The Pearl of Great Price June 18, 1999

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
(Matthew 13:45-46)

I have very often read these two verses and I always think that these two verse are similar. Both talk about a man who found something, sold everything and bought what he found. So they look the same BUT on closer look, they are not.

The first verse tells of the kingdom of heaven as a treasure hidden in a field. A man found it and then went and sold all he had to buy the field. In the second verse, the kingdom of heaven is the merchant looking for fine pearls. And when he found a pearl of great price, he sold all he had and bought it. So the first difference is that the illustration for the kingdom of heaven in these two parables are totally different. The first compared it to the treasure and the second compared it to the merchant.

The second and third differences are hidden in the English translation. The word translated as "Sold" in the first parable is used to refer to things being sold in trade. The word "Sold" in the second parable is used to refer to someone being sold to slavery. The tenses are also different. The first 'Sold' is an active tense - denoting an action being done at that time. The second 'Sold' is in perfect tense meaning that the act is done once and for all.

The third difference is the tense of the word "Bought" in the two parables. The first "Bought" is in active tense meaning that it describes an act being done at that time. The tense of the second "Bought" does not consider the past, present nor future.

The fourth and last difference I found is that in the first parable, the man had to hide the treasure and do his business before he can buy the field. He had to do this because someone else might get the treasure. In the second parable, the man did not bother putting a deposit nor hide the pearl to ensure that no one can buy it. The reason for this is that he is the only one who can pay the price of the pearl.

So what do all these differences say? The second parable is actually referring to Jesus. Jesus is the man looking for fine pearls. And the entire humanity is the pearl - each and everyone of us is not only part of the pearl BUT we are the pearl of great price.

We are precious in God's sight. You are precious in God's sight and he sold his Son to save you from whatever is preventing you from living the life he has planned for you. No one and nothing can do this to you except Jesus, the Son of the Living God.

What is needed now is to accept the payment God made for you. This is a free gift. Turn back to God and enjoy the freedom that he has bought for you.

Give thanks to the God of gods - His love endures forever..

"Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us" (Galatians 3:13)