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THE CASE OF THE BURIED TREASURE
I don't know what comes to mind when you think
of buried treasure. Maybe you think of Long John Silver in Robert Louis
Stevenson's classic Treasure Island. In your imagination
you see doubloons, pieces of eight, and pirates driven by greed. Perhaps
you think of those who have spent a better part of their life looking for the
Lost Dutchman Mine in the Superstition Mountains. Or, on a more practical
note, you think of copper. Granted, it's not silver or gold but in this
age of technology it is increasingly being seen as buried treasure.1
Then, since you are familiar with the
Bible, you may recall that Jesus said something about buried treasure in one
of his parables. It's found, along with another parable, in Matthew 13:44
- 46. We read:
"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure
hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy
went and sold all he had and bought that field.
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a
merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value,
he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
The first four parables in this chapter were
delivered on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. While the crowd
sat along the shore at the water's edge, Jesus sat in a boat and spoke to them
about the kingdom of God. But after sharing four parables with
the crowd he left them and went into a nearby home, possibly the home of Peter's
mother-in-law. At that time he explained the parable of the weeds and
shared a few other parables with his disciples.
So these last few parables were told to those
who had already committed themselves to following Christ. As such, they
addressed issues that only believers would fully understand and appreciate. Those
who don't know Christ wrestle with a number of issues in life, many of which
are the same ones we wrestle with, but they don't wrestle with the issue of
what it means to be a citizen of the Kingdom of God. In particular, they
don't wrestle with the issue of discipleship.
The above two parables, like the previous two,
are twin parables. That is, they are closely related to each other and
appear to communicate the same message. For they each speak of a man
who discovers something valuable and sells everything he has to buy it. But,
the two parables are actually opposite sides of the same coin. The first
addresses the issue of cost, while the second has to do with the value of the
kingdom.2
It is for this reason, the fact that there is
a big difference between cost and value, that I have chosen to treat the parables
individually. This doesn't mean they aren't closely related to each other. It
means each side of the coin is worth looking at in its own right. So
in this lesson we will look at the cost of life in God's Kingdom. The
parable, found only in Matthew 13:44, reads:
"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure
hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy
went and sold all he had and bought that field.
Today, you and I, bury our valuables in an easy-to-get-to
safety deposit box or deep into stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and real estate. In
Jesus' day, it was common practice to literally bury one's valuables as there
wasn't a bank on every corner. In a land, like Israel, that was a doormat
for hostile neighbors on every side this was one way to keep your valuables
from being stolen.3
According to the parable, a man was in a field
and stumbled upon buried treasure. Whether he was simply taking a short-cut
across the field or had been employed to plow the field is unknown. In
all likelihood, he probably came across the buried treasure while plowing the
field. When he found it, he reburied it and sold everything he had so
he could buy the field and thereby gain the treasure in it.
If you think about it, this story
raises some ethical issues. In particular, didn't the man have an obligation
to tell the owner of the field about the treasure? But logic tells us
that the treasure didn't belong to the man who owned the field. Otherwise,
he would have told the man not to man plow that particular area. Or he
would have retrieved the treasure prior to the plowing. Or, if he chose
to sell the field, he would have retrieved it prior to closing the deal. So
apparently the treasure belonged to someone who had long since forgotten about
it or had died.
Second, Jewish rabbinic law said, "if a
man finds scattered fruit or scattered money these belong to the finder." In
other words, a lawyer would argue that this was a clear case of "finders
keepers." Of course another might very well disagree, arguing that
there was nothing "scattered" about it.4
Third, and this bears on the last point, if
the man was truly dishonest he could have simply taken the treasure and hightailed
it across the border. In other words, if he had little or no qualms about
doing the right thing he would've grabbed it and ran. He certainly wouldn't
have gone through all the trouble of purchasing the field.
Fourth, and this is noteworthy, he could've
taken a portion of what he found, purchased the field, and then claimed, as
the owner of the field, that the buried treasure was rightfully his as he hid
it there after he bought the field.
All of this is to say that I do not believe
the Lord meant us to get sidetracked by focusing our attention on the treasure
itself. Nor, by trying to figure out the nature of the treasure. For
example, some scholars believe that the buried treasure represents the nation
of Israel. They reach this conclusion by noting that in Exodus 19:5,
as well as Psalm 135:4, that Israel is referred to as the Lord's "treasured
possession." In this scenario, the man is Christ who sold everything
he had to claim Israel as his own.
While I have no trouble with the idea that Christ
laid everything aside for the sake of Israel, as well as for your sake and
mine, this interpretation of the parable is too much of a leap for me. I
believe, since the parable was presented to the disciples as opposed to the
crowd, and because the emphasis of the parable is on the man's actions, that
the weight of the parable rest on the cost of discipleship.
You see, without seeking the kingdom of God
the man discovered it, or more precisely, it was revealed to him. Perhaps
this is your story, you weren't looking for the kingdom but through a series
of events it was brought to your attention. Maybe you found yourself
in a hotel room with time on your hands and you started reading the only thing
that was available to you - the Bible.
Or, as in my case, when Linda and I were dating
she needed a ride to church on Sunday mornings. I volunteered to drive
her, not because I was equally interested in attending church but because I
wanted to be with her. As I attended, as I listened to the sermons I
was attracted to Christ as well as those who belonged to him. I wasn't
looking for buried treasure but found it buried in the messages I heard every
Sunday morning as well as in the hearts and minds of those who knew Christ
as their Savior and Lord.
To fully possess this treasure, to fully enjoy
being in the kingdom of God, to fully enjoy the richness of the kingdom, requires
us to sell all we have, all that is near and dear to us. The cost requires
us to:
- crucify the flesh every single day.
- say "no" to the idea that we can
live the kingdom life under our own power.
- quit making excuses for our failure to obey
God.
- give up our rights to have everything
our own way.
- quit being so critical of others while being
soft on ourselves.
- be willing to cut off our right hand if it
causes us to sin.
- see all that we have as belonging to God.
- keep a tight reign on the one concealed weapon
all of us carry, our tongue.
- look after the poor and vulnerable among us.
- carry each other's burden.
- share all good things with his teacher.
- do good to all people.
- to keep our word even when it hurts.
-
-
Having looked at the hard side of kingdom life,
I want you note the man's response in finding the treasure was one of joy. He
happily sold everything he had to buy the field wherein lied the buried
treasure. Paul reminded the Christians in Rome, Romans 14:17 that:
". . . the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking (with
little or no regard for others), but of righteousness, peace and joy in the
Holy Spirit."
Out of context it is easy to read such a verse
and think Christians are automatically joyful. Not so! Their righteousness,
their peace, their joy is found in being responsive to the prompting of the
Holy Spirit. It is found in being obedient to the king. It
is found in buying the field in which there is buried treasure in the right
way - by selling everything we have, all that is near and dear to us.
Finally, you will note that the buried treasure,
a depository that contains the blessings of God, must be personally appropriated. This
man understood this concept instantly. He didn't procrastinate, it didn't
take him ten longs years to figure it out as in my case, and he didn't allow
himself to become sidetracked. He willingly gave up all he had to purchase
something that gave him unbounded joy.
1 The
Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) is a classic tale of the elusive search
for gold in the Sierra Madre Mountains by a trio of ill-matched prospectors
that meet in Tampico, Mexico. Director John Huston's third feature film,
is a combination adventure story and Western shot almost entirely on location
(one of the first).
2 I believe the previous two parables which were also given
as a pair concern the same subject - growth. The first, The Case of the
Smallest Seed, has to the with the outward growth of the kingdom. As
we know, it didn't look like much in the beginning. In fact, at the cross,
it appeared to be dead before it ever got off the ground. But today,
the kingdom has subjects in practically every nation, kingdom, and tribe. The
second,The Case of the Purposeful Woman, has to do with inward growth. As
you and I grow in Christ, thorough the ministry of the Holy Spirit, our growth
will become evident to the watching world. So in a very real sense, these
two parables have to do with the public nature of the kingdom. The next
two, as we will see in this lesson and the next, have to do with the private
side of life in the kingdom.
3 In Matthew 25:14 - 30 Jesus told the story of three servants
who were given varied amounts of money. The first two invested what they
had been given and were commended for it. The third, however, buried
the one talent he had been given and was found to be at fault for his failure
to invest it. This story shows us that burying what we have been given
is an option - just not a good option in this particular story.
4 In studying this past week, I came across another piece
of rabbinic jurisprudence that said, "if a workman came on a treasure
in a field and lifted it out, it would belong to his master, the field's owner." But
here the man was careful not to disturb its location until the field rightfully
belonged to him. In short, after looking at it legally and logically
it appears the man did nothing wrong.
JESUS & THE KINGDOM OF GOD 04/29/07 1
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