Parables: The Treasure of the Kingdom

Our Theme for 2025 is “Live Like Jesus”

It comes out of a simple desire to follow Jesus - and to learn better what that means.

We are spending the entire year in the Gospel of Matthew.

Over the last several months we talked about divine healing, deliverance, forgiveness and being a disciple of Jesus.

We have talked about faith, repentance and having a personal relationship with God.

Last week we looked at one of Jesus’ parables - the parable of the sower, the soil or the seed - depending how you look at it.

I hope that what you took away from last weeks message is that the Word of God is powerful - but not powerful like a storm - powerful like a seed!

A seed grows and pushes its way past obstacles and then spreads and increases without a lot of fanfare.

We just need to provide the right conditions for that to happen.

This week we have several more parables - these parables are about treasure.

To treasure something means that we appreciate its worth or value.

To value something means to assign importance, worth, or significance to it.

Valuing the Word of God means that we recognize the priority that God and His revealed purpose have over everything else in our life.

In his youth, the renowned theologian Augustine found himself torn between the pleasures of the world and the call of God. He discovered the Scriptures and declared, ‘You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You.’ His monumental journey from sin to salvation began when he finally valued God’s Word above all worldly goals, transforming not just his life but the Church for centuries to come.

For Augustine, he had found a treasure - a revelation of unsurpassable value - and that revelation became the central thing of importance in his life.

He suddenly knew who he was in light of who God is and that help him to order everything else in his life.

That is what a treasure does it adds value to your life and becomes a meaningful asset.

A treasure is not just a fleeting thought, idea or pleasure it is substantial, permanent even eternal.

The kingdom of God - bringing our lives under God’s rule and reign - is just such a treasure.

As we finish Matthew 13 and begin Matthew 14 Jesus tells several parables about the value of the kingdom and that this treasure - this realization - puts everything into perspective.

A treasure is something of value.

We tend to think that weight equals value.

When I say treasure - you probably thought of a heavy wooden chest with gold in it - a treasure chest.

When you buy things - you look for things with weight or substance.

Things made of steel last for centuries - things made of plastic are considered disposable.

Clothing that is thin or delicate fabric may be just right for special occasions, but you wouldn’t wear it everyday or it would soon wear out.

Even a business card needs to be printed on heavier stock because you want people to keep it - things that are just on paper tend to get thrown away.

If weight equals value than you could say that I am getting more valuable with age...

But Jesus says that the Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure - its a different kind of substance that is even more valuable than what we can see and feel.

The kingdom of God is worth more than everything else.

Matthew 13:44–46 ESV

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. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

It is the same parable told two different ways.

The first one is like the treasure chest.

Presumably, if you find a buried treasure, the owner of the property in which it is buried has some claim to it.

So rather than dig it up and split the profit - or give the entire profit to the owner of the field - you would be better to buy the field and become the owner.

The other illustration is finding a pearl.

The odds of finding a natural pearl (not one that is intentionally cultivated) is about one in ten thousand.

And then imagine finding a pearl of such uncommon size and quality that it is worth the investment of everything that he has to obtain it.

A pearl so rare is only ever going to increase in value and so it is worth whatever sacrifice may be necessary to obtain it.

Whatever you have to give to get it - you are sure to receive more back.

This reminds me of a more modern example.

Have you heard the story of James Howells, a man from Wales England who lost the encryption keys to his 8,000 Bitcoin over twelve years ago when his then girlfriend accidentally threw his old hard drive in the trash. He has since tried to buy the landfill where the trash that was collected is believed to have ended up. He has made offers of up to 2.5 million pounds to have to possibility of recovering the crypto currency which is now worth close to a billion dollars. His latest scheme is to launch a new cryptocurrency based on the theoretical value of what he lost and might possibly someday recover as collateral. He hopes to use the money from investors to do whatever is necessary to obtain his lost treasure.

I can’t think of a better illustration of someone going “all in” to gain something of value.

The kingdom of God is like that - once you realize the significance of what Jesus is talking about - it is worth more than any sacrifice you may have to make to obtain it.

“Selling out” means you are willing to give up everything to keep the one thing that is worth more than everything else.

And like the pearl, it will only ever increase in value.

The kingdom of God cannot lose its value.

Matthew 13:47–50 ESV

47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. 48 When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

You may have heard the expression, “don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.”

We normally use this illustration when someone is criticizing something which has inherent value even though it may be flawed.

We are reminded that there is a baby in that bathwater and don’t discard as waste what is infinitely valuable.

Jesus’ parable is like that too.

When fisherman cast their net into the sea, they do it to catch fish.

But when they pull up the net, there are fish in it but there are also all sorts of other things too.

There are different kinds of fish other than the ones you are intending to catch.

There are fish that may be the right ones but they are too small so you throw them back.

And there are probably other things that are not fish at all.

The point of the parable is that the fisherman doesn’t fret about what else is in the net - they focus on what they were looking for.

The fish they intend to catch have value which transcends everything else which might otherwise detract from it.

The garbage in the net doesn’t take anything away from the value of the fish, because those things have no real value at all.

They go right back into the sea where they are soon forgotten.

And here’s the punch line - bad people like bad fish will eventually be discarded and forgotten.

But it is not really about the bad fish - it’s about the good fish.

The point of the story is that the bad fish don’t take anything away from the value of the good fish.

Do you ever feel like evil is winning?

If you look at the evening news (which I usually don’t) they spend 28 minutes on politics, crime and corruption and then have one “feel-good “ story at the end.

When you look back on your day which is easier to identify, the things that went wrong or the things that went well?

Ask yourself, in the grand scheme of things, what really matters?

Jesus says that the bad things aren’t really going to matter in the end - so don’t bring them into your boat.

Throw them back!

Now Jesus - He’s a keeper!

A treasure is something meaningful.

Treasure is not always what it seems to be - our perceptions can be wrong.

We tend to think of value as substance - but sometimes the value of a substance is not in what it is, but in what it means.

“Touch of the Master’s Hand” was originally titled “the Old Violin.” It was a famous poem written in 1921 by Myra Brooks Welch. The poem has been adapted to songs, paintings and even three movies were made from it.

Welch tells the story of a violin that is up for auction and is about to be sold for a bid of three dollars when a master violinist demonstrates the beaty and value of the instrument by playing it. After the demonstration, it sells for three thousand dollars. The difference is noticed by what can be done in the hands of a master musician.

Jesus produces that same kind of transformation by the way he adds meaning to our lives.

God’s rule and reign puts our existence into a meaningful context.

We begin to see what can become of us in the hands of the Master.

This is important because what Jesus is preaching as the kingdom of God is not about discarding everything and starting over.

It is about fundamentally transforming our reality by adding value to what is already there.

New revelation adds insight to what we already know.

Matthew 13:51–52 ESV

51 “Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.” 52 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.”

In first century Israel, not many people were able to read and write.

In the Roman Empire, literacy was between 10-15% and that was among citizens, many of whom had access to education.

For Jews, the literacy rate may have been as low as 3%.

Those privileged to be able to read and write would often make their living by doing so.

Scribes would literally spend all day, every day hand-copying manuscripts, making new scrolls from old scrolls.

There were no books at that time, only hand copied scrolls on leather or parchment made from papyrus reeds.

These scrolls were extremely valuable - especially the sacred texts which numbered in the thousands of copies - fragments of which still exist today.

Jesus listeners would have been familiar with this vocation.

A scribes house would be filled with treasures consisting of both old and new scrolls.

When a new scroll is produced, the old scroll does not become any less valuable - it is still a priceless treasure!

Scribes do not discard old scrolls - no scroll is ever discarded unless it is found to contain errors.

For that reason the older scrolls are even more valuable because they preserve the standard by which new material may be evaluated.

But the new scrolls are also valuable because they will preserve the ancient writings and communicate God’s revelation to future generations.

Jesus’ parable about treasures old and new shows us that there is continuity to the values of the kingdom.

We don’t throw away the Old Testament because we have the New Testament.

We don’t throw away the Bible because we have modern authors who write books.

No! The older things take on even more value in light of the newer things.

Yes, God is still revealing Himself to us today but that revelation must be consistent with what God has revealed in the past.

When we write books today, we are not replacing anything of scripture - we are interpreting scripture for our generation and for our time.

In fact we need the continual study of ancient texts to be able to evaluate our modern interpretations.

An interpretation should add insight to what is already known - help us appreciate it in new ways- make it come alive.

Beware of any book or preacher who claims to have discovered something completely new - “nobody has ever said this before!” - I doubt it.

Some of them seem good for a while, but eventually turn out to be flawed.

I think that one reason why so many public Christian figure end up going into error is because they are always under pressure to come up with something new and different - something that sells.

New perspective adds meaning to the familiar.

Matthew 13:53–58 ESV

53 And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, 54 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? 55 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? 56 And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” 57 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.” 58 And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.

They say “familiarity breeds contempt” - the saying dates back to Roman times and seems to echo what Jesus says here.

It is not certain if Jesus is quoting a common saying or simply recounting his own experience.

It is true that while Judaism honors the prophets by preserving their writings, very few of them were honored at the time in which they wrote and by the people to whom they were speaking.

Prophets are those who would stand before kings and speak the words of God.

Prophets like Elijah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel were persecuted for saying the things that they said.

Most of what we have in the OT is the words of the prophets - what the kings did and said is largely forgotten.

The point that Jesus is making is that we may not always value or appreciate what has become familiar to us.

The people that we spend most of our time with are simply mundane or even annoying.

We often fail to see them for who they really are.

Their flaws may be easier for us to see than their virtues.

Or maybe we are afraid to give them power.

In the game of sibling rivalry, anything that anyone else gets is considered a loss to ourselves.

I think Jesus addressed that in the parable of the fish and the net.

On the other hand honor not only recognizes achievement, but also promotes it.

When people believe in us, it makes us strive to become the people they think we are.

Even if they don’t make us better by believing in us they can certainly hinder us by their criticism and contempt.

I’m glad Jesus wasn’t so insecure as to be limited by the opinions of his brothers and neighbors.

However it did have an impact on His public ministry - He was not able to do in His hometown what He did other places.

Treasure is something timeless.

When it comes to the kingdom of God there is an immense largely unrealized power and potential that Jesus only began to fulfill when He ministered on earth.

The kingdom is still unfolding, every day, right before our eyes.

And it is growing to another culmination point when Jesus comes again and introduces the next phase of history.

If we think that the Kingdom of God is just ancient history - we miss it.

And if we think that the Kingdom of God is just future prophetic fulfillment - end times and heaven stuff - we miss it also.

The Kingdom of God is everything in between - it is the church age.

It is every day of the life of a follower of Jesus.

Walking with God - doing what we do as part of His purpose and for His glory.

We are living out the story of Jesus by being His disciples and participating in His mission.

Truth never dies.

Matthew 14:1–5 ESV

1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus, 2 and he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” 3 For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, 4 because John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5 And though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people, because they held him to be a prophet.

Did you catch what Herod thought about Jesus? -

He thought John the Baptist had come back to life!

He recognized Jesus as having the same Spirit, the same character and the same mission.

Herod imprisoned John the Baptist for speaking out against his adultery and inappropriate marriage.

But Herod was afraid of John - because he knew he was right.

And because lots of people thought he was right too.

Herod tried to bury the truth - but the truth comes back to haunt you.

Herod hears Jesus saying some of the same things that John the Baptist was saying and he thinks that Jesus is channeling John.

Actually both are just speaking the truth.

But Herod thinks he is seeing a ghost.

The beautiful thing about the treasure of the Kingdom of God is that you don’t have to try to make it happen.

The rule and reign of God is bigger than any of us and bigger than all of us!

It is what God is doing in the world through time and history.

You don’t conjure it up - you just recognize that it is there.

The truth is undeniable - not that you can’t deny it - just that if you do, you are bound to lose!

Like gravity - you can fight it but only for so long.

What goes up must come down.

We are not the center of our own universe.

God is the center.

Isaiah 45:23 NLT

23 I have sworn by my own name; I have spoken the truth, and I will never go back on my word: Every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will declare allegiance to me.”

That is the kingdom - when we finally give in to God who has been right all along.

And when we do, we find a treasure that is everlasting!

Were not quite done with Herod yet whose story illustrates - or illustrates the opposite - of Jesus parable of the treasure of the kingdom.

Genuine relationships can never be severed.

Matthew 14:6–12 ESV

6 But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod, 7 so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. 8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” 9 And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given. 10 He sent and had John beheaded in the prison, 11 and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. 12 And his disciples came and took the body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus.

John’s head was severed from his body, but his true life and purpose never ended.

John was a prophet and Herod was a king.

Remember what I said about prophets and kings.

Which one had the power? - Are you sure?

How are each of them being remembered?

John had friends who mourned for him and who buried him.

Herod had lots of friends because he had power and money, but that doesn’t mean that they liked him.

His affair with Herodias would lead him to war with Aretas the ruler of Damascus.

Herodias would persuade him to seek more power for himself.

Then he would be called to Rome to stand before Ceasar at which time he would also be betrayed and lose the kingdom that he had.

He would die alone in exile-probably in Spain.

I wasn’t John who lost his head - it was Herod.

John the Baptist served God’s purpose in his time and secured his place in history as the forerunner of Jesus.

John loved his cousin Jesus and Jesus loved John and thought they were parted for a time, they are together for eternity.

That kind of relationship is another kind of treasure - one which you can never really lose.

Because love doesn’t die - even when people pass from this earth.

Love just gets stronger.

When you realize this, it changes the way that you live your life.

You want to relate to people in light of eternity.

You want to pursue truth, not just being right.

You want to appreciate the life you have to live

And to understand God’s purpose and your place in it.

You will “sell out” for God, for the people o loves and for the things that are really important in life.

Because you found a kingdom and it’s treasure.

Questions for reflection:

What is your treasure? What do you go “all in” for? Is there anything that you would absolutely give your life for? Are you giving your life for it now?

Where have you found meaning? Does what you find meaningful give insight to the past and hope for the future? Does it illuminate your life and give purpose to each day? If so, then treasure it.

What does the kingdom of God mean to you? Is the kingdom relegated to the past? Is it mostly in the mysterious future? Or is the kingdom lived out each day in appreciation for the gift of life that you have been given?