At the church where I
serve, we are in the middle of a sermon series entitled “The Kingdom of Heaven
is like…” During this series, we are spending our time together looking at a
series of statements that Jesus made about the kingdom of heaven that are
recorded for us in an account of His life that has been preserved in the New
Testament of the Bible, called the gospel of Matthew. During this series, we are discovering how
Jesus described the kingdom of Heaven. During this series, we are discovering
how one enters into the Kingdom of Heaven. During this series we are
discovering how one should live as part of the kingdom of Heaven.
And as we go through
this series, our hope and our prayer is that God would move by the power of the
Holy Spirit, in our heads, hearts, and hands in such a way that we would live
lives that reveal and bring the light and love of the kingdom of Heaven into
the areas of influence we have been given.
This week I would like for us to take a front row seat that Matthew gives
us to an event from history where Jesus told a story that reveals a timeless
truth about the kingdom of heaven. So let’s take that front row seat to this
event from history together, beginning in Matthew 13:44:
"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.
Matthew begins to give
us a front row seat to this event from history as Jesus is telling the crowds
listening to him a parable about the kingdom of heaven. As we have been talking
about through this series, a parable is an earthly story that reveals a deeper
spiritual truth. In this parable, Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to a
treasure that is hidden in the field.
When Jesus stated that
this treasure is hidden, he was explaining that the treasure is always hidden. I
mean, the reason that hidden treasure is hidden is because it is hidden, isn’t it?
The treasure needs to be discovered by someone. Otherwise it remains hidden.
Jesus point here is that the kingdom of heaven is always hidden unless it is
discovered as a result of God’s gracious activity in the lives of people.
Jesus continued this
parable by stating that a man found this treasure and hid it again. Now a
natural question that could arise here is “Why would you hide a treasure that
you found?” I mean that seems weird, doesn’t it? The reason why the man hid the treasure was
due to the fact that while man discovered had the treasure, he did not own the
field. So legally, in order to receive the treasure, he had to go and buy the
field. This man stumbled upon the treasure in the field and had to respond to
what he had stumbled upon.
In this parable, the
man who stumbled upon the treasure represents anyone who becomes a child of the
kingdom. Jesus point in this parable is that just as this man stumbled upon the
treasure hidden in the field, many people stumble on the kingdom of heaven. Jesus
then explained that this man responded to what he had stumbled upon by going
and selling all that he had to buy that field.
But did you notice the
attitude by which the man was selling all that he had? Jesus explained that he
sold all that he had with joy. Because of his joy over the surpassing nature of
the treasure, the man was willing to sell all that he had and invest it into
the field. This man was responding by buying the field out of delight, not out
of duty.
Jesus here is
revealing for us the reality that Jesus calls for those who stumble upon His
kingdom to genuinely embrace the kingdom of heaven, not just acknowledge its
existence out of duty and pass by it as though it did not exist. Jesus point is
that the kingdom of heaven calls for followers that must be willing to
enthusiastically and joyously embrace the kingdom of heaven and be willing to
give up whatever stands between them and the kingdom of heaven.
The point that Jesus
is making to the crowds listening to this parable is that the kingdom of heaven
is such a treasure that those who find it will be willing to invest all that
they have in the surpassing greatness of the kingdom. Jesus was calling the
crowds listening to Him to understand that they must be willing to risk all if
the priorities of the kingdom of heaven threaten or compete with the security
of the things on earth.
And just like man and
his wife with the plot of land, the kingdom of heaven is a treasure that causes
people to do things that may make no sense to those to whom the kingdom of
heaven is hidden from. Why would you go to church instead of skiing or on the
lake? Why do you invest your time and go to community groups? Why would you
give so much money to the church, when you could use that money for yourself
and your family to have fun and buy stuff? Why do you spend your time and talents
volunteering and serving your church and doing things with your church for the
community, instead of hanging out and going on vacation with your family?
Jesus is revealing the
reality that when we treasure the kingdom of heaven above all else, we leverage
our time, our talents, and our treasure in ways that those whom the kingdom of
heaven is hidden from do not understand or relate to. And to make His point
abundantly clear, Matthew tells us that Jesus continued by telling the crowds
listening to Him another parable.
Friday we will look at
that parable together…
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