The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field
which a person finds and hides again,
and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
What is the one thing for which we would give everything? Is there anything so valuable to us that it would be worth sacrificing all that we have and all that we are in order to obtain it? For the person that found the treasure in the field this wasn't a question of 'should'. He didn't sell all that he had because he knew he was supposed to want the treasure and therefore forced himself to take the steps to obtain it. Rather, once he had seen the treasure he could do nothing else. He was so captivated by it, and perceived its value so clearly, that to part with all else that he owned was not a difficult choice. This may not be our own experience of Christianity. Indeed we probably can't always possess such clear intrinsic motivation. But the parable is meant to make us consider the worth of the things that we do value, things that we are loathe to let go, for the sake of obtaining the treasure present in Christ. The parable is meant to help us to recognize the relative lack of value that even the best things possess when compared to Jesus himself.
St Paul understood the value of the treasure. He wrote, "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" (see Philippians 3:8). We are wise when we trade that which we cannot keep in order to obtain that which we can never be taken from us. By contrast we are fools when we choose the things that moths eat and rust destroys instead of a Kingdom that will last forever. Treasure in heaven is the only kind truly worthy of the name. But, at a certain point, we actually have to be convinced of its value. It is true that we know that even if we gain the world we can only keep it for a limited time. But even so, we will not be able to lay down our lives for Christ if we don't recognize the value of the result, that "whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it" (see Matthew 16:25). The motivation that obtains the treasure is not something we fundamentally possess in advance. Rather it is a draw that comes to us inexorably from the beauty of the treasure itself. It is grace, not nature, that enables us to make a response that transcends the merely natural, and to set aside earthly treasures for treasure in heaven.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
searching for fine pearls.
When he finds a pearl of great price,
he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.
Our translation seems to indicate that this merchant was looking to collect a variety of fine pearls. What, then, must he have seen to act in such a well as to rule out the possibility of attaining in others? He had seen, no doubt, many fine pearls by then. What must he have seen in the pearl of great price to decide it was the only one he would ever need from that point forward? We too have seen many good things. We live in this world looking for goods like possessions, choices, and relationships. But we see too that all of these are tarnished to one degree or another with imperfections. But in Jesus we meant to find one so good that we are willing to rule out other options in order to have him, or rather, to have him take hold of us. At this point, if we're still thinking, 'Yes, but I like my other possessions', or, 'I can't rule out the possibility that there are pearls that may yet be worth acquiring', it means we need more grace in order to see more clearly the value of what is on offer in the person of Jesus himself. This is the kind of recognition which is truly transformative, the purity of heart that leads to the vision of God. This is what John meant when he wrote, "we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is" (see First John 3:2).
When it is full they haul it ashore
and sit down to put what is good into buckets.
There are many fish currently in the net. Some will prove good and some will prove rotten. But before the end of the age the final determination of which is which has not yet been made. That means we still have time. It implies that obtaining the treasure is not really a once and for all choice on our part, not what we call colloquially 'one and done'. If we have not yet recognized the full value of the treasure in a transformative way there is still time to do so. But if we don't take seriously what we have discovered there is the possibility of losing even what we have. The treasure in the field was obviously unearned. And even though the merchant had been looking for pearls he had no right to hope to find one so vastly superior to the others. It too was ultimately a gift of grace. So too for us. The only way to gain is on the basis of the gift we have been given. The only way to ultimately lose is to refuse it. As Jesus said, "For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away" (see Matthew 13:12). We know where the treasure is found, and the pearl of great price is in our midst. There is no need for us or for anyone to experience "wailing and grinding of teeth". Let us turn the eyes of our hearts toward the treasure that God never ceases to offer us.
having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints (see Ephesians 1:18).
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