The Parable of the Buried Treasure
Matthew: The King and His Kingdom • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 37:42
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· 11 viewsThe kingdom is valuable because in it the Father gives us His Son. Therefore, to gain the kingdom–even at the loss of all else–is of infinite worth.
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Call to Worship
Call to Worship
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;
9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;
10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.
11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
12 So death is at work in us, but life in you.
16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.
17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
Adoration
Adoration
“O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart…
19 Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O Lord my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you,
20 that your eyes may be open day and night toward this house, the place where you have promised to set your name, that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place.
21 And listen to the pleas of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen from heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.
Confession
Confession
22 “If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house,
23 then hear from heaven and act and judge your servants, repaying the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.
24 “If your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you, and they turn again and acknowledge your name and pray and plead with you in this house,
25 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them again to the land that you gave to them and to their fathers.
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
41 “And now arise, O Lord God, and go to your resting place, you and the ark of your might. Let your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let your saints rejoice in your goodness.
42 O Lord God, do not turn away the face of your anointed one! Remember your steadfast love for David your servant.”
Message
Message
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.
The parable before us today is not challenging to understand.
But it is difficult.
It’s difficult to hear not because of understanding but because of a conflict within us.
It is a value system conflict.
Sin always presents us with a value system proposition.
Sin whispers…
“Immediate gratification is worth more than future glory.”
“Control is worth more than faith.”
“Keep this… protect that….you can’t afford to lose.”
But the kingdom of God also places before us a value system.
“Infinite worth outweighs total loss.”
“What lasts forever is worth more than what lasts for a moment.”
I find in the Bible a divine command to be a pleasure-seeker—that is, to forsake the two-bit, low-yield, short-term, never-satisfying, person-destroying, God-belittling pleasures of the world and to sell everything “with joy” (Matthew 13:44) in order to have the kingdom of heaven and thus “enter into the joy of your master”
John Piper
The kingdom of God is so valuable that if we lose everything else, it will be gain.
The kingdom of God is so valuable that if we lose everything else, it will be gain.
This parable continues the trajectory of what we’ve seen.
The message of the kingdom is planted in the soils (Matthew 13:3-9,18-23)
The kingdom coexists with the world (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43)
The kingdom starts small and grows discreetly (Matthew 13:31-33).
We’ll consider today the value of the kingdom of God.
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.
Both parables are similar in that they equate the kingdom of heaven to a treasure.
The first to a treasure hidden in a field, the second to a pearl of great price.
The kingdom of heaven is a treasure of extreme value.
The kingdom of heaven is a treasure of extreme value.
In the first century, there were no banks to safely store money.
In hard times when life felt uncertain, you buried your wealth.
It was common for a person to bury their wealth and be unable to return to it.
Wealth was hidden…
Under their mattress.
In their back yard
In the wall of their house.
Why do we say the kingdom of God is a treasure?
In the book of Hebrews, the writer of Hebrews describes the afflictions the believers have received from others.
32 But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, 33 sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.
Christians were imprisoned from this congregation.
To be associated with them meant you would also bear reproach.
34 For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.
Why would a person joyfully accept the plundering of their property?
You have a better possession!
You who have no possessions have a better possession than those who have possessions.
You who have nothing, have everything!
Is this just fanciful, pie in the sky, thinking?
The Bible is not quiet nor abstract about the treasure of heaven.
The treasure of heaven is Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
The Son of God who has always existed in the bosom of the father is the treasure that makes the kingdom of God valuable.
There needs to be a careful distinction made here…
The kingdom of heaven is the rule of Jesus Christ.
It’s His rule!
It’s His authority!
This is why the kingdom of God is like a treasure.
It’s a treasure because we possess the treasure of heaven!
What makes the kingdom of God this treasure?
If we don’t establish that on the front end we will end up ascribing all sorts of vain ideas.
We would think that the kingdom of heaven is valuable because of the “streets of gold” (Revelation 21:21) from the visions we hear about in Revelation.
We would think that because God owns the “cattle on a thousand hills” (Psalm 50:11), it’s best to just be in His kingdom because He’s the richest.
Those aren’t bad things necessarily.
But they’re inferrer.
Jesus is the chosen portion forever.
Jesus is the chosen portion forever.
The Psalmist is convinced that God is good to the people of God and those who are pure in heart.
Yet he has seen within himself an “envious” spirit toward the wicked.
A covetousness of the wicked brought him to a place of doubting and questioning God’s goodness.
A covetous heart longs for the prosperity of another without the presence of God.
16 But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task,
17 until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.
The Lord brings him to repentance and we hear his confession at the end.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
It is Yahweh’s presence with the Psalmist that comforts his heart.
Though the wicked triumph all around, he is able to rest in the fact that Yahweh leads him.
Even though his heart and flesh fail all around him, Yahweh is the strength of his heart and portion forever.
5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.
6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
“This expression is a metaphor, taken from the ancient Jewish custom of dividing inheritances, whereby every one received his allotted portion…
“My portion does not lie in the rubbish, as it does for those whose portion is in this life. My portion contains Him whom the heavens, and heaven of heavens, can never contain. God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever—not for a year, or an age, or a million ages, but for eternity! —George Swinnock
11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Who is at the right hand of God?
Jesus is!
This is why it ought to be a stench to us to think about the kingdom of God without the king on the throne.
There is a way that many will speak about the kingdom of God that likes the “goodies” of the kingdom without the authoritative reign of the King.
We must reject this!
Jesus is the treasure of Wisdom & Knowledge
Jesus is the treasure of Wisdom & Knowledge
Paul experienced a great season of struggle and tribulation, yet his concern was for the believers in Colossae.
His concern was for their encouragement and full assurance in the truth.
2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
“He that hath Christ hath a mine of gold; he that wants Christ is a beggar, though he hath a kingdom.” —C. H. Spurgeon
Jesus is the treasures in the Bosom of the Father
Jesus is the treasures in the Bosom of the Father
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John tells us that Jesus was manifested in the flesh and revealed to us the glory of the Father.
And immediately after telling us this, he further explains the nature of the Lord Jesus.
18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is (ho ōn)
at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
The treasure that has always existed in the bosom of the father has been shared to the most glorious, splendid son of the father has been sent into the world.
The treasure that has always existed in the bosom of the father has been shared with the world.
The Bible tells us that the father has so loved the world that he sent his only son into it (John 3:16).
The Son of God, the most glorious, splendid son of the father has been sent into the world.
The Lord Jesus Christ, who was veiled in flesh, was hidden from an unbelieving and dying world.
But this Lord of glory, hidden in the earth.
Planted like a seed (John 12:24), is not perceived by all to have the value that it’s worth.
Like the tenants from the vineyard that Jesus describes as killing all the lesser tenants.
13 Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’
14 But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’
This is a great tragedy.
Jesus is the treasure in Jars of Clay
Jesus is the treasure in Jars of Clay
6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
The “treasure” is Christ.
The “jars of clay” are our weak and mortal bodies.
The kingdom is valuable because in it the Father gives us His Son.
The kingdom is valuable because in it the Father gives us His Son.
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up.
The treasure of the kingdom is initially hidden.
The treasure of the kingdom is initially hidden.
The language of “hidden” is to “conceal” and “keep secret.”
How was the kingdom of heaven hidden?
It’s hidden as we’ve seen before because of the blindness of the human condition.
Remember the hardened clay we’ve seen before.
It’s hidden also as we’ve seen because of how unimpressive it was initially.
More than anything though…
The hiddenness of the kingdom of God is that Jesus Christ took on flesh.
8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
Jesus is described as the “Lord of Glory” who dwells in unapproachable light.
His divine nature remains
The rulers of this present age crucified Him because they did not recognize Him.
If they would have recognized Him, and understood God’s plan, they wouldn’t have crucified Him.
Application for Unbelievers.
If you’re an unbeliever here, do you see the treasure that Jesus Christ is?
I mean really see the treasure that He is?
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up.
The treasure of the kingdom is discovered.
The treasure of the kingdom is discovered.
We may be tempted to think,
“If the man found the treasure in the field, why not just dig it up and take it?”
Makes sense!
But there was a practice in the ancient world that was worth noting.
Discovered through stumbling.
Discovered through stumbling.
If you were working on your boss’s farm and stumbled into a treasure in the ground, you couldn’t just go take it for yourself.
Finding lost property meant that it was your obligation to give it back to the owner.
Derrett points out,
“Jewish Law [Talmudic law] the purchase of the field worked a purchase of the treasure, and that therefore the owner of the field must have been the owner of the treasure.' If this were so the finder was no better than a thief. He could not hope to acquire the treasure without concealing from the allegedly true owner its presence in the soil: his concealment led, then, to his acquiring something very valuable for a small price.” —Law in the New Testament, J. Duncan M. Derrett
If a man found a treasure buried in a field, he’d better keep it concealed so the owner was not notified.
Don’t think that concealment of the kingdom is commended here, but is focused on it’s value.
To merely take it himself would make him a thief.
So what is this man left to do?
He had one option: purchase the land.
Before we turn to the first man, I want us to glance as the second parable given.
Discovered through searching.
Discovered through searching.
The same thing was functionally true for
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.
Pearls in the ancient world were highly valued (1 Timothy 2:9).
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.
Selling everything to acquire the greatest treasure is gain.
Selling everything to acquire the greatest treasure is gain.
Both of these men do not sell reluctantly.
They do not regret their decisions to sell everything.
It is with overwhelming joy that they sell everything.
Jesus is NOT saying here,
“Christianity costs everything!”
“Give your life away because it doesn’t matter anyway!”
There is a kind of poverty gospel cloaked in sacrifical language.
“Following Christ is worth more than everything else!”
Purchasing land as a poor first century farmer was not an easy thing to do.
It required you to gather all of your assets and sell them.
Treasuring the kingdom is a description of the followers of Jesus, than a prescription.
32 “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
This is not saying that you all need to go and sell everything you have, but we must all recognize where the true wealth is located.
“The merchant sold all, yet he was no loser. He parted with dross to obtain gold; he parted with pebbles to obtain a pearl. There is joy in the exchange.
The world thinks the Christian undone, but he is the only wise merchant. He makes a happy bargain, who lays down a little earth for heaven.”—Thomas Watson
Some of us have been searching our whole lives for meaning and purpose
While others may just be going through the daily grind and are just trying to survive.
The kingdom is discovered in the same way, it is not because of us.
When we treasure the kingdom, we truly treasure Christ.
Christ will be so valuable that if we lose everything else, it will be gain to have Him.
7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
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
9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—
10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
All of us who have ever searched for meaning and fulfillment apart from the kingdom of God have ultimately done this very thing.
The kingdom is valuable because in it the Father gives us His Son. Therefore, to gain the kingdom–even at the loss of all else–is of infinite worth.
The kingdom is valuable because in it the Father gives us His Son. Therefore, to gain the kingdom–even at the loss of all else–is of infinite worth.
Benediction
Benediction
