i. I hope you never open your Bibles without the sense that here is a book which gives you vital, inside information which you can get from no other source and which will help you to understand yourself, and life, and the mystery of history, more than you possibly could in any other way. Earlier he had pronounced judgment on the outlying cities: "Woe to you, Chorazin! He refused to go into the capital city again until his appointed hour had come. John 6:42). (France), ii. Not every oyster has a pearl, and not every pearl is big or round. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website. 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. But you arent quite able to taste it. No one can ever give all that he has in order to purchase Jesus Christ because he has nothing to give in the first place. But Jesus said to them, A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house. Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. He understands that even though he is selling everything to buy that field he is becoming exponentially richer because of the unseen treasure that will belong to whomever owns the field. It is a visible example to all mankind of the way God deals with humanity. Even though these people had been looking for Gods kingdom, when they found it, it was far greater than what they had expected. Then he took all the money that he had made, and he bought that field. Ultimately it is not the job of the church to weed out those who appear to be Christians but actually are not; that is Gods job at the end of this age. This insulting question seems to intimate that our Lords family was a very obscure one; and that they were of small repute among their neighbours, except for their piety. Clarke), iii. We want to be the kind of good soil that Jesus talked about. The treasure was too great to forget about! In a land as frequently ravaged as Palestine, many people doubtless buried their treasures; butto actually find a treasure would happen once in a thousand lifetimes. We are absolute paupers in God's sight. If you have that, you are rich; if you do not possess it, you are poor. (Matthew 23:37, Luke 13:34). Listen to these words from Romans11. he hideth, and for joy thereofon perceiving what a treasure he had lighted on, surpassing the worth of all he possessed. Politicians have struggled for centuries to try to find the secret of world peace. It is right that you should pursue it. And when He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? One of the fascinating things about studying Scripture, especially in a series of parables, is to try to answer questions like that -- to seek to fit the puzzle of the parable to the pattern of life, and see where they correspond. b. Commentary on Matthew 13:24-30. The passage for this lection offers a counter-image to this destructive force. So he went and sold everything he had. Never, anywhere in Scripture is salvation ever offered to us as something we have to buy, or can buy. Our Lord came and he bought the whole field so that someday he might use the treasure hidden in it to make the world blossom with glory. It always reminds me immediately of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, of Long John Silver, and doubloons and pieces-of-eight, pegleg pirates, and all the exciting things usually associated with the idea of buried treasure. And then he went and gave all that he had and bought the field in which it is hidden. In the parable of the soils, the seed represented the Word of God; here it represents true believers. Around us the storms may gather, but let us not shut out the hope that the burdens of fear and want may be lifted for a glorious era from the bruised and weary shoulders of mankind. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" Jesus takes away the sin of everyone who trusts in Him (John 1:29). In this series Jesus is revealing the work of the kingdom as it is going on throughout the centuries of this present age since his first coming and before his return. The total weight of the emeralds was about 3,300 carats. Thus the extravagance of the parable dramatizes the supreme importance of the kingdom. (Carson), ii. But when King Solomon met her he began to give presents to her, and his outweighed hers by far. . Maybe he was a hired helper for the man who owned the field, or maybe he was just passing through. She has also spent many years mentoring Middle School and High School girls. We speak of the Jews as "the chosen people," and unfortunately a very grave misconception of that phrase has arisen. The seed starts out really small, but in time it grows to be one of the largest plants in the garden. He chose them to be a representative nation, to be a working model of what a nation ought to be, in order that other nations might share that knowledge. Teacher: Call up a volunteer. i. Teacher Note: These parables are not a plea for us to sell all we have in order to obtain the kingdom - for we truly have nothing to offer God (Ephesians 2:5-9). -- for if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon [which were pagan communities], they would have repented long ago. In the days of David, and especially in those of Solomon who followed, the world beat a path to Israel to see what God was doing. But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. 'The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 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. There was no voice of God in their midst, no prophet speaking forth from God. In the short course of the three and a half years of our Lord's ministry he uncovered the treasure of Israel, the secret of this nation's life. Or we can see Gods kingdom, full of peace, love, forgiveness, freedom, and joy, and want that more than anything else. You see, as our Lord indicates, it is something related to the field, to humanity. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a trader who was looking for fine pearls. There would be a partial failure of the seed of the Word because of the conditions of some of the hearts into which it fell. That means a change of mind, repentance, turning again to God and recognizing his presence in our midst. He found poverty and misery stalking the land. Say: The hard path was a symbol for people who hear Gods word but ignore it. The point of the parable lies in his "earnestness," his anxiety, his care, and his actually obtaining it. Click to enable/disable _gat_* - Google Analytics Cookie. 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. Years ago I was struck by the closing words of a great address that Winston Churchill gave at Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1950: What prizes lie before all the people if they are worthy of them: peace, food, happiness, leisure, wealth for the masses never known nor dreamed of, the glorious advance into a period of rest and safety for all the hundreds of millions of homes where little children play by the fire, and girls grow up in all their beauty, and young men strive and win in the free enterprise of life. The goal of this game is to be the team who collects the most pearls in their bucket. Jesus wants it to grow! Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls. It recognizes the allure and the mystery which always gathers around the notion of hidden treasure. You remember the story of the Queen of Sheba who, as Jesus had said earlier this very day, came "from the ends of the earth" Matthew 12:42) because she had heard of Solomon's glory and she wanted to find the secret of this man's prestige and power and wisdom and majesty. His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas: Jesus plainly had many brothers and sisters; the Roman Catholic idea of the perpetual virginity of Mary is in contradiction to the plain meaning of the Bible. In 1998, a man named James Hill found a small cave full of emeralds on his familys property in North Carolina. Matthew 13:44-50; Acts 26:9-20; Ephesians 2:8-9; Jeremiah 29:13; Luke 14:25-33; Lesson Introduction Game: Pearl Race. New life in Gods kingdom is much more than going to heaven when we die - although that will be wonderful! I was reminded by that conversation of the words of the Secretary General of the United Nations, UThant. The kingdom of God is FAR more valuable than anything in this world. The first four stories were given to the unbelieving seaside crowd. They are part of the whole series of seven, but they were given only to the disciples, and there is something significant about that. Salvation is offered to us as a free gift, entirely by the grace of God. This motto is a result of the work of the early Christian missionaries who came from New England in the 19th century. For 1900 years Israel was utterly lost among the nations, dispersed. So it will be at the end of the age: There will be both the wicked and the just until the end of the age (as also demonstrated in the previous parable of the wheat and the tares). It sure was, and it was right in the mans own backyard! The kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet: Jesus shows that the world will remain divided right up until the end, and the Church will not reform the world, ushering in the kingdom. All this has happened exactly as our Lord said and all of it is visible in history. Jodi has over 20 years experience teaching children in large and small group settings. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it. And you and I are making a great mistake if, as Americans, we think that this country is being held together by the Constitution of the United States or by the Declaration of Independence. To the field, or can buy man named James Hill found a small cave full of emeralds his... Every oyster has a pearl, and for joy thereofon perceiving what treasure! Kingdom is much more than going to heaven when we die - although that be! 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