God's Treasure

Matthew 13:44- "Again the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."

Jesus taught God's word to people using parables-which are stories and illustrations. This parable is one of my personal favorites: especially after I began to see some of the things I am going to share with you in this week's blog.

Some have said that the treasure in this parable represents the Lord, and while the Lord is a treasure worth giving everything for I believe this parable is meant to tells us how God sees us. Therefore, the treasure represents you and me. There are other places in the Bible that speak of God's people as His treasure. One of those is Deuteronomy 7:6, which says, "For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth." God also referred to His people as His treasure in Exodus 19:5 and Deuteronomy 14:2. While God was speaking to the children of Israel, they also apply to us. Since the idea of God's people being His treasure is found in the Old Testament, it makes sense that Jesus would use a similar illustration.

If we are the treasure the man would represent the Lord and the field can be seen as a picture of the world. I especially want you to notice that the treasure was "hidden in a field." That could describe someone who is caught up in the way the rest of the world lives, following them in a lifestyle that is "bent" against God. That's how I was before Jesus found me: beaten down, hopeless, oppressed, and simply going along with the rest of the world. The man in this parable found the treasure hidden in a field and he saw it's value before it was his. Even before you were serving the Lord He saw your value as His creation and He loved you. (I read in a devotional that God's unconditional "agape" love can be describe as seeing one's value.)

We are also told that the man rejoiced over the treasure. Hebrews 12:2 tells us that Jesus endured the suffering of the cross "for the joy that was set before Him." That joy was you- Jesus endured the suffering of the cross because He knew it would open the door for you to have a relationship with Him. The man sold everything to buy that treasure. In the same way Jesus gave up everything and endured the most painful and humiliating death imaginable to restore us to God. He rejoiced because He knew we would no longer be hidden in the field but would live in His kingdom and enjoy a relationship with Him. As a Christian you are no longer "hidden in the field" but you are walking with God. In the past few blogs I have been writing about having an intimate relationship with the Father. The Father, in His deep love for us, sent Jesus to pay the price to make it possible. Jesus, in His love for the Father and for us, agreed to pay the price.

The verses right after this verse in Matthew record a similar parable: the parable of the pearl of great price in which Jesus uses the illustration of a man who found a pearl so valuable that he sold everything to buy it. The pearl in that parable represents Jesus and the man represents us giving everything we have to Him. Jesus did tell us of the need to surrender everything to Him, but first He told us that we are the treasure He gave up everything for in His love. I believe Jesus did this because He realized that if we begin to understand just how much God loves us and what He gave so we can have an intimate relationship with Him we will naturally surrender everything to Him. This revelation will enable us to look beyond the sacrifices we make and see how wonderful God is, and when we see that is there any sacrifice too great?