The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field
What is our treasure? Is it to be found in obvious things that surround us above the surface, things of earth, which moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal? Or is it rather hidden away in heaven (see Matthew 6:19-24). Jesus emphasized that there was a heavenly treasure with a value entirely disproportionate to those treasures of earth. But this treasure was not obvious in the way that earthly treasure was obvious. It did not demand attention in the same way, did not at first appear to shine with the luster of gold or silver. To discover it required one first to look for it. If he was perpetually captivated by the desire for worldly treasure he might never see it. He had better first to clarify that desire, and to insist on looking for something deeper and more lasting.
which a person finds and hides again,
and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
We may wonder if the owner of the field didn't know about the presence of the treasure. Did he bury it and forget? Or was he not in fact being swindled by the person buying the field? Did he all along plan to give the treasure to those who truly desired it, and then, why not, all things along with it (see Matthew 6:33)?
You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart (see Jeremiah 29:13).
This need to seek does not imply a Pelagian earning of our salvation. It is rather that the one who made both field and treasure also made the heart that was designed to be satisfied by that treasure. This alone accounts for the joy with which the person sells all that he has to receive it, just as Zacchaeus was said to have received Jesus with joy (see Luke 19:1-10). In him we observe the initial impulse that made him search, even to the point of climbing a tree. And compared to the treasure he found we see that all his previous life to that point was as nothing, just as for Paul (see Philippians 3:8-10).
If we look with the right sort of eyes at the treasure the Lord wishes us to receive we can discover something that is worthy of exchanging all that we have and all that we are for it. It will not then be, as so often now, as though the Lord is prying open our tight hold on the things of this earth. Instead we will let them go with joy, since they will then seem to be more burden than treasure.
When he finds a pearl of great price,
he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.
The treasures of this earth actually weigh us down, age us, and cause us to become less than we are meant to be. They have an earthly gravity that pulls us downward. But the treasure of the Kingdom has an upward pull that illuminates and transforms us, just as it did for Moses.
Then the children of Israel would see
that the skin of Moses' face was radiant;
so he would again put the veil over his face
until he went in to converse with the LORD.
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