Well, I invite you to turn to Matthew chapter 13 this morning. Um, we are working through this book, and if you're a visitor, we're continuing our expositional study through the book of Matthew. And this morning we come to verses 44 to 52. 44 to 52
Context: we just concluded looking at the parable of the wheat and the tares, and of course the development of the kingdom in the midst of that is the mustard seed and the leaven, was put in the middle, and then we had the explanation of the wheat and the tares. Now we conclude this section of parables that Matthew has put together under the inspiration of the Spirit. And it's important to see that structure this morning.
Again at verse 44, page 974, we begin the reading of the Word of God. We'll read to the end of the chapter, even though the text will end at 52.
"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 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. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good in the containers, but threw away the bad. So it will be at the end of the age: the angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Have you understood all these things?" they said to him, "Yes." And he said to them, "Therefore, every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old."
And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there and, coming to his hometown, he taught them in their synagogue so that they were astonished and said, "Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not is not this the carpenter's son is not his mother called mary and are not his brothers james and joseph and simon and judas and are not all his sisters with us? Where, then, did this man get all these things?" And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household." And he did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
There will end the reading of God's Word this morning.
We've been looking at in our study of the parables that the intention of giving these parables was to both reveal and to conceal. That has been surprised. That's why I read the difficult parable of Luke 16 you need explanation for that. Nobody's just going to get that on a surface level of hearing until the Spirit reveals these things to us.
With Jesus present on earth, he has told us remember in all the responses that had happened that the kingdom of God had come upon them. It's a thunderous statement that he made in the previous chapter: "If I do these things by the power of the Spirit, the kingdom of God has come upon you." After a series of rejections, he began to speak in parables in chapter 13. It was a crucial shift in the book. And we've been looking at the reason for this revealing and concealing. But even more was given to encourage us when Jesus said, "But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear, for the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven have been given to you, but not to them."
Clearly, elections there. Clearly, sovereign discretion is there. Clearly, the Lord is opening up the mysteries of the kingdom for his sheep. And he says to understand these things, to understand these things you are blessed. And that's why that question at the end of these parables is so important, isn't it? "Do you understand these things?" He said, "Yes." It means you're blessed. You're blessed of God to understand the mysteries of the kingdom, which means you're a hearer of the Word, you're a good soil of the Word, you're a wheat in his kingdom. So this is all encouraging in that regard.
In the first parable the most important of all parables you remember in the parable of the soils, he explained the different kind of responses in the kingdom of God, the different kinds of hearers in the kingdom, and why not everyone hears the Word in the same way. He explained the different soils of the human heart: the path, the thorns that choke. But you remember, then he followed up saying, "There's a good soil that hears and bears fruit some 30, 60, and 100 fold
And then he followed it up with another parable about the kingdom, the mystery of the kingdom, that growing together in the kingdom as we looked at last time our wheat and tares growing up together until the final judgment. And we have to understand that. We have to appreciate that. That's why there's so much conflict in this. That's why there's so much difficulty. It's serious warfare, and an enemy has planted in the kingdom terrors that cause all kinds of problem.
But in the midst of that, he explained the growth of the kingdom, and we're patient because those little mustard seeds at some point sprout. And we have to be patient in God's work because he's not going to let one of his wheat be uprooted. So it's really powerful what we've looked at.
Well, now we close out, really, with four more short parables here this chapter. Um, concluding remarks are given about the parables and the responsibility of the apostles as they've heard all these things, as they've understood all these things. What does that mean for us? "Do you understand all this?" That's being preached to you. Well, then, what does that mean for you? Why does it matter? Very important question that every preacher has to ask when he comes to a text.
And that's another aspect as this closes out matthew showing the structure of the aim of Jesus in terms of purpose for them as his apostles and of all workers in his kingdom. He will apply it this way, which is important. Jesus is aiming now here at the end because he's these last parables he's just speaking to his disciples, not the crowds. These last parables are really kind of aimed at the nature of the ministry to help his disciples understand what they're up against, what their responsibilities are as he sends them out.
So today, we close out our study in this group of parables, this grouping. And the major theme, the major issue that's in front of us, is couldn't be put in a question how will the kingdom of God be valued in this age? How will the kingdom of God be valued in this age? How do you value it? What kind of place does it have?
If you were to follow the train of thought: God's people hear the Word, they understand the Word, they believe the Word, they grow, they bear fruit, and they make, then, the things of the kingdom of god they're great treasure in this life. Now, this is not foreign to Jesus's teaching. "Where your treasure is," said Jesus in the Sermon on the mount which you really do see the Sermon on the Mount playing out in all of Matthew; it's really remarkable how he's taking all the themes of the Sermon on the Mount and putting them then into practice and application as he is on the mission field, if you will, in Israel.
Jesus uses did you notice here in this grouping "treasure" twice the word treasure at the beginning here he mentions treasure in verse 44 and then at the end of the parables he mentions treasure again in verse 52. So this is a crucial theme that Jesus is working with here: treasure.
Now, I know this is incredibly hard for us in fact, impossible i'll just say, Jesus is not saying anything that we're about to look at here to say you get saved by the degree to which you treasure the kingdom. I find daily, like you do, the struggle against treasuring other things than Christ. We all do. What I'm about to describe to describe today cannot be separated, then, from the blessedness that Jesus has pronounced throughout this section on parables: "Blessed are your eyes, for they see. Blessed are your ears, for they see."
Whatever's described here has to come with that same blessedness. Without that blessedness, we'll never treasure what's most important. And remember, blessedness, that as Jesus uses it, is not how we think. "I will be blessed if I do this; then I will be blessed." Jesus is not pronouncing blessing that way. Jesus is saying, "Blessed are you when these things are true." In other words, if these things are true, that is evidence that God has blessed you first and foremost. You don't earn that blessing.
The parable now that follows the explanation of the weeds and the tares are given to the disciples. These parables, and the first two, make the same basic point. Look at verse 44: "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."
What a little parable! I could have preached a whole sermon on this. I read recently what was called the Great Kentucky Horde. A farmer was plowing in his field. Do you hear this story? When he stumbled on a cache of Civil civil War era gold coins with an estimated value of three million dollars! Why can't I ever find that stuff? You know, it's like, "What in the world?" details when the article said about exactly where the coins were found and who found the coins have been kept secret. Secret! Well, of course. You never know where he found those coins. Maybe it wasn't on his field. Whatever the case, in this parable, the man is thinking he stumbles on this massive find of treasure. He's thinking, "There's got to be more on this field." There's a there's a dream that we all kind of have that's built into us this way it's just to find a treasure like that. It's just that's the most thrilling, that's the most exciting thing that could be, right? I mean, I see people on the beach all the time with those hovering things it. looks ridiculous but they do it For some of us, it's just the deal. Maybe for some of us, it's like the coupon. You see what's built into this? Treasure, treasure!
Imagine finding something of an inestimable value in life that would become the single great treasure of your life. And that's what's described here. A man is on a field. In those days, because of wars and raids, they would bury treasures just what happened with the Civil War coins. No bank to put them in. Well, this man finds a treasure like this in a field he's renting. And who knows? He, he, maybe he's renting it. I don't know. He covers it up he covers up the treasure, right away because he knows if he has rights to that treasure he's got to buy the field.
And so, notice what it says. Notice how much Jesus crams into one cent sentence here: "With great joy, he's so excited, he's driven, he's full of ambition now, all of a sudden. Notice he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field."
Nothing else in this life is as valuable as that field, says Jesus. He's willing to give everything else away just to have that field. All he has. How many things in life have you done that for? People have a lot of ambition for acquisition, for buying and selling. We put a lot of energy into that, don't we? People have ambition for what they love. People have ambition for what they treasure, don't they? Of course.
I'm one of those guys. I mean, I I pretty much if i want something in this life, I've gone a hundred miles an hour just to get it. I was going to get through seminary in three years, and I did it because I didn't want to be in seminary. I wanted to preach. Ambition! It's like Ted Turner. It's just a remarkable. The man has two million acres, you know, from Montana to Texas. He has bought up America.
Jesus says, "The kingdom of heaven is like that." What does that mean? Well, the same point is made in the parable that follows: "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."
Pearls were from the Persian Gulf. They found them in the Indian Ocean. Only the rich could afford them. A merchant here is described as a collector of pearls. He's a masked pearl. It's amazing what people will collect by the way. I've seen some of the most ridiculous collections if ever watch Pawn Stars, of what people store up in their homes, their poor wives, these poor guys, these guys. All this junk of foolish things that they collect.
But this is kind of important. A pearl? One day, he saw a pearl like he had never seen before. It was unlike any other pearl. "I found the mother pearl! I found the pearl! This is it! I've got to have this pearl. I'll sell everything else just to get that pearl. It's what I've been searching for my whole life."
And so he sold every other pearl that he had collected in his life, and then he bought that one.
Now, what are we describing here? What is Jesus describing here? That's the important thing for understanding, right? "Do you understand this?" said Jesus. "Do you understand this?"
He's describing the joy of those who found the kingdom of God. Think of what people give all their energy and time to in life. Parse it out a bit. Remember what I read about Luke 16: the Pharisees, who were what lovers of money, heard this and they ridiculed him.
Jesus here is capturing something so opposite of that. "The kingdom of God is like this. The kingdom of God is describing the Lord's rule over everything. And that kingdom is present with Christ on earth. And now that he's been seated, And the kingdom comes to expression in our coming, in our following of Jesus Christ. That's where we see it."
If you press me on the details here, this is, and I don't think parables are always meant to do that. but I think you can do that. They give you freedom. Notice here, it's like when one discovers the gospel. When one discovers the pearl of great price in this life. The treasure hidden in the field is Christ, if you will. It's Luther. He couldn't believe what he had found that was buried under for so many years human tradition. Buried in Roman tradition was the gospel.
Think about looking down at a pile of pure gold of inestimable value, and how hard that is to find in this world. Remember the gold rush? It was a hard life. All these people rushing to find gold. Stories are something. But when they found it, it wasn't so happy for them, was it?
Jesus says, "When they found this treasure, joy. Everything changed."
And this is, see, the truth of what's happening, of what we get to preach. Christ has come. Christ is salvation. He's our everything.
I had an encouragement from a pastor this past week who sent me a message and said, out of the blue, just at the right moment, "I pray this week that you would find great joy in your work and that you would find great delight in Christ." That's a word fitting in season, you know?
Well, he's bringing in a kingdom, and he is reigning over all. Think of what all we're worried about, and it's the sweetest thing. It means salvation. It means the forgiveness of sins. It means gracious for provision to for the worst of sinners. for the guiltiest of sinners It it means that he's committed to shepherd us all through our lives. It means that he's committed to guide us and lead us to a heavenly home. This is the pearl! I found the pearl hidden and buried in this field.
The point is what is described here is somebody found what is most valuable in life, most precious, and anything that would get in the way of that, anything that would interfere, is sold and gone.
Is that not true of you? I'm not speaking of perfection here. I know you're sinners. I'm just asking the basic question: is it not true of you? We may love our homes. We may love the things that we have at times. Position. But can't you say that if Christ took it all away in a moment, that is not what you live for? I think you can. I think you can. And that's a blessedness that's come on you.
Remember, Jesus said, "Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake We'll receive a hundred times as much, and we'll inherit eternal life."
So you would. You'd let it all go in a moment because you have the Spirit of God. Can't you say with the Psalmist, "Whom have I in heaven but you? There is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever"? Yes, you can say that. I'm not saying perfectly, but yes, you can say that.
My driving point is that, and it's all the struggle with this, you know that this is the one treasure that has satisfied You the most in this life. It's not even close. You may try to go dig up gold coins all the time, but it doesn't satisfy you. You may try to buy up fields everywhere. It doesn't satisfy you. The blessedness is that you've come, you've come to Christ, you've entered His kingdom. Can you say that?
Well, then, you know what I'm talking about. If you can't say that today, and this is not connecting with you, then I've got news for you in a moment. Hold on. Good news.
At this point, Jesus follows up with another parable. And in this context, the parable doesn't seem to fit. In fact, Hendrickson said, and others said, "There's nothing new offered by Jesus here," and I disagree. I would argue it's the placement of it that offers something unique, that gives us insight into what he's describing.
The first two parables, remember, describe the blessedness of finding the treasure and finding the pearl of great price. You know what the gospel's done. You know what Christ has done. But now think of this parable: "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers, but threw away the bad. So it will be at the end of the age: the angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Now, why does Jesus follow up with this? Well, in the soils, he describes why there's so much opposition to the Word. He said, "There's good soils and there are bad soils." In the second, the wheat and the tares, he describes why there's so much struggle in the kingdom it's because of the tares causing all kinds of problems for the wheat.
But now you can appreciate why Jesus just said this: in the kingdom where the wheat are, there you will find God's people valuing the kingdom, valuing his church. But just as there is bad soil and just as there are tares, there will be those among us who do not value the kingdom. You understand that? That's what he's saying. That do not value this. It is shown that they never really respond to the Word. It is shown that they do not bear fruit. It shows an earthly pursuits and love of mammon love of money And not the things of god and it's all they're hiding all that they're listen they're hiding all that right now.
This is what Jesus was dealing with: is the phoniness of the Pharisees, who were hiding all this. He was exposing it.
Jesus reminds us in the last parable that while that value may not seem so clear in the present because the wheat and the tares grow up together, many people cover where their true loyalties are. And there may be some here right now who are covering where their true loyalties are. And they play games with this. It's just for show. It's just for people to see.
And on that day, says Jesus, the separation will reveal that. You're not getting away with this game.
The kingdom is like a big net. The fishermen who threw out the net, and they separated out those fish that were edible and those that were not, and they were discarded. So the angels are going to come at the end of the age, and they will separate the evil from the righteous, and they will go into a fiery furnace. This is not parabolic at this point. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Jesus taught, certainly, about hell, and the separation on that day will bring that about.
So there it is. The parables describe the kingdom receiving the Word, bearing fruit, valuing the gospel, from those who do not, and why that struggle is going on now.
Now, you might think that's the end of the matter, right? And there's nothing that can be done about this. What I've just preached is all fatalistic. Jesus is not done. He's got one more. This is amazing. It's as if at this point, he had to say, "And have people think, well is there a remedy to this? Is there a remedy to this problem? Is there a remedy to this The bad soils and the tears and not valuing. the "Is there a remedy to this? Isn't there a way of blessedness?"
To close out the parables in this series, he gives one final one to his disciples, which essentially says, "What do you think your responsibilities are then? Why am I sending you out? What do you think people need? They need to find the treasure, don't they?"
Look at verse 51: "Have you understood all these things?" They said to him, "Yes." "Have you Have you understood all this? no no Have you understood all this Have you understood what i've said about the kingdom have you understood the struggle in the kingdom that there are different kinds of soils, and there there's wheat, and there's tares, and that it's a slow growing process, and that there are people valuing the kingdom? And do you understand what I've described about the reality and the difficulty of the kingdom of God in this present age breaking in? Yeah, we get it."
"Well, then you're blessed. Therefore, every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old."
What a what a statement! Just to end on! Scribes are usually used in the scriptures that group, the scribes in a pejorative way, in a negative way in a ridiculing way sometimes. Not here. He's describing every kingdom worker, isn't he?
Scribes have to be trained, he says, in matters of the kingdom of heaven. And they have to sit under their masters the master's tutelage. They have to be trained for these things. And Jesus says, "That's just what you are. You are like now a master of a house. And here's what you're doing: you're bringing out of your treasure what it's new and what's old."
The scribe has been trained over his house to offer his treasure. A rich supply. Your responsibility is to give the treasure. See it? Give the treasure. Isn't that remarkable?
You don't even have to go look for it. "Wow, I've got something worth more than $3 million in Civil War coins that I get to give to you today. Did you know that? Our job is to bring the treasure to you. You don't even have to go dig for it."
What do you think ministry is? The treasure. A true scribe gives that which is new and old. Did you notice that? "What is new and what is old?"
What's he thinking about? Well, what Jesus is describing is not what the scribes of his day did. They sat around and parked in the old and argued about the commandments all day long fun bunch, by the way.
True scribes give what is new and give what is old. Remember, when Jesus was on the road to Emmaus, they're troubled, and beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in the Scriptures the things concerning himself. And he used great wisdom, and he was able to apply it. Christ is the treasure. You see why Christian ministry is so important? You see why the preaching of the gospel so we have to make this case over and over to every generation, especially in our day, because we have a whole generation who doesn't even think they need church.
Showing where your treasure is: for many now, think now listen this this can happen right here. For many, the treasure is buried under years of tradition and custom. For many, it's buried by a loyalty to family over God's kingdom. So they can't see it. For many, it's the world and the enjoyments of the world. And many think that's the treasure. And that's why the Word has little place.
And Jesus is giving the remedy: administer the treasure to them. Bring it to them. That's your calling. And you can't help but hear in this the great concern that Jesus is is just saying here, as if he's saying, "Nothing can be done about this awful scenario in the kingdom about wheat and tares, about poor hearing of the soils, or about valuing. No, no, no, no, no. Pour out the treasure. You see? Pour out the treasure. They'll find it. They'll find it. They'll hear about Christ, and they'll say, He is my portion. He is my cup he is my all in all i've counted everything lost for the excellency of knowing christ said Paul."
I said, "There's good news here."
"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field which a man found and covered up. Then enjoy he goes and sells all that he has and bought that field." The treasure today is God's gift to the world. He gave His Son. The gift is the treasure.
What do you value? If you can say, "I value Christ and His kingdom and His Word. That's my field." I have good news for you. You are a blessed people.
You don't have to buy it. Listen to me. You don't have to buy it.
I close with this: "Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. And he who has no money, come, buy, and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread? And your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear and come to me. Hear that your soul may live. And I will make with you an everlasting covenant my steadfast, sure love for David."
It's without money. It's without price. It's the most valuable treasure in all this world. Have you found it? Have you received it? Then, with joy, go out and serve in that kingdom, and pour out now your treasure and give that treasure to others.
Let's pray. Gracious Lord, thank you for such a wonderful text and for helping us to understand what is most important. We confess, oh Lord, we confess that idolatry and struggle of loving the world and all these things is real. But Your work in us we can also say has driven us to Christ, to come. And if it all were taken away today, we'd be fine, for we have everything, everything through the pearl treasure. Thank you for giving us the knowledge of Christ. Thank you for giving us salvation. May Your kingdom and Your righteousness be the pursuit of our lives by Your grace and by Your blessing. jesus name, amen.