Treasure in a Field Meditation
Matthew 13:44 “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.
I’ve been meditating on the “kingdom of heaven” this morning. Specifically, how the kingdom of heaven is very different than the kingdoms of this world (could be grouped into the word ‘politics’ perhaps).
Things I notice about this particular verse (Matthew 13:44):
1. The treasure was found by a passerby. This perhaps was a person walking through someone else’s property. It was not a ‘treasure hunt’ as it were. The kingdom of heaven ‘just comes’ to an individual by the sovereignty of God. This person COULD have been looking, I suppose, but nonetheless, the point is still valid – the kingdom of heaven was placed in the field by another (God).
2. The kingdom of heaven is NOT morality, and in fact, is opposite of morality in SOME instances. Why did the man cover the treasure up with the intent to deceive the landowner? This is the most surprising part of this passage. If this story were told in any children’s story book, we would say that the main character is morally corrupt – that he made the ‘wrong decision’. After all, it IS unfair to the landowner, right? He doesn’t know about the treasure. This point is interesting. This is along the same vein as when Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven suffers violence” (Matthew 11:12). This is the concept that truly born again people will do anything and everything for their master, and for His glory. They will hide spies (Rahab), defy the government (midwives, Peter, etc.), even kill people (read Numbers 25 about Phinehas) for the glory of God. This passage is very different from your average children’s Sunday School lesson.
3. The kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of this earth are mutually exclusive. He sold everything he had. If it was his call to lose his life to gain the kingdom of heaven*, he would have gladly done so. This is a man who has seen the worth of Jesus. He knows that everything else cannot compare. He gives his everything – it may have not been a lot by our standards, but it was 100% of everything he owned.
Would we be like this man!!! Why can’t we see this dichotomy of kingdoms this plainly? I wish we did (starting with me). I get so fed up with so much that I see in the news, in politics, in the schools – but to know that there is an invisible kingdom that is more real than this physical one! Lord, give me the eyes to see this!
* NOTE: It WAS his call (and IS ours) to lose our lives daily in the sense of “take up your cross and follow me” and “crucified with Christ”. In this parable, however, the man did not die in the literal sense of the word.
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