The Treasure, the Pearl, and the King

When I was young, my mom took me to the theater to see the movie, “Treasure Island.” Based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s book, it was my introduction to pirates and buried treasure. I loved it. Long before there was Captain Jack Sparrow, there was Long John Silver. Sadly, most people today hear that name and think about fried fish and french fries, especially the crispies at the bottom of the bag.

Through that movie, I learned how important buried treasure can be. Jesus once told a story about buried treasure, and it had nothing to do with pirates. He also told a story about a perfect pearl. Those stories are found in Matthew 13.

In Matthew 13, Jesus continues teaching the “mystery parables”—stories that reveal what the kingdom of heaven will be like from his time until his future return. One day, he will reign as king over a literal earthly kingdom (Revelation 20:1-6). So, until then, how does the kingdom work?

In a house with his disciples, Jesus first explains what he meant by the parable of the weeds from 13:24-30. Now, he tells them the parables of the hidden treasure and the great pearl.

“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.” (Matthew 13:44)

See? I told you Jesus told a story about buried treasure. In this story, a man is surprised to find a treasure buried in a field. I’d be surprised too. How he found it, we don’t know. He certainly didn’t have a metal detector. However he came across the treasure, he quickly covered it back up, sold everything he had to raise funds, and used that money to buy the field, thus obtaining the treasure.

Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like this treasure. The kingdom of heaven, a relationship with Christ, is so valuable that we should be willing to give up everything to gain it. Everything! This is what Paul was saying in Philippians 3:8-9, especially verse 8:

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… (Philippians 3:8)

Paul knew that every good thing in his life was just garbage compared to knowing Jesus as Lord. An eternal relationship with God through Christ is so valuable that he would have been willing to give up everything else if necessary. We should feel the same. Have you sat recently and considered the awesomeness of your relationship with Jesus? Is it worth everything to you?

The man who found the buried treasure sold all he had, but let’s not think that this man sacrificed anything. He sold some good things to get something even better. He didn’t grudgingly get on Facebook Marketplace to sell everything he had. It wasn’t a sacrifice; he sold it with joy, because he was gaining something much more valuable.

The kingdom is so valuable that we should be willing to give up everything to gain it. But again, this is not a sacrifice on our part. Whatever God asks us to give up to follow him (habits, lifestyle, relationships, money, job) is nothing compared to having a relationship with Christ. It’s all rubbish compared to Jesus. Giving up is in the context of joy! With joy, we leave behind our old life and enter a new, eternal life with Jesus. We must always be willing to give up anything that stands in the way of our full surrender to Christ.

Jesus then told a story about a merchant and a pearl…

“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. (Matthew 13:45-46)

It’s important to notice that Jesus isn’t comparing the kingdom with the pearl; he’s comparing his kingdom with the merchant. This merchant is diligently looking for fine pearls. He’s not just some random guy who stumbles across a pearl. He’s a merchant who knows what he’s looking for and knows how to appraise what he finds. He represents the kingdom of heaven, in other words, Jesus.

Then what does the pearl represent? Us.

Jesus is telling us just how important we are to him. He left behind all the glories of heaven (Philippians 2:6-8) and came to earth as a human, experiencing all the pain, temptation, and hardship this cursed world offers. He gave up everything, even his life, to pay the penalty for our sin so that we could be freed from our sin and have a loving relationship with him.

Jesus gave all he had to buy us:

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)

He saw us wallowing in our sin with no hope, and he bore our sin himself. He was made sin for us:

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Jesus told these two stories back-to-back for a reason. Look how they compare and contrast.

The story of the hidden treasure teaches us that salvation is worth giving up everything we have. It’s something valuable to us.

The story of the great pearl teaches us that, to Jesus, we’re worth giving up everything he had. We’re valuable to him.

When’s the last time you sat and meditated on either of those two truths? Take a moment this week to think about just how amazing your salvation is. Can you agree with Paul in Philippians 3:8?

Then spend some time thinking about how valuable you are to Christ. Think about all that he sacrificed for you to have a relationship with him. Regardless of what you may think of yourself, you are a priceless pearl to him, and he loves you so much that he gave everything to purchase you.