44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
Mat 13:45-46
Mat 13:47-50 Seventh Parable: The Parable of the Net of Fishes – In Mat 13:47-50 Jesus tells the Parable of the Net of Fishes. This parable is unique to Matthew’s Gospel. This final parable gives us an eschatological perspective on the Kingdom of Heaven. The metaphor of “casting our nets into the sea” suggests end result of making disciples of all nations. There will be converts from every nation, and those who reject the Gospel within every nation. Thus, the metaphor “of every kind” seems to represent the nations.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Parable of the treasure:
v. 44. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which, when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Jesus is here not concerned about the moral aspect of the act, if, indeed, this comes into consideration here. It is a story which finds its parallel often enough, as in the discovery of a vein of coal or of the ore of some precious metal. In this case the treasure had been deliberately hidden or buried. By chance or by design a man finds this treasure. Realizing its great value, he carefully covers over once more what he has discovered. Hardly able to contain himself for joy over his lucky find, he goes and sells all his property and buys that same piece of land. A lively effect in the telling! The salvation taught in the Gospel is like such a rich treasure, like a hidden mine whose veins run out in all directions in Holy Scriptures, a treasure of inestimable value. “The point of the parable is that the kingdom of heaven outweighs in value all else, and that the man who understands this will with pleasure part with all.”
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Mat 13:44-46. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure These three following parables are proposed not so much to the multitude, as to the apostles particularly. The parable of the treasure which a man found hidden in a field, was designed to teach us, that some meet with the Gospel as it were by accident, and without seeking after it, agreeably to what the prophet Isaiah says, Isa 65:1 that God is found of them who seek him not. On the other hand, the parable of the merchant, who inquired after goodly or beautiful pearls, and found one of great value, informs us, that men’s receiving the Gospel is often, through the grace of God, the effect of a diligent search after truth. The Gospel is fitly compared to a treasure, as it enriches all who profess it; and to a pearl, because of its beauty and preciousness: both the parables represent the effect of divine truth upon those who find it through grace, whether by accident or upon inquiry. Being found and known, it appears exceedingly valuable, and raises in men’s breasts such a vehemency of desire, that they willingly part with all that they have for the sake of obeying its precepts; and when they part withall on account of it, think themselves incomparably richer than before. The sacred writers elsewhere compare and prefer wisdom to jewels. See Job 28:15-19. Pro 3:15; Pro 8:11.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 13:44 ff. ] introduces a second illustration of the kingdom of the Messiah, by way of continuing that instruction of the disciples which began with Mat 13:36 .
] in the field; the article being generic . For cases of treasure trove mentioned by Greek and Roman writers, consult Wetstein.
] which some man found and hid (again in the field), so as not to be compelled to give it up to the owner of the field, but in the hope of buying the latter, and of then being able legitimately to claim the treasure as having been found on his own property. It is mentioned by Bava Mezia f. 28, 2, that, in circumstances precisely similar, R. Emi purchased a hired field in which he had found treasure: “ut pleno jure thesaurum possideret omnemque litium occasionem praecideret .” Paulus, exeg. Handb . II. p. 187, observes correctly: “That it was not necessary, either for the purposes of the parable or for the point to be illustrated, that Jesus should take into consideration the ethical questions involved in such cases.” Fritzsche says: “quem alibi , credo, repertum nonnemo illuc defoderit.” But the most natural way is to regard as the correlative to ; while, again, the behaviour here supposed would have been a proceeding as singular in its character as it would have been clearly dishonest toward the owner of the field.
] marks the causal relation (Mat 14:26 ; Luk 24:41 ; Act 12:14 ; Khner, II. 1, p. 366 f.), and is not the genitive of the object ( over the treasure: Vulgate, Erasmus, Luther, Beza, Calvin, Maldonatus, Jansen, Bengel, Kuinoel, Fritzsche), but, as the ordinary usage demands, the genitive of the subject: on account of his joy , without its being necessary in consequence to read , but , as looking at the matter from the standpoint of the speaker. The object is to indicate the peculiar joy with which his lucky find inspires him .
. . .] Present: the picture becoming more and more animated. The idea embodied in the parable is to this effect: the Messianic kingdom, as being the most valuable of all possessions, can become ours only on condition that we are prepared joyfully to surrender for its sake every other earthly treasure. It is still the same idea that is presented in Mat 13:45-46 , with, however, this characteristic difference, that in this case the finding of the Messiah’s kingdom is preceded by a seeking after blessedness generally; whereas, in the former case, it was discovered without being sought for, therefore without any previous effort having been put forth .
] with the view of purchasing such goodly pearls from the owners of them (comp. Mat 7:6 ; Pro 3:15 ; Pro 8:19 , and see Schoettgen).
] one, the only one of real worth; according to the idea contained in the parable, there exists only one such.
] the perfect alternating with the aorist ( ); the former looking back from the standpoint of the speaker to the finished act ( everything has been sold by the merchant ), the latter simply continuing the narrative ( and he bought ). Khner, II. 1, p. 144 f.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
3. The Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Parables, and Parabolical Close of this Section. Mat 13:44-52
44Again,35 the kingdom of heaven is like unto [a] treasure hid in a [the, ] field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth [which a man found, and concealed;], and for joy thereof [he] goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
45Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchantman [merchant],36 seeking 46goodly pearls: Who [And],37 when he had found one pearl of great price, [he] went and sold all that he had, and bought it.
47Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net [draw-net], that was cast into the sea, and gathered [gathering together, ] of every kind: 48Which, when it was full, they drew to [the] shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels but cast the bad away. 49So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come 50[go] forth, and sever [separate] the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
51Jesus saith unto them,38 Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord.39 52Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which Isaiah 40 instructed unto [in] the kingdom of heaven,41 is like unto a man that is a householder [to a householder], which [who] bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Mat 13:44. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like to a treasure.Tischendorf, following Codd. B., D., etc., omits , again. But Meyer with good reason defends it. The omission appears to have originated in a stylistic correction. But a consideration of the parables in their connection will convince us that this particle is necessary.After a general introduction about the parables, the first of them is at once introduced in the form of a simple narrative. This parable is then succeeded by the following well-marked parallelism:
1) , Mat 13:24.
1) , Mat 13:44.
2) , Mat 13:31.
2) , Mat 13:45.
3) , Mat 13:33.
3) , Mat 13:47.
From the unmistakable antithesis here indicated, we gather that the first three parablesintroduced by an are intended to exhibit the kingdom of heaven under a threefold aspect, being each time presented as more enlarged and universal in its character. And although the third parable bears more particularly upon the unseen efficacy of Christianity, this power is only hid in order afterward to appear all the more glorious in its absolute universality, when the entire mass shall have been leavened by the gospel. It is at this point that the antithesis comes in. Most significantly it is introduced by , which seems to point back to the seed hid in the ground, spoken of in the first parable. Shortly before, Christianity had been presented in its universal extent, under the figure of a tree in whose branches the birds sought lodgment, and as humanity leavened by the gospel. Now again the scene is changed, and Christianity is likened unto a treasure hid in the fieldto a rare pearl which seems to have disappeared,nay, even to a draught of fishes concealed in the depths of the sea. [The transition in these parables is very easy and natural: from the seed buried in the ground and the leaven hid in the meal, to the treasure buried in the field; from the treasure to the pearl of great price, the treasure of the deep, which suggests the sea; the fishermen with their net, the mixed throng on the beach, the bank of time, the final separation. Comp. also Alford and Trench.P. S.]
In the field.Meyer remarks in reference to the article: In that particular field in which it lay concealed. But this were mere tautology. The article points out a contrast, showing that the treasure was left there, having no special owner. The circumstance that it lay hid in a field where it would not be looked for, implies that the finder might regard it as a treasure-trove. But there was still a defect about the title to this possession. Accordingly, the finder again hides the treasure, and purchases the field in which he had discovered it. Meyer quotes a similar instance from Bava Mezia, F. 28. 2. R., in which Rabbi Emi purchases a field where he had found a treasure, ut pleno jure thesaurum possideret, omnemque litium occasionem prcideret. Paulus (Exeg. Handbuch, 2:187) rightly observes: It would have been foreign to the purpose of this parable, and to the point of the comparison, if Jesus had entered on the question as to the legal right and title to what was found. However, the action of the person who found the treasure is intended to show his strict honesty. The treasure is represented as a lost and unclaimed possession, lying where such a deposit would never be looked for. But as the field itself belonged to another proprietor, the person who found it selleth all that he hath in order to purchase the ground. Even in this view of the matter, however, it is not intended to discuss the absolute right of the case. The notions of right current on such a question, serve as a basis for presenting higher and spiritual relationships.
For joy thereof.With Erasmus, Luther, Beza, etc., we read as the genitive of the object.
Mat 13:45. A merchant.In this figure of the kingdom of heaven, the merchant and the goodly pearl must be regarded and treated as a unit. The kingdom of heaven is here exhibited as presenting the contrast of conscious aim, and of the surpassing possession accorded to it.
Mat 13:48. The good fishes. and , here in the same sense as above, in chaps. 7 and 12. Not bad fishes only, but all kinds of unclean sea animals, had got into the net. That such animals are here referred to, and not merely fishes, appears from the contrast between and clean or good, and unclean, wild, or whatever is devoted to destruction, whether in the vegetable or in the animal kingdom. To the same conclusion point the words, . Bad fishes could scarcely be designated as forming a peculiar . The Aorists in Mat 13:47-48 are used in the narrative sense, and not in the sense of habit or custom.
Mat 13:52. [Every scribe, .The Jewish writer or scribe, , a teacher (connected with , a book), also called , , is a transcriber and interpreter of the sacred Scriptures of the O. T., a theologian and a lawyer. So the word is used in the Septuagint and in the N. T. Many of them were members of the Sanhedrim, and hence they are often mentioned in connection with the elders and priests. But here, as Meyer correctly suggests, the empirical conception of a Jewish scribe is raised to the higher idea of a Christian teacher, who is a pupil of the kingdom of heaven: . ., or a disciple of Jesus, as the Jewish scribes were disciples of Moses, Mat 23:2; Joh 9:28. The true Christian divine is always learning at the feet of Jesus, and true learning is always connected with childlike docility and humility.P. S.]
Things new and old.Olshausen, following many older commentators, applies the expression to the law and the gospel; Meyer, to things hitherto unknown, and to things already known and formerly propounded. The most obvious explanation is, the things of the new world [the Christian order of things] under the figures of the old.42
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. The Treasure in the Field.The following points are clearly laid down in this parable: 1. The kingdom of heaven is represented as having once more become invisible in the visible Church, as hid like a treasure, erst concealed in a most unlikely place (in the midst of worldly things). 2. It appears as a treasure-trove, i. e., as a free gift of grace, discovered by a person in a fortunate hour, though while he was engaged in digging. 3. True Christianity, when again discovered, a subject of great joy. 4. The surrender of all our possessions (of works, of our own righteousness, of the world, and of self) in order to secure this treasure. We first become poor in order to be made rich by the possession of this treasure.The only difficulty in the parable lies in the statement about buying the field. If the field refers to external worldly ecclesiasticism, the expression might mean that we were not to carry the treasure out of the visible Church, as if we were stealing it away; but that we should purchase the field in order to have a full title to the enjoyment of the possession hid in it. Accordingly, it would apply against Novatianism and every other kind of sectarianism. But if the expression included also the medival Church, it would of course not imply that we were to become Papists, but that we were to make Catholicism our own, as the symbolical garb under which the gospel was presented,in other words, that we were to convert all medival and legal symbols into evangelical truths and forms of life. (Comp. my work: The legal Catholic Church a symbol of the free Evangelical Church.)
2. The Pearl of Great Price.The following points are plain: He who obtains the kingdom of heaven is no longer represented merely as a fortunate finder, but at the same time as an untiring searcher. He is consciously seeking and striving after goodly pearls, or precious spiritual goods.43 At the same time, what was formerly described as a treasure is now characterized as a pearl of great price: it is presented in a concentrated form, as the one thing needful, bright and glorious in its appearance,i. e., the person of Christ, and life in Him, are now all and in all. Accordingly, all former possessions are readily surrendered. Not that everything great and good, which may formerly have been sought or attained, is to be cast away, but that it merges into this new possession and pearl of great price.The difficulty in this parable lies in the circumstance that the pearl of great price seems to have become matter of merchandize, and, like the jewel of the fable, is found somewhere in a distant part of the world. Probably the meaning of this is, that Christianity is now in the midst of the most active mental life and intercourse, and that the pearl of great price cannot be found without merchandize, i. e., without spiritual inter course, and moral and earnest aspiration. But when this pearl is discovered, it is made the inmost property of the soul, and our highest ornament: the merchant gives up his business, and has become a prince through his new possession.
3. The Net in the Sea.The whole Church is now presented in her missionary capacity, as a net cast into the sea of nations. Christianity alone combines the nations of the world, and converts them, so to speak, into one spiritual ocean. The net itself is, of course, only intended to enclose a draught, not to separate its contents. Accordingly, along with the good fishes, unclean sea animals, bad fishes, mud, etc., are brought to land. This exactly applies to the Church in her missionary capacity. Hence the process of separating judgment at the close, which forms the main point in this parable; while in that of the wheat and tares it was only introduced in order to supplement and explain the prohibition addressed by the Lord to His servants. From the circumstance that those to whom the process of separation is entrusted are said to sit down on the shore, and to gather out the good, we infer that the day of judgment will be a season of judgment, or an on in the appearing of Christ.
4. The leading idea which pervades the three last parables is, that vital Christianity is concealed from common view. In the first parable it was represented as hid in a field which sparingly yielded earthly breador amid established ecclesiastical order; in the second, we discover it in the course of busy mercantile enterprises, or in the midst of active mental interchange; while in the last parable it appears concealed by the waves and the depths of the sea of life. Similarly, the believer is represented, first, as a husbandman cultivating a field not his own, or, as dependent, without possession of his own in the Church, and only able to acquire anything for himself in his private capacity (in consequence of his own researches and prayer); in the second parable he is described as a merchant, who has entered into active mental and spiritual intercourse; and in the last, under the figure of a fish in the sea, whose new nature and life are safely preserved amid the waves, the dangers, and the unclean animals of the deep. Lastly, we note, that while in the first parable Christianity was characterized as a treasure that had been hid, of undefined, unknown, yet of infinite value; and in the second, as the one pearl of great price; it is set before us in the third as a draught of good fishesChristianity and Christians being here indissolubly connected and identified. In the first case, the acquisition of the treasure was a happy discovery, granted while the finder was earnestly engaged in the service of works; in the second, it was the highest aim of conscious endeavors; and in the third, it was the experience of the decisive final catastrophe, when Christians are to be separated from the things of the world, put into a clean vessel, and thus made to fulfil their heavenly destiny. Hence also the judgment is in this instance exhibited in all its power. In the first parable the judgment was chiefly negativethe land yielded no fruit; in the second parable it was confined to the real authors and representatives of spiritual evil on the earth; while in the third, every kind of unclean animals are doomed to share the fiery judgment awarded to the wicked.
5. The True Scribe.The expression manifestly applies to Christian teachers, or else to genuine disciples who follow the example of the Lord. The true scribe must bring forth out of his treasure not only things old and dead, but also things new and livingthe one along with the other; the new in the garb and in the light of the old, and the old in its fulfilment and development as the new.
[Chr. Wordsworth: Christ in His own parables, precepts, and prayers did not disdain to avail Himself of what was already received in the world. He built His religion on the foundation of the Old Testament, and also on the primeval basis of mans original constitution and nature rightly understood. And He teaches His Apostles and ministers not to reject anything that is true, and therefore of God; but to avail themselves of what is old, in teaching what, is new, and, by teaching what is new, to confirm what is old; to show that the gospel is not contrary to the law, and that both are from one and the same source, in harmony with nature, and that one and the same God is the author of them all. God the Father is the original of all; and God the Son, the eternal Logos, who manifests the Father by creation and by revelation,who made the world and who governs it,is the dispenser and controller of all. Matthew Henry: See here (1) what should be a ministers furniture, a treasure of things new and old. Those who have so many and various occasions, need to stock themselves well in their gathering days with truths new and old, out of the O. T. and out of the N.; with ancient and modern improvements, that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished, 2Ti 3:16-17. Old experiences and new observations, all have their use; and we must not content ourselves with old discoveries, but must be adding new. Live and learn. (2) What use he should make of this furniture; he should bring forth: laying up is in order to laying out, for the benefit of others. Sic vos non vobisyou are to lay up, but not for yourselves. Many are full, but they have no vent (Job 32:19), have a talent, but they bury it; such are unprofitable servants. Christ Himself received that He might give; so must we, and we shall have more. In bringing forth things, new and old do best together; old truths, but new methods and expressions, especially new affections.P. S.]
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
The three parables in their connection: Christianity manifested in a threefold form, and again concealed in a threefold manner.The divine invisibility of the Church concealed under its worldly visibility.Christianity the great revelation, and yet the great mystery in the world, to the end of time, 1Ti 3:16.
1. The Treasure in the Field.True Christianity ever again like an unexpected discovery, even in the ancient Church.The best possession we can find, a gift of free grace.Every one must find and discover Christianity for himself.Description of him who found the heavenly treasure of a free gospel in the earthly field of the Church. 1. What he may have been: one who had taken the field for a time, and was busily employed upon it (engaged in earnest endeavors after righteousness); or else a miner, who may have anticipated the possibility of some discovery; but certainly not an indolent person engaged in digging for treasures. 2. What he certainly was most faithful in his labors, and happy in his discovery; finding something for which he had not wrought, nor even sought.In order to secure possession even of what we have found, without any merit of our own, we must be willing to sacrifice all; or, salvation, though entirely of free grace, requires the fullest self-surrender.
Starke:Marginal note of Luther: The hidden treasure is the gospel, which bestows upon us all the riches of free grace, without any merit of our own. Hence also the joy when it is found, and which consists in a good and happy conscience, that cannot be obtained by works. This gospel is likewise the pearl of great price.Hedinger: Let us hazard everythinghonor, possessions, and lifefor the sake of the gospel, which so far surpasses everything else in value. What were temporal possessions without this treasure! comp. Mat 16:26If we lose Christ, then indeed all is lost; but if Christ be found, nothing can be said to be lost.He who has Christ as his own is rich indeed, and may well rejoice.
Braune:He was silent about his discovery. By silence the kingdom of God is most effectually promoted. (Yet there is a time for speech and a time for silence.)
Lisco:Learn to understand and know this mark of the kingdom of heaven. It always seemeth as if he possessed it who possesses it not, and again as if he possessed it not who really possesses it. The treasure is hid, etc.
Gerlach:In order to be certain of our possession of the kingdom of heaven, let us first seek inward assurance of our part in it by faith, before we come forward openly, lest we lose everything.Not, as if we could purchase or acquire for ourselves the kingdom of God.Self-abnegation is always requisite. Only, it must be of free choice and willingly, not of constraint.
Heubner:The treasure is lost. 1. The natural man knows not its character or value; 2. the world does not care for it; 3. it can only be received by and in the heart.Where is it concealed? In the field: the visible Church, or else the word.44Comp. Muslin, Sermon iv. on Col 3:3, Your life is hid with Christ in God (although this is a different thought).
2. The Pearl of Great Price.Without spiritual aspirations, Christian life is impossible.Christianity the necessary goal of all true aspirations of the soul.If we have been awakened to true, inward aspirations, we shall not be satisfied with anything less than goodly pearls: 1. We shall seek genuine spiritual possessions; 2. such as are simple, most precious, and yet easily preserved; 3. which never lose their value.Christianity under the figure of a merchant: 1. The man and his calling (he takes pleasure in his business, and carries it on with enthusiasm, not as a hired laborer). 2. His object: to find goodly pearls. What he wishes to avoidspurious pearls; what he scarcely dares anticipatethe pearl of great price. 3. His discovery: far surpassing his hopes. 4. His resolution: to give up his merchandize, and to retire, enjoying his new princely possession.The goodly pearl: the person of Christ, all in one.This pearl reflects both the waters of the world and the brightness of heaven.On the dangers and the blessings connected with the rapid mental interchange of modem times.True disciples combine the gracious and free gift of life from above with earnest seeking and striving after heavenly blessings.Who has discovered the goodly pearl? He that has found the Lord in His gospel, that has found himself in the election of grace, and that has found both heaven and earth, by finding and experiencing the love of God.
Starke:Quesnel: Merchants who go from one end of the earth to the other, and venture everything in search of worldly gain, may well put to shame many Christians who care so little for the Lord, and their own salvation.Osiander: Men often at great cost buy pearls and jewels, which cannot save them from death; but the gospel, etc.One thing is needful, Luk 10:42.Zeisius: Oh wise diligence! Oh blessed discovery!To adorn the body with pearls, but to forget the pearl of great price, will bring to shame in the day of judgment.Gossner: Christtruthpeacea pearl of great price indeed.Lisco: The transcendent value of the kingdom of heaven.Heubner: In the first parable the discovery was, so to speak, a matter of good fortune, while in the present instance the merchant is busy searching for pearls.Souls awakened (Justin Martyr).Christ in us is the pearl of great price.
3. The Net cast into the Sea.The whole Church of Christ essentially missionary in its character.The net encloses every species, both good and bad.First they are gathered, and then separated.For a season souls are at the same time in the sea and in the net: 1. In the sea, and yet in the net; 2. in the net, and yet in the sea.The whole world drawn to the shore of eternity in the net of the Church.Ultimately, it is not the net, but the draught of fishes, which is of importance.The kingdom of heaven in the Church at the end of the world: 1. The whole world one sea; 2. the entire Church one net; 3. the whole kingdom of heaven one draught of fishes.The separation of the clean from the unclean: 1. It is not done precipitately (only when the net is full); 2. nor tumultuously (they sit down and gather); 3. but carefully (the good into vessels); and, 4. decisively (the bad are cast away); 5. universally.Fiery Judgments descending upon sinners.The gnashing of teeth of the condemned shows that their wailing is not weeping.Those who are finally cast away cannot truly weep.
Starke:Quesnel: In the net of the divine word souls are drawn from the depths of error and sin into faith and blessedness.The world as resembling a tempest-tossed sea, Isa 57:20.The fishermen are the ministers of the gospel.Hedinger: Bad fishes, or hypocrites, will be found even in the holiest assemblage.Everybody wishes to appear pious, and none likes to be thought godless; but the day of judgment will disclose the true character of men.The net is still in the sea.Heubner: The kingdom of heaven here means the apostolic or ministerial office in the Church. (This is too narrow. It is the Church as an institution of grace.)
4. The True Scribe.Have ye understood all these things?The parable about the parable.The scribe instructed in the kingdom of heaven.The living treasury containing old, and ever sending forth new treasures.Defects and dangers of common religious instruction: 1. It presents the old without the new; 2. or the new without the old; or, 3. fails to exhibit the proper relationship between them.The ministerial office a constant bringing forth: 1. Presupposing a continual receiving from on high; as, 2. again manifesting itself by a right bringing forth (of wise, fresh, and rich instruction).
Starke:Let teachers frequently examine their pupils.The kingdom of heaven must form the central-point of all theological learning. Nov. Bibl. Tub.Majus: Approved teachers are only trained in the school of Christ and of the Holy Spirit.
Lisco:The ability and the activity of a true teacher.
Gerlach:Everything connected with the kingdom of heaven is at the same time old and new.
Heubner:Jesus the model for all preachers.Love the secret of true popularity.Rhetorical figures and worldly oratory is what many hearers most admire.Authentic definition here given of what constitutes a good divine: his inspirations are drawn from Scripture (he is instructed in the kingdom of heaven, and bound to extend it. All science and learning which do not tend to the furtherance of Christs kingdom cannot be divine); his treasure (things new and old. He learns from others and draws from his own resources, finding in his meditation and spiritual experience things both new and old).On the danger of preaching oneself empty [by neglecting and despising the old, or by ceasing to produce new thoughts and sermons].
Footnotes:
[35] Mat 13:44.[Again, , is wanting in the best MSS., as B., D. also in Cod. Sinait., in the Latin Vulgate, and is thrown out by Tischendorf, Tregelles, Alford, and Conant. Lachmann retains it, but in brackets. It may easily have been inserted from Mat 13:45; Mat 13:47; but it may also have been omitted here at the beginning of a new series of parables. Lange retains it in his translation and ingeniously defends it in the Exeg. Notes.P. S.]
[36] Mat 13:45.[Merchant-man is now only used of a trading vessel, as distinguished from a ship-of-war. See the English DictP. S.]
[37] Mat 13:46.[According to the true reading of Codd. Sinait., Vatic, Contabr., etc., and the critical editions: instead of . See Meyer, p. 278.P. S.]
[38] Mat 13:51.Codd. B., D, Ital., Vulg, etc., omit: . So Lachmann and Tischendorf, [Tregelles. Alford, Conant]; but Meyer defends the sentence. It looks like an exegetical interpolation. [Cod. Sinait. omits the words.]
[39] Mat 13:51. is wanting in numerous authorities.
[40] Mat 13:52.[The interpolated words: Which is, are better omitted]
[41] Mat 13:52.Different readings. [for ] is supported by B., C., K., etc. [Also by Cod. Sinait. which reads: , substituting for , as usual in this MS. It is the dative of reference: instructed in the kingdom of heaven.P. S.]
[42][Doubtful. Better: the old truths reproduced in new and living form from the Bible, from history and from personal experience. In the kingdom of God the old is ever new, and the new old. The old becomes stagnant and dead, if not always renewed and personally applied; the new must be rooted in the old, and grow out of it. Comp. the additions in the Doctrinal and Ethical Notes, sub No. 5.P. S.]
[43][Trench instances Augustine as an example of the diligent seeker and finder. Nathanael and the Samaritan woman as examples of the finders without seeking.P. S.]
[44][Not world, as the Edinb. translation has it. Heubner means the Bible, as containing the treasure of truth.P. S.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
DISCOURSE: 1364
THE HIDDEN TREASURE
Mat 13:44. The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in afield; the which, when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
THE Gospel, as viewed in various lights, admits of various representations. It is generally set forth as small in its beginnings, but increasing in importance. But we must not therefore suppose it to be of small value. Our Lord sufficiently guards against this mistake by the parable before us. He shews us, that the Gospel, even while hid from our view, is exceeding precious
It will be proper to shew,
I.
Why the kingdom of heaven is likened to a treasure hid
The kingdom of heaven is an expression peculiar to the New Testament
[By it we are not always to understand heaven itself; it is frequently used to signify Christs spiritual kingdom; and it is so called, because it is the re-establishment of Gods empire over the hearts of men, and because what is thus begun in grace will be consummated in glory.]
This may well be considered as a treasure
[There is no other thing so deserving of this name. Every one that is possessed of it may say with truth, All things are mine [Note: 1Co 3:21.]. He is blessedwith all spiritual blessingsin heavenly thingsin Christ [Note: Eph 1:3.]. Every earthly pleasure is contemptible in comparison of it.]
But it is compared to a treasure hid in a field
[The mysteries of the Gospel were from eternity hid in the bosom of the Father [Note: Eph 3:9.]. Neither men nor angels could possibly have devised them. Who could have thought of bringing man back to God through the death of Gods only Son? And of reducing him to a willing subjection by the operation of Gods Spirit? A finite mind could never have conceived such an idea: but these mysteries, though revealed, are still hid from the natural man [Note: 1Co 2:14.]. They still appear foolishness, and are a stumbling-block to many [Note: 1Co 1:23.]. Paul, though so learned and religious, could not receive them in his unconverted state [Note: Act 22:3-4.]: nor would he ever have embraced them, if God had not opened his eyes [Note: Act 9:17-18.]. The Apostles, though instructed by our Lord himself all the time of his ministry, needed, after all, a divine illumination [Note: Luk 24:45.]: nor is a spirit of revelation less necessary for us. To this very hour there is as much ground as ever for that devout acknowledgment [Note: Mat 11:25-26.]The field indeed, wherein the treasure is hid. is open and accessible to all [Note: Joh 5:39.]; but we shall perish for lack of it. unless God do for us as he did for Hagar [Note: Gen 21:16; Gen 21:19.]. We must all adopt the prayer of David [Note: Psa 119:18.]]
Its intrinsic worth. joined with the difficulty of finding it, must render the acquisition delightful.
II.
The emotions which a discovery of it will produce
The illustration given by our Lord is peculiarly apt. A man who should find a treasure, would have a conflict in his mind
[He would congratulate himself on his good fortune, and rejoice in his prospect of possessing so much wealth; but he would feel some dread of detection. He would fear lest another should see it, before he had an opportunity of securing it for himself. He would cover it up carefully, if he could not then carry it away; and if by purchasing the field he could gain the treasure, he would gladly pay down the price. In doing this he would use all the expedition and caution that he could; nor would he hesitate to sell all that he had, in order to complete the purchase.]
Thus is a man affected who finds the Gospel salvation
[He is filled with joy at the glad tidings that he hears [Note: Mat 13:20.]; he indulges a hope that he may be interested in them; he anticipates the happiness of having his sins forgiven, and of being made an heir of the heavenly inheritance. Still, however, he is not without many misgiving fears. He knows that Satan is watching to steal away the treasure [Note: Luk 8:12.]; nor can he tell but that that serpent may beguile him [Note: 2Co 11:3.]. He sees too that the world may deprive him of his hope [Note: Mar 4:19.]. Yea, he perceives in his own heart a proneness to despise the proffered mercy [Note: Mat 22:5.]. Thus is he agitated between hope and fear. This effect was predicted by the prophets of old [Note: Isa 60:5. Jer 33:9.], and it was, on one occasion at least, experienced by the Apostles [Note: Mat 28:8.]: but, in the midst of all, he is determined, if possible, to possess the treasure. He undervalues every thing that can stand in competition with it; he well knows that, whatever he pay for it, he can be no loser; he approves in his heart the conduct of St. Paul [Note: Gal 1:16.]and is resolved to follow the advice of Solomon [Note: Pro 23:23.]]
Application
[The field, which contains this treasure, is nigh at hand. The owner invites all to go and seek the treasure: he promises that all who seek in earnest shall find it [Note: Mat 7:7-8.]; yea, moreover, that all who find, shall retain it [Note: Pro 8:35.]. Let those then who have never found it, begin to seek. But let them adopt that prayer of the Apostle [Note: Eph 1:17-18.]The Holy Spirit alone can give success to their endeavours [Note: Joh 16:13-14.]. And let them bear in mind the misery of those who fail [Note: 2Co 4:3-4.]. If any have found it, let them hold fast the prize [Note: Rev 2:25; Rev 3:3; Rev 3:11.]; let them guard against every thing that may rob them of it; let them remember, it is not a small treasure, but an inexhaustible mine. Let them never regret any sacrifice they may make for it, but look forward to the complete enjoyment of it in heaven.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. (45) Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: (46) Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. (47) Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: (48) Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. (49) So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, (50) And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
The treasure may most probably be Christ, hid, in the field of the Scripture, from the wise and prudent, but revealed unto babes. The merchant-man seeking goodly pearls, may perhaps be designed to set forth the Lord Jesus Christ, who is seeking and must gather the goodly pearls, even his redeemed, which are the jewels of his mediatorial crown. Or if the merchant be designed to represent the spiritual merchant seeking Christ, as the pearl of great price, then it will shew, that the finding, and possessing him, includes all treasure; and gladly will a child of God then turn his back upon all the objects which might otherwise be desirable, in this waste and howling wilderness.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Chapter 55
Prayer
Almighty God, thou dost send the years upon us as thou wilt sometimes in darkness and in storm, sometimes with bitter cold, oftentimes with many a patch of blue in the winter sky, to tell us of the days that are about to brighten, and the summer that is preparing to come. Send the years of our life upon us as thou wilt, only come thou with every one of them, and make each as a step nearer thy sweet home.
We bless thee for all the lovingkindness and tender mercy of the year now for ever gone. We take this new year from thine hand as a page unwritten upon, yet without line, or blot, or stain. Help us to write our life story upon it with a steady hand, and may the whole inscription bring glory and praise to thy name as the Inspirer and the Director of our lives, to whom we owe all we are and all we have, and in whose power and wisdom alone can we hope to stand. We know not what is coming, we cannot tell what shall be done this year: it strikes another bell in the air O that we may hear the warning tone and answer it with a deeper love and a steadier industry, a completer consecration and a nobler and more ardent hope. The days of our years are threescore years and ten; behold while we are reckoning them they fly away, and whilst we sigh for the smallness of the number it dwindles as we mourn. Are there not twelve hours in the day? Help us to work steadily every one of them, may we know the blessedness of that servant who shall be found waiting or watching or working when his Lord comes then shall his Lord bring heaven with him and toil shall become rest. Teach us so to number our days as to apply our hearts unto wisdom; may we be good reckoners of time, may we buy up the opportunity with the urgency of men who have but a little time to stay and much work to do within the dying period.
Bless us all at home, make our houses resting-places of security, spread our table, and when our afflictions come upon us, make thou our bed; send the light to awaken us, cause the darkness to be as a curtain round about us, in our outgoing and in our incoming be thou our light and our defence.
Thou hast done great things for us whereof we are glad. Continue to multiply thy miracles in our life, and may new mercies elicit new songs. Be with us in the market-place, in the whole strife and battle and contest of life, give us honourable purpose, pure motive, noble design may we all lay up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust do corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. Prepare us for life, and thus prepare us for death: enable us to do our work well, then shall our rest be well earned and our peace shall be complete. Amid all the tumult and violence, the pain and the distress, the illusion and the ambition and disappointment and gratification of life, lift thou up above us, and above all that is round about us, the great cross of the dying Lamb of God: may it be the badge of our trust and of our love, the source of cur hope and the spring of our inspiration, the answer to our dreadful guilt, the complete deliverance of our soul from its worst captivity. May the power of the precious blood of Jesus Christ reveal itself in the innermost places of our heart and mind.
Regard us one and all as we are now bowing before thee, heads of houses, husbands and wives, fathers, mothers, children, masters, servants, employers, employed, rich, poor, those who have many joys, and those whose last candle is dying out the Lord look upon us all as one in the Son of Man, united by indissoluble and indestructible bonds to one another by the Son of God. Spare not the bestowal of thy blessing, but let every one have a portion of meat in due season, let every head be lifted up in new exaltation and in new hope.
Go out with every honest man who endeavours to speak thy word and extend thy kingdom, who prays by the bedside of the sick, who carries light into dark houses, and stealthily leaves bread for the hunger of those who are destitute; bless the hand that works invisibly, that is always open to give, and that never willingly receives except to return in new benedictions, and the Lord comfort such and multiply their joys and their comforts, and be round about them as a great Presence.
Look upon those who have new songs to sing this morning because of household joy: the Lord grant a blessing unto those who sing such songs, that their whole life may be musical with thy praise. Regard those whose last association has been with the grave, whose feet are yet wet because of their standing by the open tomb, hearts in which there is sorrow, eyes in which the tears are standing thick and hot the Lord speak comfortably unto such of the Resurrection and of the Life. Hear the mother’s sigh for her erring boy, her prodigal wandering one, whom she received from thee with delight and whose life is now to her the very mystery of pain.
The Lord look upon all to whom this will be an eventful year; prepare us all to receive thy blessing, may we hold our joys with a trembling hand, may we yield our fears to thy keeping, thou mighty Saviour of the race. Help us to forgive one another; may this day be a day of forgiveness and amnesty; if any man have a quarrel against any, may that contest cease on this holy day.
May we now, humbly, modestly, lovingly give ourselves again into thine hand, to be defended, instructed, directed as thou wilt, and so may thy will be done on earth, as it is done in heaven. Amen.
Mat 13:44-46
Treasure and Pearls
These parables may be taken together, as expressing two sides of the same truth. “The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field.” There were no banks in ancient times, such as we have now, and therefore persons possessed of property of a valuable kind were wont to hide it in fields and in out-of-the-way places. The figure is that of a man who comes upon joy unexpectedly. He was not looking for treasure, but in digging his field he came upon it without anticipation, and therefore his joy was the greater. How far and in what sense do these parables correspond with what we know of life generally? Can we not confirm the doctrine that the joys of surprise are amongst the keenest of our delights? The joys that we anticipate are often dulled by the fact that we have discounted them: we knew that they were coming, we had often talked about them, imagination had set them in false lights and in preposterous relations, so that when they really did come they were less than our expectancy, and so they became disappointments rather than pleasures.
Understand, then, the place of surprise in the divine economy. We are to come upon things unexpectedly, we are not to wear them out before we handle them, their presence and their use and their value come to us instantaneously, and because we knew nothing about them our joy is the greater. If you expect your friend to leave you a large estate, and he leaves you something less than you had anticipated, the property actually brings dissatisfaction with it; but if you expected nothing, and he left you one green field, the bequest would occasion great joy in your heart, nor altogether because of the value of the bequest, but because it came upon you without the slightest hint or expectation.
Now the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field: it is a continual surprise. God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. Herein is our expectation itself foiled. We cannot raise our expectancy to the height of this heaven, but expectation is not forbidden herein in consequence of that solemn and glad fact. We dream of heaven, and talk of it, and set our poets to work to strike their harps to sweeter and higher strains and tones, because, when we have formed our own heaven in the innermost and highest places of our fancy, it falls, short of the reality only by infinity.
This is the testimony of every student of the Bible. Every page is a field in which there is hidden treasure so say the men who have toiled longest in those holy fields. They are the men who are entitled to testify: such men are filled with amazement, new light startles them, unheard music holds their soul in glad enthralment, presences rise before them and angels wrestle with them in power that is meant not to destroy but to save and to bless, so that the old man in closing his Bible says, “The last vision was the brightest, the last song was the sweetest;” says he, “I never knew what this Bible was until now. All the old passages glow with a new meaning, all the sweet and sacred promises come with a deeper significance and a more ineffable sweetness.”
Are we able to follow this testimony, or is the Bible to us an exhausted book? It is an exhausted book only to the man who has never begun it. I desire to add my humble testimony to the deeper and bolder witness of men who are more qualified to attest, that every time I open the Bible it is as a field in which I find hidden treasure, and every time I conclude my exposition of any portion of holy Scripture I find I have not even begun to touch its infinite meaning. So far, therefore, I feel no difficulty whatever in accepting the doctrine that the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field.
Now, in the next place, can we confirm the doctrine that life is a search for goodly pearls? Every man is at home in this truth. Examine yourselves, and you will find that your innermost motive is to find the goodliest pearl. In business, in thinking, in literature, in preaching, in art, in music, everywhere this is the innermost truth, that we are seeking for pearls of the greatest worth. “Who will show us any good?” is the cry of the anxious human heart. So, get what pearls you may upon the earth, there is always another Pearl beyond, larger, of a richer hue, of a higher value, and it is towards that that you stretch out your desire and your hand. Now this is the very motive, purpose, and ambition that the kingdom of heaven came to satisfy. Without this desire it would not have anything to lay hold upon. Here is the secret, mighty hold which Christian truth gets upon mankind: it addresses itself immediately and profoundly to the supreme desire of the heart. As light is adapted to the eye, as sound is adapted to the ear, as substance appeals to the touch, so this kingdom of heaven appeals to our highest sense, our spiritual necessity and receptivity. The kingdom of heaven is not something let down out of the skies, that has to be carried as a weight upon our head, for which we can give no reason, and of which we have no explanation; it is an appeal to something that is in us, it answers an interior voice, it offers to meet a felt necessity. Again examine yourselves and tell me if you are not seeking for goodly pearls. You want it in money, another man wants it in love; another man seeks for it in some larger definition of the term life; a fourth man seeks for it in books, a fifth in painting or in music, but every man here on this opening Sabbath of the year is seeking goodly pearls.
So I have no difficulty in accepting the parable when it says that the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchantman seeking goodly pearls, not inferior ones, but the very best that could be found. This merchantman goes out over sea and land to find goodly pearls. It is recorded that the great Csar was drawn to the shores of Britain because of the pearls that were cast upon them by the flowing tide. We too, little Csars, soldiers, explorers, conquerors, have our eyes upon those seas that cast out of their depths the richest treasures. The kingdom of heaven comes to us, and says, “In me you will find the goodliest pearls.”
In the third place, can we not confirm the doctrine that there are prizes for which one would sacrifice all secondary enjoyments? The merchantman, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it: has that any correspondence in our lives? Here is a student who has fixed his ambition upon certain honours; he gives up all ease, indulgence, quietness, and as much sleep as possible that he may lay his hand upon the supreme honour and be its happy owner evermore. You have talked to book collectors who have pointed out some one book for which they have given fifty other books. Being poor men in the matter of mere money, they gathered together books of inferior value, at least of inferior value in their own estimation, and they said to the possessor of the coveted treasure, “You shall have all the fifty for that one.” We all have known men who have coveted some particular picture, and they have taken down all the other pictures on their walls and have said, “They shall all go if I can only get that piece of painting.” So that we have experiences of this kind in our lives, and this is the very spring and force of life by which we always aim at that which is beyond. It is the beyond that allures us; it is the unattained that draws us by mighty spell and fascination onward and onward in our life course.
It is so with the kingdom of heaven. “Yea, doubtless,” saith Paul, “and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord. What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.” So he would have sold his ancestry, his pedigree, all that made him proud of the past, and would count it but as dung that he might win Christ. What is this but giving the very highest application to a principle which you have already affirmed in study, in the collection of books, and in the collection of works of art? And other men have sold all they had for the kingdom of heaven. They subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword; others had trials of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment; they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented for what object? That they might win Christ, that they might have the pearl of great price as their supreme treasure. In doing so they are not acting the part of foolish men. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchantman. You believe in the common-sense, in the energy, the prudence and the shrewdness of merchantmen; you glory in the strength of character and the sagacity of mind developed by business; this kingdom of heaven is not ashamed to say that it is like the best business man you have amongst you, with an eye as keen, with an ardour as intense, with a shrewdness as far-seeing as his, and having exhausted him, it multiplies itself by infinity.
This testimony, therefore, ought to come to you men of business with great force. The kingdom of heaven is not like unto a dreamer only, like unto a crazy poet, who makes jingling rhymes the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchantman who keeps his books, and lays his plans, and awakens his wit, and belabours his energy, and inspires his enthusiasm by daily conquest in daily toil. Wondrous kingdom: it will join any man in his daily toil, and say to him, in so far as he is a wise and honest workman, “I am just like you.” It does not merely go into the studies of the artist, into the sanctum of the recluse, into the hermitage of the monk, into the high nest of the poet who loves to dwell in solitude, and say, “I am just like you, great men of imagination and of artistic sensibility and power,” but it also comes down to the day labourer, and says, “This is what I do: I dig.” It goes to the navigator, and says, “This is what I do: I have countless ships, and my meaning is to touch the uttermost parts of the earth with my beneficence and my light.” It goes to the carpenter at the bench, and says, “I am just like you, I work all day and I work for a reward, a great prize.” So here is a kingdom called the kingdom of heaven, that identifies itself with the business life of the land, and that reveals one shape of its supreme beauty through business, through merchandise.
While the kingdom of heaven so inspires a man as to lead him to throw off every fascination and inducement of a worldly kind, and to give himself wholly and absolutely to its worship and further pursuit, it may be said that all religions have this effect upon the human mind, which is only a proof that the strongest force which operates upon human intelligence, human inspiration, and human ambition is the religious force. Wherein, then, is the difference between the Christian kingdom and those other kingdoms of a religious kind which are not acknowledged by Christian theology? All religions compel devotion, all religions compel more or less of sacrifice wherein, then, is the difference between them and this Christian kingdom of heaven? I will tell you. Jesus Christ came into competition with all the sovereign religions of the world; no religion of a sovereign and absolutely original kind has ventured to show its head since Jesus Christ was born. Let me give you time to lay hold of that suggestion; no great religion of this kind has been set up in the world since the birth of Jesus Christ Judaism is a great religion, but it has not come into existence during the last eighteen hundred and eighty years. Buddhism, Confucianism, are great religions, but each of them is more than eighteen hundred and eighty years of age, a fact which throws into infinite significance the comparison which Christianity institutes, by which it claims to be “the pearl of great price,” the one pearl which lowers the value of every other, and which trusts to its intrinsic value to save it from all competition, and to ensure its ultimate and universal appreciation.
It is something to remember that since the child was born in Bethlehem no great or sovereign religion (with the doubtful exception of Mohammedanism) has established itself upon the earth. Here we come upon historical ground, and are able to fight with the invincible weapon of fact. What independent religion, right or wrong, has arisen since the birth of Jesus Christ? What man has arisen of such boldness of conception, grandeur of character, purity and sublimity of purpose and originality of mind as to rival or eclipse the man of Nazareth? Negative religions enough, if they might be called religions, denials and criticisms in abundance, which owe their temporary life to the very character which they assail but no man can worship in the temple of doubt, no man can broadly, deeply, and permanently influence the world who has nothing to suggest but a negation; negatives can never ascend the highest seat and rule with dominating and beneficent supremacy. Where is the majestic personality, the profound philosophy, the heroic sacrifice, and the valiant propagandism of a new faith that claims the sovereignty of the world? I do not include perversions and corruptions so foul and obvious as are found in Mohammedanism; I ask for an independent, original, and sovereign competitor. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a pearl of great price; it holds itself up as such, and asks for all the other pearls to be brought that they may be contrasted with its ineffable preciousness. No competing faith has been suggested with such breadth of suggestion as to get more than a moment’s life in the estimation of mankind, and no such faith has embodied itself in any leader that the world has cared to arrest and crucify.
A great argument takes its inception here. Men have looked for another than Christ, and no other has come with a single tittle of claim that could bear one moment’s examination. Negations have no missions, no adventures, no audacities of a beneficent kind; they only live spasmodically and temporarily, they do not live in themselves and by themselves, of their own divinely created force. This faith of Jesus Christ knocks at every door, it thunders upon the door of India and China, and sends its ship in full sail to the islands of the sea, and the cry is, “I am a merchantman who has found a pearl of great price; examine it, test it, receive it but in doing so all other pearls must be given up. If any man will be my disciple, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. Go, sell all thou hast and give to the poor, and come and follow me. Strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life.” What are all these quotations and references but so many expansions of the great doctrine of this text that the kingdom of heaven is as a merchantman, who having seen a pearl more valuable and precious than all others, surrenders the life-gathered store that he may possess himself of this most precious of all pearls?
Where is your competing pearl, where is your competing Christ, where is your nobler love or your grander purpose? The air is troubled with doubts, the night is thick with scepticism, the Church is annoyed now and again with the arrow and the pestilence of ardent foes, but since the star glittered on Bethlehem no man has arisen to claim the heathen for an inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for a possession. Christianity makes this supreme claim to us every one this morning; it asks us to lay our little pearls beside it, that it may show by self-revelation how little they are and poor compared with its magnitude, its quality, and its lustre. Christianity is a comparative religion, a competitive faith; it asks to be looked at in the light of all that has gone before it, and a religion which comes before me with a claim so broad, so substantial, so manifestly profound in its common sense arrests my thoughts and demands my confidence.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
Ver. 44. Like unto treasure hid, &c. ] A treasure is a heap of precious things laid up for future uses. a By the treasure in this text, we are to understand either Christ, or life eternal gotten for us by Christ, or the gospel that offereth unto us Christ, and with him eternal life. The field wherein this true treasure lies hidden, is the Church. The spades and mattocks wherewith it is to be dug up and attained unto, are hands and eyes, not poring in the earth, but praying toward heaven.
He hideth it ] Ne quis cum antevertat, that none remove it, ere he hath made himself master of it. Holding fast to that which he hath, that no man take his crown from him. This he insures to himself, and cannot rest till he hath done it. He likes not to have with the merchant an estate hanging upon ropes, b and depending upon uncertain winds, but makes sure work for his soul.
Selleth all that he hath ] Ever when justifying faith is infused, there is a through sale of all sin; the pearl of price will never else be had. And for outward comforts and contentments, every true son of Israel will be glad to purchase the birthright with pottage, spiritual favours with earthly, as did Galeaeius the Marquess of Vice, Martinengus Earl of Bareha, &c.
And buyeth that field ] Accounting it an excellent penny’s worth, whatever it stand him in. Other faint hearted chapmen cheapen heaven only, being loth to go to the price of it. A price they have in their hands, but they, like fools, look upon their money, and have no mind to lay it out upon any such commodity. Oh what madmen are they that bereave themselves of a room in that city of pearl for a few paltry shillings of dirty delights!
a , .
b Fortunam rudentibus aptam.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
44. ] FIFTH PARABLE. THE HIDDEN TREASURE. Peculiar to Matthew . This and the following parable are closely connected, and refer to two distinct classes of persons who become possessed of the treasure of the Gospel. Notice that these, as also the seventh and last, are spoken not to the multitude but to the disciples .
In this parable, a man, labouring perchance for another, or by accident in passing, finds a treasure which has been hidden in a field; from joy at having found it he goes, and selling all he has, buys the field, thus (by the Jewish law) becoming the possessor also of the treasure. Such hiding of treasure is common even now, and was much more common in the East (see Jer 41:8 (cf. Hitzig in loc.): Job 3:21 ; Pro 2:4 ).
This sets before us the case of a man who unexpectedly, without earnest seeking, finds, in some part of the outward Church, the treasure of true faith and hope and communion with God; and having found this, for joy of it he becomes possessor, not of the treasure without the field (for that the case supposes impossible) but of the field at all hazards, to secure the treasure which is in it: i.e. he possesses himself of the means of grace provided in that branch of the Church, where, to use a common expression, he has “gotten his good:” he makes that field his own.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 13:44-53 . Three other parables: the Treasure, the Pearl, the Net .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Mat 13:44 . : the article may be generic, indicating the field as the locality, as distinct from other places where treasures were deposited. , he hid once more what some one had previously hidden; the occurrence common, the occasions various. , in his joy rather than through joy over it, as many take the genitive, though both are admissible. The joy natural in a poor peasant; not less so the cunning procedure it inspired; ethically questionable, but parables are not responsible for the morality of their characters. , , etc., four historic presents one after the other, in sympathy with the finder, and with lively effect. : all required for the purpose, yet the all might not amount to much: the field minus the treasure of no great value. Worth while, the treasure being a pure gain. The point of the parable is that the kingdom of heaven outweighs in value all else, and that the man who understands this will with pleasure part with all. It helps to show the reasonableness of the sacrifice for the kingdom Jesus demanded.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Matthew
TREASURE AND PEARL
Mat 13:44 – Mat 13:46
In this couple of parables, which are twins, and must be taken together, our Lord utilises two very familiar facts of old-world life, both of them arising from a similar cause. In the days when there were no banks and no limited liability companies, it was difficult for a man to know what to do with his little savings. In old times government meant oppression, and it was dangerous to seem to have any riches. In old days war stalked over the land, and men’s property must be portable or else concealed. So, on the one hand we find the practice of hiding away little hoards in some suitable place, beneath a rock, in the cleft of a tree, or a hole dug in the ground, and then, perhaps, the man died before he came back for his wealth. Or, again, another man might prefer to carry his wealth about with him. So he went and got jewels, easily carried, not easily noticed, easily convertible into what he might require.
And, says our Lord, these two practices, with which all the people to whom He was speaking were very much more familiar than we are, teach us something about the kingdom of God. Now, I am not going to be tempted to discuss what our Lord means by that phrase, so frequent upon His lips, ‘the kingdom of God’ or ‘of heaven.’ Suffice it to say that it means, in the most general terms, a state or order of things in which God is King, and His will supreme and sovereign. Christ came, as He tells us, to found and to extend that kingdom upon earth. A man can go into it, and it can come into a man, and the conditions on which he enters into it, and it into him, are laid down in this pair of parables. So I ask you to notice their similarities and their divergences. They begin alike and they run on alike for a little way, and then they diverge. There is a fork in the road, and they reunite at the end again. They agree in their representation of the treasure; they diverge in their explanation of the process of discovering it, and they unite at last in the final issue. So, then, we have to look at these three points.
I. Let me ask you to think that the true treasure for a man lies in the kingdom of God.
Let me run over two or three points that show us that. That treasure is the only one that meets our deepest poverty. We do not all know what that is, but whether you know it or not, dear friend, the thing that you want most is to have your sins dealt with, in the double way of having them forgiven as guilt, and in having them taken away from you as tyrants and dominators over your wills. And it is only God who can do that, ‘God in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them,’ and giving them, by a new life which He breathes into dead souls, emancipation from the tyrants that rule over them, and thus bringing them ‘into the liberty of the glory of the sons of God.’ ‘Thou sayest that Thou art rich and increased with goods . . . and knowest not that thou art poor . . . and naked.’ Brother, until you have found out that it is only God who will save you from being bankrupt, and enable you to pay your debts, which are your duties, you do not know where your true riches are. And if you have all that men can acquire of the lower things of life, whether of what is generally called wealth or of other material benefits, and have that great indebtedness standing against you, you are but an insolvent after all. Here is the treasure that will make you rich, because it will pay your debts, and endow you with capacity enough to meet all future expenditure-viz. the possession of the forgiving and cleansing grace of God which is in Jesus Christ. If you have that, you are rich; if you do not possess it, you are poor. Now you believe that, as much as I do, most of you. Well, what do you do in consequence?
Further, the possession of God, who belongs to all those that are the subjects of the kingdom of God, is our true treasure, because that wealth, and that alone, meets at once all the diverse wants of the human soul. There is nothing else of which that can be said. There are a great many other precious things in this world-human loves, earthly ambitions of noble and legitimate kinds. No one but a fool will deny the convenience and the good of having a competency of this world’s possessions. But all these have this miserable defect, or rather limitation, that they each satisfy some little corner of a man’s nature, and leave all the rest, if I may so say, like the beasts in a menagerie whose turn has not yet come to be fed, yelping and growling while the keeper is at the den of another one. There is only one thing that, being applied, as it were, at the very centre, will diffuse itself, like some fragrant perfume, through the whole sphere, and fill the else scentless air with its rich and refreshing fragrance. There is but one wealth which meets the whole of human nature. You, however small you are, however insignificant people may think you, however humbly you may think of yourselves, you are so great that the whole created Universe, if it were yours, would be all too little for you. You cannot fill a bottomless bog with any number of cartloads of earth. And you know as well as I can tell you that ‘he that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth abundance with increase,’ and that none of the good things here below, rich and precious as many of them are, are large enough to fill, much less to expand, the limitless desires of one human heart. As the ancient Latin father said, ‘Lord, Thou hast made us for Thyself, and our heart is unquiet till it attains to Thee.’
Closely connected with that thought, but capable of being dealt with for a moment apart, is the other, that this is our true treasure, because we have it all in one.
You remember the beautiful emphasis of one of the parables in our text about the man that dissipated himself in seeking for many goodly pearls? He had secured a whole casket full of little ones. They were pearls, they were many; but then he saw one Orient pearl, and he said, ‘The one is more than the many. Let me have unity, for there is rest; whereas in multiplicity there is restlessness and change.’ The sky to-night may be filled with galaxies of stars. Better one sun than a million twinkling tininesses that fill the heavens, and yet do not scatter the darkness. Oh, brethren, to have one aim, one love, one treasure, one Christ, one God-there is the secret of blessedness. ‘Unite my heart to fear Thy name’; and then all the miseries of multiplicity, and of drawing our supplies from a multitude of separate lakes, will be at an end, when our souls are flooded from the one fountain of life that can never fail or be turbid. Thus, the unity of the treasure is the supreme excellence of the treasure.
Nor need I remind you in more than a word of how this is our true treasure, because it is our permanent one. Nothing that can be taken from me is truly mine. Those of you who have lived in a great commercial community as long as I have done, know that it is not for nothing that sovereigns are made circular, for they roll very rapidly, and ‘riches take to themselves wings and fly away.’ We can all go back to instances of men who set their hearts upon wealth, and flaunted their little hour before us as kings of the Exchange, and were objects of adoration and of envy, and at last were left stranded in poverty. Nothing that can be stripped from you by the accidents of life, or by inevitable death, is worth calling your ‘good.’ You must have something that is intertwined with the very fibres of your being. And I, unworthy as I am, come to you, dear friends, now, with this proffer of the great gift of wealth from which ‘neither life, nor death, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us.’ And I beseech you to ask yourselves, Is there anything worth calling wealth, except that wealth which meets my deepest need, which satisfies my whole nature, which I may have all in one, and which, if I have, I may have for ever? That wealth is the God who may be ‘the strength of your hearts and your heritage for ever.’
II. Now notice, secondly, the concealment of the treasure.
III. Again, let me ask you to notice, further, the two ways of finding.
There are men and women listening to me now who did not come here with any expectation of being confronted with this message to their souls; they may have been drawn by curiosity or by a hundred other motives. If there is one such, to whom I am speaking, who has had no desires after the treasure, who has never thought that God was his only Good, who has been swallowed up in worldly things and the common affairs of life, and who now feels as if a sudden flash had laid bare the hidden wealth in the familiar Gospel, I beseech such a one not to turn away from the discovered treasure, but to make it his own. Dear friend, you may not be looking for the wealth, but Christ is looking for His lost coin. And, though it has rolled away into some dusty corner, and is lying there all unaware, I venture to say that He is seeking you by my poor words to-night, and is saying to you: ‘I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire.’
But then another class is described in the other parable of the merchantman who was seeking many goodly pearls. I suppose he may stand as a representative of a class of whom I have no doubt there are some other representatives hearing me now, namely, persons who, without yielding themselves to the claims of Christ, have been searching, honestly and earnestly, for ‘whatsoever things are lovely and of good report.’ Dear brethren, if you have been smitten by the desire to live noble lives, if you have been roused
‘To follow knowledge, like a sinking star,
Beyond the furthest bounds of human thought,’
III. And now, lastly, let us look at the point where the parables converge.
‘Then it is barter, is it? Then it is salvation by works after all?’ No! To ‘sell all that thou hast’ is first, to abandon all hope of acquiring the treasure by anything that thou hast. We buy it when we acknowledge that we have nothing of our own to buy it with. Buy it ‘without money and without price’; buy it by yielding your hearts; buy it by ceasing to cling to earth and creatures, as if they were your good. That trust in Jesus Christ, which is the condition of salvation is selling ‘all that thou hast.’ Self is ‘all that thou hast.’ Abandon self and clutch Him, and the treasure is thine. But the initial act of faith has to be carried on through a life of self-denial and self-sacrifice, and the subjection of self-will, which is the hardest of all, and the submission of one’s self altogether to the kingdom of God and to its King. If we do thus we shall have the treasure, and if we do not thus we shall not.
Surely it is reasonable to fling away paste pearls for real ones. Surely it is reasonable to fling away brass counters for gold coins. Surely, in all regions of life, we willingly sacrifice the second best in order to get the very best. Surely if the wealth which is in God is more precious than all besides, you have the best of the bargain, if you part with the world and yourselves and get Him. And if, on the other hand, you stick to the second best and cleave to yourselves and to this poor diurnal sphere and what it contains, then I will tell you what your epitaph will be. It is written in one of the Psalms, ‘He shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his latter end shall be a fool.’
And there is a more foolish fool still-the man who, when he has seen the treasure, flings another shovelful of earth upon it, and goes away and does not buy it, nor think anything more about it. Dear brother, do not do that, but if, by God’s help, any poor words of mine have stirred anything in your hearts of recognition of what your true wealth is, do not rest until you have done what is needful to possess it, given away yourselves, and in exchange received Christ, and in Him wealth for evermore.
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat 13:44
44″The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”
Mat 13:44 “the kingdom of heaven” See Mat 13:45; Mat 13:47; Mat 13:52. This phrase was equivalent to “the kingdom of God” in Mark and Luke. Matthew, in writing to the Jews, did not use God’s name but circumlocution, ” heaven.” This parable is unique to Matthew.
“hidden in the field” Burying valuables in the ground to protect them was a common practice in the Ancient Near East. There were no banks.
“sells all. . .buys the field” This shows the radical nature of discipleship. Knowing Jesus is worth everything! The paradox is (1) a free salvation comes by God’s grace alone and is therefore absolutely free (cf. Rom 3:24; Rom 5:15; Rom 6:23; Eph 2:8-9), but (2) it costs the disciple everything (cf. Mat 10:34-39; Mat 13:44; Mat 13:46).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Again. This word marks and links together the last three parables. See the Structure, p. 1336 (App-145), and note on “another”, Mat 13:24.
hid = lying hidden. Compare Mat 13:33 and Mat 13:35.
for = from. Greek. apo.
buyeth. Not the word for “redeem”. See note on 2Pe 2:1.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
44.] FIFTH PARABLE. THE HIDDEN TREASURE. Peculiar to Matthew. This and the following parable are closely connected, and refer to two distinct classes of persons who become possessed of the treasure of the Gospel. Notice that these, as also the seventh and last, are spoken not to the multitude but to the disciples.
In this parable, a man, labouring perchance for another, or by accident in passing, finds a treasure which has been hidden in a field; from joy at having found it he goes, and selling all he has, buys the field, thus (by the Jewish law) becoming the possessor also of the treasure. Such hiding of treasure is common even now, and was much more common in the East (see Jer 41:8 (cf. Hitzig in loc.): Job 3:21; Pro 2:4).
This sets before us the case of a man who unexpectedly, without earnest seeking, finds, in some part of the outward Church, the treasure of true faith and hope and communion with God; and having found this, for joy of it he becomes possessor, not of the treasure without the field (for that the case supposes impossible) but of the field at all hazards, to secure the treasure which is in it: i.e. he possesses himself of the means of grace provided in that branch of the Church, where, to use a common expression, he has gotten his good: he makes that field his own.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 13:44. , treasure, store) Not of corn,[638] but of gold, gems, etc.–, hidden-he hid) It had escaped the notice of him who found it; then, when he found it, he concealed it from others. He hid it in the same field in which he found it. Such are the earnestness and prudence of the saints; see Pro 7:1. They find the things which are hidden; they hide them when found. The finding the treasure does not presuppose the seeking for it, as in the case of the pearls, which are found by diligent search.-, for joy) Spiritual joy is an incentive to deny the world.-, of it) i.e. the treasure; or else it is an adverb.[639]-, departeth) In the present tense, as , he sells-, he buys. In Mat 13:46, the preterite is put. The state follows the act.[640]
[638] Cf. Jer 41:8.-B. G. V.
[639] Meaning THERE. In which case, instead of for joy THEREOF, the passage would be rendered for the joy which he has found or stored up THERE, sc. in the field.-(I. B.)
[640] , that field) with the treasure. If thou art influenced by the desire of true gain, follow this parable.-V. g.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Securing Treasure; Rejecting the Bad
Mat 13:44-50
The parables of treasure and pearl are a pair. They describe the various ways we come to know Gods truth. Some happen on it suddenly. They are pursuing the ordinary vocations of life when suddenly the ploughshare rings against a box of buried treasure. The husbandman is suddenly rich beyond his dreams.
But in other cases religion is the result of diligent search. Man cannot be happy without God. He goes from philosophy to philosophy, from system to system, turning over the pearls on the dealers trays; but suddenly his listlessness is transformed to eagerness as he discovers the Christ. Here is the pearl of great price. He has sought and found, and is prepared to renounce all. See Php 3:7. Is there not, too, a deep sense in which Jesus has renounced all, that He might purchase for Himself the Church, His bride? He is the merchant, and we the pearl, though only in His eyes-the eyes of love-could we be held worthy of all that He surrendered to win us!
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Chapter 30
The Kingdom of Heaven is Like
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
(Mat 13:44-50)
In these seven verses we have the parables of the treasure hidden in a field, the pearl of great price, and the net cast into the sea. Each of these three parables is full of rich, spiritual instruction for all who are taught of God. May God The Holy Spirit, who inspired Matthew to record these parables for us, be our Teacher as we study them together.
Treasure Hidden in a Field
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field (Mat 13:44).
The parable of the treasure hidden in a field is designed to teach us how precious, highly valued and esteemed, and greatly loved Gods elect are to the Lord Jesus Christ.[2] Who can describe the love of Christ for Gods elect, his chosen body and bride, the church? Yet, the picture before us in this parable, simple as it is, beautifully portrays that love which moved the Son of God to redeem us with his own precious blood.
[2] Excellent commentators give different interpretations of this parable. Because the Holy Spirit nowhere gives us the interpretation of them, none can be stated with absolute dogmatism. The treasure hid in a field Robert Hawker takes to be Christ himself, hidden, in the field of holy Scripture, from the wise and prudent, but revealed unto babes. John Gill takes it to be the Gospel, which is a treasure consisting of rich truths, comparable to gold, silver, and precious stones; of the most valuable blessings, and of exceeding great, and precious promises; and reveals the riches of God, of Christ, and of the other world; and is a treasure unsearchable, solid, satisfying, and lasting.
The treasure hidden in a field is, in my opinion, the church of Gods elect. Yes, we are the Lords treasure, the portion of his inheritance, the apple of his eye, and the jewels of his crown. Though in ourselves, by nature and by birth, we are nothing but sinners, worthless and useless, because of Gods sovereign love and distinguishing grace we are precious in his sight, so precious that he has sacrificed men and nations for us (Exo 19:5-6; Deu 32:8-10; Psa 135:4; Isa 43:4). Gods elect are so precious as the objects of his love and grace that he gave his own darling Son to redeem us and save us (Joh 3:16; Gal 2:21; Tit 2:14; 1Jn 3:16; 1Jn 4:9-10).
Roll this thought around in your heart. If you trust Christ as your Treasure, you are his treasure, the treasure of the Triune God! Gods elect are like a treasure hidden in a field. The field in which they have been hidden is the world and the nations of it. Throughout the Scriptures Gods elect are spoken of as a people scattered among the nations, chosen from, redeemed out of, and called from the nations of the world.
The treasure was found by divine election. (2Th 2:13-14), and it was hidden by divine predestination and providence. The Lord God scattered and hid his elect among the nations of the world. He did so after the sin and fall of our father Adam (Gen 3:24). He did so after the flood (Gen 9:20-27). And he did so after the tower of Babel (Gen 11:1-9). This scattering of the elect, hiding them in the earth, was Gods work of judgment that he might gather them in everlasting mercy, love, and grace (Jer 30:11; Eze 11:16-18; Gen 49:10; Isa 11:10; Isa 56:8; Isa 66:18).
The man in this parable, if I am not mistaken, is the God-man our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He bargained for us in old eternity as our Surety in the everlasting covenant of grace. He sacrificed everything he had that he might obtain the object of his love, his bride, the church, which he treasures above all things (2Co 8:9; Php 2:5-8). And he did it with joy! So great is his love for his elect that he joyfully came into this world to suffer the wrath of God for us to save us (Heb 12:2).
There was no joy in his sufferings. When our blessed Savior anticipated being made sin for us, his heart was crushed within him in Gethsemane. If that which we read in Gethsemane displays the agony of our Saviors holy soul in anticipation of the cross, how utterly inexpressible must have been his agony of soul when he was actually made sin for us and made to suffer all the unmitigated fury of the wrath of God at Calvary! Yet, he endured the cross, despising the shame, for the joy set before him. What joy? you might ask. The joy of seeing his seed with him in glory!
The Scriptures clearly teach that which is commonly called, Limited Atonement, or Particular Redemption, that the Lord Jesus Christ died and effectually redeemed his elect alone (Isa 53:8-11; Isa 63:9; Dan 9:24; Mat 20:28; Mat 26:28; Joh 10:11; Joh 10:15; Joh 10:26; Joh 11:51-52; Rom 5:11; Rom 5:15; Rom 5:19; Rom 8:33-34; 2Co 5:21; Gal 3:13-14; Eph 1:7; Col 1:14; Tit 2:14; Heb 1:1-3; Heb 2:16; Heb 9:12; Heb 9:28; Heb 10:10-14; 1Pe 1:18-20; 1Pe 2:21; 1Pe 3:18; 1Jn 3:16; Rev 1:5-6; Rev 5:9-10). Justice was not satisfied for the world. Christ did not put away everyones sins. It was never the intent of the Son of God to redeem and save the whole world by his death. He died for Gods elect. He satisfied divine justice for Gods elect. He redeemed Gods elect. And he put away the sins of Gods elect.
Yet, as the God-man, as our Mediator, the Lord Jesus bought the world. Understand what I mean. I do not mean that the Son of God has redeemed every man in this world. Such an absurd pretense I have never made. But I do mean this Christ has purchased the right to rule this world as the mediator King for the salvation of his elect (Joh 17:2; Isa 53:10-12; 2Pe 2:1). Our blessed Savior has redeemed Gods creation from the curse of sin (2Pe 3:11-13; Rom 8:18-23). As a result of our Saviors redemption work, this world shall be purged of all sin and restored to its pristine beauty. Not so much as a blade of grass shall be allowed to bear the curse brought upon it by sin. And when all things are created new, righteousness shall again flourish in the earth! The slime of the serpents trail shall not be found in Gods creation.
Our Lord Jesus bought the field (the world) that he might get the treasure hidden in the field. Our Lord Jesus, as a Man, bought the world that he might save his elect. This parable does not teach universal redemption. Not on your life! It teaches particular, effectual redemption. Christ did not make atonement for the world (the field). He made atonement for his elect (the treasure). But as a man he bought the right to rule the field and to dispose of the field, as he will, for the salvation of his elect (Psa 2:8; Joh 17:2). When he has gathered his treasure out of this field, he will burn the field, destroy all that is evil in it, and make this field anew, making it a suitable habitation for his saints. The parable of the treasure hidden in the field is designed to show us a picture of Christs love for his bride, the church of Gods elect.
Amazing love! How can it be
That Thou my God shouldest die for me?
Pearl of Great Price
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it (Mat 13:45-46).
The parable of the pearl of great price is intended to teach us how precious, highly valued and esteemed, and greatly loved the Lord Jesus Christ is to Gods elect. Christ is the believers portion. Unto you therefore which believe, he is precious (1Pe 2:7).
Some people object to the use of terms like awakened sinners and sensible sinners, and certainly the terms may be pressed to mean more than I intend by them; but I do not know how else to describe the merchantman in this parable than this. He represents a sinner who has been awakened to and made sensible of his need of salvation and acceptance with God. I do not say that he is regenerated, saved, or converted. But he is a person who knows he must meet God in eternity and he seeks to prepare for that awesome event.
Such men and women seek after a great variety of things, which, at first sight, seem to them to be goodly pearls. Moral Reformations Legal Righteousness Religious Ritualism A Profession of Faith Church Membership Works of Zeal, Devotion, and Piety, etc. For these things they are willing to exchange many things and imagine that they have made a good trade, until Christ is revealed in all the fullness of his glory and grace. Then, when the seeking sinner finds the sovereign Savior, he sees in the crucified Son of God everything he wants and needs (1Co 1:30; Eph 1:3; Col 3:11). Believing Christ, the sinner says, He is precious! And he is willing to part with anything and everything for Christ (Mar 8:34-37; Luk 14:25-33).
Gracious Lord, incline Thine ear,
My request vouch safe to hear;
Hear my never ceasing cry,
Give me Christ, or else I die!
Wealth and Honor I disdain,
Earthly comforts all are vain
These can never satisfy,
Give me Christ, or else I die!
Lord, deny me what Thou wilt,
Only ease me of my guilt,
Suppliant at Thy feet I lie,
Give me Christ, or else I die!
All to whom Christ is revealed in the fullness of his saving grace and glory willingly give up all things to win him and be found in him (Php 3:7-15). This parable, simple as it is, explains the life and behavior of all true Christians. The believer is what he is and does what he does because he is thoroughly convinced that Christ is all. He comes out of the world. He says No to the lusts of the flesh. He puts off the old man and puts on the new. He hates sin and pursues righteousness. He counts all things but loss for Christ, because he sees Christ to be the Pearl of great price that he must have, for which he gladly sells all that he has.
Many years ago, I was sitting in a hospital waiting room, reading J. C. Ryles True Christianity. I was not trying to be obvious; but a man sitting next to me kept looking over, as if he wanted to talk. Finally, I laid the book on my lap for a few seconds, and the man said to me, I couldnt help noticing the title of the book you are reading. May I ask you something? Certainly, I said. What does it take to be a true Christian? the man asked. Nothing from me, but all of me, I replied. Then I proceeded to tell him that faith in Christ is nothing more and nothing less than the surrender of myself to the Son of God as my Lord and Savior. That is the doctrine of this parable.
This parable, simple as it is, also explains the life and behavior of lost, unregenerate church members. Forgive me if I offend, but I must be plain if I am to help those who most need to understand our Lords doctrine.
Many who have for years professed to be Christians are always halting between two opinions. They flinch from decisiveness. They shrink from taking up the cross and following Christ. They wear his name, but not his garments. They venture nothing for Christ. They simply cannot make up their minds to sell all for Christ. Why? The answer is obvious. They do not yet see that Christ is the Pearl of great price. He is not precious to them because they do not trust him. Therefore, they cannot and will not forsake all that they may have him. They may sing with their lips, Take the world, but give me Jesus, but everyday they say with their lives, If it comes to that, Ill take the world, somebody else can have Jesus!
The parable of the Pearl of great price is intended to show us that Christ is incomparably precious to all true believers. He is the Pearl of great price, for which all who are born of God sell all that we may have him.
The Net
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth (Mat 13:47-50).
The parable of the net cast into the sea was given to show us the true nature of Christs visible church and kingdom in this world. The preaching of the gospel is like the casting of a great net into the sea of this world. It is our business to cast the net. But as a net cast into the sea gathers a great multitude of fish, some good and some bad, so the preaching of the gospel gathers into Christs visible church both genuine believers and carnal professors, both regenerate souls and unregenerate, both humble possessors of faith and hypocritical professors of faith. There is sure to be a time when the good fish are separated from the bad; but that is Gods doing, not ours. And he will not do it until the end of the world.
We will look at this parable in more detail in the next study. For now, I want to show you three things clearly revealed in it.
1.All the churches of Christ in this world are mixed assemblies of good and bad fish.
Throughout these parables, our Lord repeatedly stresses this point. There are good hearers and bad hearers, tares and wheat, good fish and bad fish. Why? He means for us to understand that there is no perfect church, no perfect body of believers in this world. If we try to make the church perfect and pure by separating the bad from the good, we will both be disobedient to our Master and instruments of great harm to his people.
2.We must never be satisfied with an outward profession of faith and outward church membership.
You may be in the net, and yet not be in Christ. Multitudes have been buried in the waters of baptism, who have never been crucified with Christ. Thousands around the world regularly eat and drink the bread and wine of the Lords Supper, who never feed upon Christ by faith.
3.The true character of every persons religion will soon be revealed. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth (vv, 49-50).
When the Lord God draws the net to shore, he will gather the good and throw away the bad. There will be an eternal separation between the wicked and the just. There is a heaven for the just and a furnace of fire for the wicked. Richard Baxter wrote, These plain words need more belief and consideration than exposition. Have you bought the Pearl of great price? Are you in Christ?
Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible
kingdom
The interpretation of the parable of the treasure, which makes the buyer of the field to be a sinner who is seeking Christ, has no warrant in the parable itself. The field is defined (Mat 13:38) to be the world. The seeking sinner does not buy, but forsakes, the world to win Christ. Furthermore, the sinner has nothing to sell, nor is Christ for sale, nor is He hidden in a field, nor, having found Christ, does the sinner hide Him again (cf) Mar 7:24; Act 4:20. At every point the interpretation breaks down.
Our Lord is the buyer at the awful cost of His blood 1Pe 1:18, and Israel, especially Ephraim Jer 31:5-12; Jer 31:18-20 the lost tribes hidden in “the field,” the world (Mat 13:38), is the treasure; Exo 19:5; Psa 135:4. Again, as in the separation of tares and wheat, the angels are used; Mat 24:31; Jer 16:16. The divine Merchantman buys the field (world) for the sake of the treasure (Mat 13:44) Rom 11:28, beloved for the fathers’ sakes, and yet to be restored and saved. The note of joy (Mat 13:44) is also that of the prophets in view of Israel’s restoration. Deu 30:9; Isa 49:13; Isa 52:1-3; Isa 62:4-7 Isa 65:18; Isa 65:19.
(See “Israel,”) Gen 11:10; Rom 11:26.
kingdom (See Scofield “Mat 3:2”)
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
like: Mat 6:21, Pro 2:2-5, Pro 16:16, Pro 17:16, Pro 18:1, Joh 6:35, Rom 15:4, 1Co 2:9, 1Co 2:10, Col 2:3, Col 3:3, Col 3:4, Col 3:16
for joy: Mat 19:21, Mat 19:27, Mat 19:29, Luk 14:33, Luk 18:23, Luk 18:24, Luk 19:6-8, Act 2:44-47, Act 4:32-35, Phi 3:7-9, Heb 10:34, Heb 11:24-26
buyeth: Pro 23:23, Isa 55:1, Rev 3:18
Reciprocal: 2Ki 7:8 – hid it Psa 17:14 – hid Psa 119:14 – rejoiced Psa 119:72 – better Pro 2:1 – hide Pro 2:4 – thou Pro 3:15 – more Pro 4:7 – Wisdom is Pro 10:14 – lay Pro 31:16 – considereth Mat 3:2 – for Mat 6:33 – the kingdom Mat 13:24 – The kingdom Mat 18:23 – is Mat 20:1 – the kingdom Mat 22:2 – kingdom Mat 25:1 – the kingdom Mar 10:21 – sell Mar 10:30 – an hundredfold Act 2:41 – gladly Act 8:39 – and he 2Co 4:7 – this Phi 3:8 – win 1Pe 2:7 – you
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
TREASURE AND MERCHANT-MAN
The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls.
Mat 13:44-45
The two parables should be taken together. Two views of one subject:
I. Look at each separately.
(a) The husbandman and the treasure. Tales of treasure found; unreal to us, real to the Orientalists then and now. Treasure buried at the flight of a man, he never coming back. Found perhaps years after. This the picture here. Describe finding, joy, prudence (buying the field), possession.
(b) The value of pearls and the variety of worth. The merchant-manhis occupation, good fortune, immediate wise action, possession.
II. Look at them together.
(a) Points of difference.
(i) The husbandman found without, and the merchant-man after, seeking. Those now living the Christian life described in both parables, but there divided into two classes, the distinction having reference to the way in which they were led to the possession of Gospel treasure. Those whose search has not been treasure but low aims, earthly desires; and those who seeking for the valuable and nobler have found Christ.
(ii) Emotion spoken of in the one instance, but not in the other. The joy of the husbandman. The joy of the merchant-man. The one spoken of, the other not mentioned. Both real, but the one in some respects different from the other. Let us not harshly judge one another.
(b) Features of resemblance.
(i) Each man made what he found his own individually. The husbandman bought the field himself, not his employers. The merchant-man himself bought the pearl, not his fellow merchant-man. In no sense the act of others for them, in each the act of the man for himself. There must be personal contact through personal faith, before we possess.
(ii) Each man willing to give up all in order to possess. In each instance this was done, directly, readily, without effort. Why? Because of the incalculable gain. The Christian life is one of giving up to possess. What Christ calls us to give upsin, occasions of sin; self; the Christian aim, None of self and all of Thee.
Illustration
One of the diamond-fields of South Africa was discovered on this wise. A traveller one day entered the valley and drew near to a settlers door, at which a boy was amusing himself by throwing stones. One of the stones fell at the strangers feet, who picked it up and was in the act of laughingly returning it, when something flashed from it which stopped his hand and made his heart beat fast. It was a diamond. The child was playing with it as a common stone; the peasants foot had spurned it; the cart-wheel had crushed it; till the man who knew saw it and recognised its value.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
3:44
The lesson in this parable is the value of salvation, and hence the sacrifice that one should make willingly in order to obtain it. The treasure represents the salvation which Jesus brought and deposited in the same field that is a part of the parable of the tares. When a man “finds” that salvation through hearing the Gospel and desires to obtain it, he will devote all his time and talents for that purpose.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
THE parable of the “treasure hid in the field,” and the “merchantman seeking goodly pearls,” appear intended to convey one and the same lesson. They vary, no doubt, in one striking particular. The “treasure” was found of one who does not seem to have sought it. The “pearl” was found of one who was actually seeking pearls. But the conduct of the finders, in both cases, was precisely alike. Both “sold all” to make the thing found their own property. And it is exactly at this point that the instruction of both parables agrees.
These two parables are meant to teach us, that men really convinced of the importance of salvation, will give up everything to win Christ, and eternal life.
What was the conduct of the two men our Lord describes? The one was persuaded that there was a “treasure hid in a field,” which would amply repay him, if he bought the field, however great the price that he might give. The other was persuaded that the “pearl” he had found was so immensely valuable, that it would answer to him to purchase it at any cost. Both were convinced that they had found a thing of great value. Both were satisfied that it was worth a great present sacrifice to make this thing their own. Others might wonder at them. Others might think them foolish for paying such a sum of money for the field and pearl. But they knew what they were about. They were sure that they were making a good bargain.
Behold in this single picture, the conduct of a true Christian explained! He is what he is, and does what he does in his religion, because he is thoroughly persuaded that it is worthwhile. He comes out from the world. He puts off the old man. He forsakes the vain companions of his past life. Like Matthew, he gives up everything, and, like Paul, he “counts all things loss” for Christ’s sake. And why? Because he is convinced that Christ will make amends to him for all he gives up. He sees in Christ an endless “treasure.” He sees in Christ a precious “pearl.” To win Christ he will make any sacrifice. This is true faith. This is the stamp of a genuine work of the Holy Ghost.
Behold in these two parables the real clue to the conduct of many unconverted people! They are what they are in religion, because they are not fully persuaded that it is worthwhile to be different. They flinch from decision. They shrink from taking up the cross. They halt between two opinions. They will not commit themselves. They will not come forward boldly on the Lord’s side.-And why? Because they are not convinced that it will answer. They are not sure that “the treasure” is before them. They are not satisfied that “the pearl” is worth so great a price. They cannot yet make up their minds to “sell all,” that they may win Christ. And so too often they perish everlastingly! When a man will venture nothing for Christ’s sake, we must draw the sorrowful conclusion that he has not got the grace of God.
The parable of the net let down into the sea, has some points in common with that of the wheat and the tares. It is intended to instruct us on a most important subject, the true nature of the visible Church of Christ.
The preaching of the Gospel was the letting down of a large net into the midst of the sea of this world. The professing church which it was to gather together, was to be a mixed body. Within the folds of the net, there were to be fish of every kind, both good and bad. Within the pale of the Church there were to be Christians of various sorts, unconverted as well as converted, false as well as true. The separation of good and bad was sure to come at last, but not before the end of the world. Such was the account which the great Master gave to His disciples of the churches which they were to found.
It is of the utmost importance to have the lessons of this parable deeply graven on our minds. There is hardly any point in Christianity on which greater mistakes exist, than the nature of the visible Church. There is none, perhaps, on which mistakes are so perilous to the soul.
Let us learn from this parable, that all congregations of professed Christians ought to be regarded as mixed bodies. They are all assemblies containing “good fish and bad,” converted and unconverted, children of God and children of the world, and ought to be described and addressed as such. To tell all baptized people, that they are born again, and have the Spirit, and are members of Christ, and are holy, in the face of such a parable as this, is utterly unwarrantable. Such a mode of address may flatter and please. It is not likely to profit or save. It is painfully calculated to promote self-righteousness, and lull sinners to sleep. It overthrows the plain teaching of Christ, and is ruinous to souls. Do we ever hear such doctrine? If we do, let us remember “the net.”
Finally, let it be a settled principle with us, never to be satisfied with mere outward church-membership. We may be inside the net, and yet not be in Christ. The waters of baptism are poured on myriads who are never washed in the water of life. The bread and wine are eaten and drunk by thousands at the Lord’s table, who never feed on Christ by faith. Are we converted? Are we among the “good fish”? This is the grand question. It is one which must be answered at last. The net will soon be “drawn to shore.” The true character of every man’s religion will at length be exposed. There will be an eternal separation between the good fish and the bad. There will be a “furnace of fire” for the wicked. Surely, as Baxter says, “these plain words more need belief and consideration than exposition.”
Fuente: Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels
Mat 13:44. A treasure hidden in the field. It is; possible, but not probable, that our Lord refers to some case of treasure trove, which had lately occurred.
In his joy. Natural to those who find unexpectedly. The legality or morality of the transaction does not enter into the discussion; the man who had made this discovery used all the means in his power to possess himself of the treasure. This suggests the general application and lesson. Notice: He obtained the treasure, worth more than he could pay, and also the field, which he could buy. In this result the parable differs from the next. Many, therefore, refer the field to the external Church, in which a man may, as it were, stumble on the treasure of true religion; he naturally possesses himself also of the means of grace, the external forms of the Church.
We may aptly apply it historically to the days of the Reformation, when true religion was sought and obtained at the cost of everything; the discovery of the treasure was apparently accidental, and great joy attended it. The field was doctrinal theology. In this, the treasure had been hidden, but the reformers obtained this also as a possession.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
By the treasure hid in the field, and the pearl of great price, are understood, Christ, the grace of the gospel, and the way to life and salvation therin discovered; he that is thoroughly convinced of the worth and excellency of Christ’s grace, will part with all that he has to purchase and obtain it.
Learn, That the sinner who will have interest in Christ, and a part in gospel grace, must part with all that he has to purchase and obtain them, even with his goods and lands with his wife and children; for Christ and his grace are a real good, a substantial good, a durable good; he outbids all the offers the world can make, and therefore it is our wisdom to part with all for him, and especially our sins, dearer to us than all the rest.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Mat 13:44. Again The three following parables were proposed, not to the multitude, but peculiarly to the apostles: the two former of them relate to those who receive the gospel; the third, both to those who receive, and those who preach it. The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field The kingdom of God, to be set up in the hearts of men, which is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, or the salvation of the gospel, is a treasure indeed, but a treasure which, though contained in the field of the Scriptures, is hid from the carnal part of mankind, even from the most wise and prudent of them. Many who frequently traverse this field are not aware that it contains such a treasure. But when a man, in consequence of having the eyes of his understanding opened, has discovered it, he hideth it in his heart makes, at first, his discovery the matter of his serious meditation in private, rather than the subject of his conversation in public; or uses the greatest care and caution, and is more intent on securing the treasure to himself, than on telling to others what a discovery he has made: and for joy thereof Through joy arising from the prospect of being speedily enriched; goeth and selleth all that he hath Gives up all other happiness; parts with every object that has engaged, or would engage, his affection; renounces every desire, care, and pursuit, every interest and pleasure that he sees to be incompatible with his enjoyment of the salvation he seeks, or would prevent his obtaining it; and buyeth that field Makes himself acquainted with, and embraces by faith the truth as it is in Jesus, the glad tidings announced thereby, and revealed in the Scriptures, and with the field obtains the treasure: for this law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus makes him free from the law of sin and death, Rom 8:2.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
LIV.
THE FIRST GREAT GROUP OF PARABLES.
(Beside the Sea of Galilee.)
Subdivision G.
PARABLES OF TREASURE, PEARL, AND NET.
aMATT. XIII. 44-53.
a44 The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in the field; the which a man found, and hid; and [339] in his joy he goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. [The three parables in this section appear to have been addressed privately to the disciples. In the absence of banks and other trust repositories, the men of that day hid their treasures as best they could. The sudden death of the hider often resulted in the loss of all knowledge as to the whereabouts of the treasure. The parable speaks of such a lost treasure. Technically it belonged to the owner of the field, but practically it belonged to him who found it. Hence the finder conceals it again until he had made perfect his title to it by the purchase of the field. The gist of the parable does not require us to pass upon the conduct of the finder, which was certainly questionable.] 45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a merchant seeking goodly pearls: 46 and having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it. [In the preceding parable the treasure was found by accident; in this, the pearl was sought. Some find without seeking, as did the Samaritan woman ( Joh 4:28, Joh 4:29); some only after diligent search, as did the eunuch– Act 8:27.] 47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: 48 which, when it was filled, they drew up on the beach; and they sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but the bad they cast away. 49 So shall it be in the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the righteous, 50 and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. [Like the parable of the tares, this one indicates the continuance of the mixture of bad and good, and points to the final separation. The contents of a net can not be sorted while it is being drawn. The tares indicate such evils as can be seen and as tempt us to uproot them. The net shows that in the dark and turbulent waters, and in the hurry-skurry of its teeming life, there are things which can not be seen. The judgment shall be with care, as when men, in the broad light of day, on the [340] quiet beach, sit down to sort the fish. If the parable of the tares emphasizes the waiting, the parable of the net emphasizes the careful sorting.] 51 Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea. 52 And he said unto them, Therefore every scribe who hath been made a disciple to the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old. [As a householder graces his banquet with things already in the house, and with other things which have just been provided, so a religious teacher must refresh his hearers out of both his past and his present experiences and study. Old lessons must be clothed in new garments.] 53 And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence. [He went from the house to the sea in the afternoon, and entering a boat a little later, he stilled the storm.]
[FFG 339-341]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Mat 13:44-52. Further Parables of the Kingdom.The treasure and the pearl (Mat 13:44-46) are one, and have one pointeverything must be sacrificed for the highest good, the Kingdom. This urgent, intense wholeheartedness is characteristic of Jesus. The question of concealment, the conflict between individual salvation and social duty, is not to be pressed here. Yet note that, while one man attains the summum bonum, as it were, by accident, another does so by quest. For the pearl as a metaphor of spiritual treasure cf. Mat 7:6, Rev 21:19-21, and the Syriac Hymn of the Soul. The parable of the net is like that of the wheat and the tares, except that the sifting follows hard on the discovery. Not all who have heard the message of the Kingdom will be found worthy to enter it. The explanation follows the same line as that of the earlier parable. It is not altogether apposite, and is probably the evangelists mechanical repetition of Mat 13:40-42. In Mat 13:51 f. Jesus contrasts a Christian with a Jewish scribe. He who has been instructed in the truths of the Kingdom (or possibly with a view to the Kingdom) can, like a good householder or steward, furnish from his ample store what is old (the essentials of the Law and the Prophets) and what is new (the teaching of Jesus and its development). He has an advantage over the earlier teacher, who was confined to the Torah. The verses form a general conclusion to the parables.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
13:44 {7} Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
(7) Few men understand how great the riches of the kingdom of heaven are, and that no man can be a partaker of them but he that redeems them with the loss of all his goods.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
4. Parables addressed to the disciples 13:44-52
The first and second parables in this group are quite similar, as was true of the third and fourth parables in the preceding group. This is a further reflection of the chiastic structure of this section (Mat 13:1-53).
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The parable of the hidden treasure 13:44
The kingdom lay concealed in history for hundreds of years, perhaps from the Exile to the time of Jesus. Toussaint believed Jesus meant from the time of Rehoboam to Jesus. [Note: Toussaint, Behold the . . ., p. 183.] When the Jews in Jesus’ day stumbled on it, the believers among them recognized its worth and were eager to make any sacrifice necessary for it. The point of the parable to Jesus’ disciples was that they should be willing to pay any price to have a significant part in the kingdom.
Some interpreters believe the person who hid and then paid a great price for the treasure was Jesus, the price being His own life. [Note: E.g., Ibid., p. 184; and Robert N. Wilkin, "A Great Buy!" The Grace Evangelical Society News 6:9 (September 1991):2.] This seems unlikely to me since in all these parables the focus seems to be on the disciples more than on Jesus. They should pay the price.