44 “The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man happens to find a treasure hidden in a field. He covers it up again, and is so happy that he goes and sells everything he has, and then goes back and buys that field.
45 “Also, the Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man is looking for fine pearls, 46 and when he finds one that is unusually fine, he goes and sells everything he has, and buys that pearl.
47 “Also, the Kingdom of heaven is like this. Some fishermen throw their net out in the lake and catch all kinds of fish. 48 When the net is full, they pull it to shore and sit down to divide the fish: the good ones go into the buckets, the worthless ones are thrown away. 49 It will be like this at the end of the age: the angels will go out and gather up the evil people from among the good 50 and will throw them into the fiery furnace, where they will cry and gnash their teeth.
51 “Do you understand these things?” Jesus asked them.
“Yes,” they answered.
52 So he replied, “This means, then, that every teacher of the Law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of heaven is like a homeowner who takes new and old things out of his storage room.”
Read Matthew 13:44-52 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
To wrap up a section of parables, Matthew draws our attention onto three short parables Jesus shares. While these parables are often broken apart, with the first two separated from the third, it is only when we place them together that we see a bigger picture of what God wants to share with us.
While Matthew 13 starts with a parable designed to help us understand the other parables Jesus shared better, I think these last parables in this long set help us understand another key point behind many of Jesus’ other parables.
This concluding set of parables has the Kingdom of heaven being represented by a treasure hidden in a field that a man finds, by a merchant on the lookout for fine pearls, and by a fishing net that catches fish of all kinds. These parables are all connected by saying “Also” and they all describe a characteristic of one thing: The Kingdom of heaven.
But one parable is different from the others.
Part of the reason I believe these parables have been broken into two sections is because the third parable (unlike the first two) contains the explanation, and it isn’t a very pleasant conclusion for those who are not saved.
When we cut off the third parable and focus in on only the first two, we get the impression we must be constantly on the lookout for treasure and pearls, and that we must sell everything we have in order to acquire the treasure we find. There is an element of truth to this interpretation of the first two parables, but it stops us short of a powerful truth that the third parable brings.
If we focus in on the third parable in this set (the one focused on the fishing net), and we specifically look at how Jesus explains it, we see a parable that is shared from God’s perspective not ours.
This has the power to completely change how we look at any parable Jesus shared because if Jesus opens it by saying it’s about the Kingdom of heaven or the Kingdom of God, you can be sure God will show up – and the parable probably is given from His perspective and not ours.
This means that the first two parables can also be applicable from His perspective. God is working in a field and He finds a treasure. He sells everything He has to get that treasure. God is continually searching for valuable pearls, and when He finds one, He sells everything He has to get that pearl. God was willing to purchase all of humanity back through the death of His Son so that He could sort and save all who have chosen Him. Buying us back from sin cost God everything – and He would do it again because that is how much He values each of us!
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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