The Kingdom Of Heaven Is Like A Treasure

“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found, and hid. In his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys the field” -Matthew 13:44

This parable is simple, but raise as many questions. Why would anyone bury treasure in a field? When he’s found it, was a man ethical and covering it and then purchasing the field? What does the treasure represent? Many interpretations vary throughout church history. While these questions are important. things to consider its meaning is the real power of the parable.

In the time of Jesus, no one put their money in the bank. If they needed to keep it safe, they would bury it in the ground. To find treasures in the ground would not have been surprising to anyone. Furthermore, the man would not have been considered unethical for covering it and purchasing the field. The standard was basically, whatever you find outside someone’s house is yours -finders keepers.

I think the big question of this parable is what is worth so much money that a man sells everything in joy and buys the field?

In Matthew 13, Jesus tells parable to explain the kingdom of God (heaven). In Matthew 13:9 Jesus is says, “He who has ears let him hear.”

Jesus is telling us, and no uncertain terms, that the kingdom of heaven is very valuable. It is also, very accessible. The man who found the treasure did not travel to a far away galaxy. He didn’t change his situation. He went about his day, and to his surprise, he dug up the treasure.

The parable in Matthew 13 had several parables, four of them feature fields as there location. The sower, the weeds, and the mustard seed. I think Jesus wanted to communicate something about the kingdom using fields.

One thing I have noticed through reading the New Testament is that when Jesus gets the kingdom of God, He puts away talk of miracles He begins speaking about ordinary things. Because the normal working of God is fourfold in the ordinary. He can work outside of the normal things, but His normal workings are inside of everything day life.

A field is something we take for granted. We pass by them all the time, and we give almost no thought to what’s inside. The kingdom of God is like that. It’s always around but seldom on our minds. In parables, Jesus is bringing the kingdom of God to the forefront of our minds. He’s telling us what it’s like and how important it is.

I believe there is much to be said about following Jesus from this parable, but I do not think this is His primary concern. His focus is on the kingdom of God. This includes discipleship, but something must happen before we give our lives to Jesus. We have to find something, and that’s what Jesus is telling us here: what is it like to find Jesus.

Finding comes before life-giving. When we find a treasure like God’s kingdom, the cost to follow becomes insignificant. This means the parable isn’t so much about what we’re willing to give up to gain the kingdom but that the kingdom is worth losing everything to gain it.

Being in a world at war with God, and coming under God’s rule is not like paying dues to a country club. It’s more like suffering the abuse of the world. Paul puts it this way in Philippians 3:7-8,

“But whatever I gain I had. I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”

These aren’t the words of a man who lost anything. He found something worth suffering everything. This parable is not about losing. This parable is about gaining.