Have you ever found money or some valuable that someone
else had lost? I remember walking out of a large department store several years
ago and finding a significant sum of cash laying in the parking lot. Of course,
you’re wondering what did I do with it, right? I went back into the store and
told them about my find without disclosing the amount, gave them my phone
number and said; if anyone calls looking for this, have them contact me. I told
the manager that if no one phoned me within a few days, I would keep it. I
didn’t know what else to do.
Surprisingly, I never did hear from anyone about the
money. We were out of town on vacation so I gave some of it to my family and
watched them enjoy spending it.
I suppose every one of us have dreamed at some point
about finding some lost treasure or discovering some vast fortune. Yet I assure
you, discovering the kingdom of God is the greatest treasure that anyone could
every find.
In Matthew 13:44 Christ uses yet another simple
illustration to describe what it is like to become a member of His kingdom.
There the Lord states, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid
in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof
goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.”
In this parable, a man finds a treasure he wasn’t even
looking for.
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| Jim and the Treasure by NC Wyeth |
Perhaps he was a hired-hand employed to plow another
man’s field. As he was making his way row by row tilling the ground, the spade
hit something hard underneath the surface. The worker doubtless assuming it is
just another large stone, digs around it but is shocked to find a treasure
chest. He excitedly opens it to reveal a great fortune within.
Carefully looking around, he then buries the chest back
beneath the ground and leaves from the field to go out and do whatever he must
to purchase this field. The laborer is not wealthy, so in order to buy the land
with the hidden treasure in it, he must sell everything he has in order to get
the needed cash. Obviously, the value of the treasure was worth more than
everything else he owned. So with joy, he sold everything in order to buy the
field.
Such a thing actually happening may sound far-fetched to
us, but yet again, we must put the parable in the context in which it was
given. The land of Israel is the most contested piece of real estate on the
planet. It has been overrun and laid siege to, many times over. Countless
families have had their homes ransacked and their life savings stolen over the
centuries.
So, it wasn’t uncommon for Jewish families to hide their
valuables somewhere on their property. One has to remember, they didn’t have an
FDIC insured First National Bank of Jerusalem with safe deposit boxes. Nor did
the people own large metal safes to keep their valuables secure. It was normal
to hide one’s valuables underneath the earth or in a secret location somewhere.
But what happens when someone forgets where they stored
their valuables? Or they die in war, and no one knows where the family fortune
is hidden? Or if the patriarch of the family dies unexpectedly without relating
where their valuables were hidden. What then?
Such a thing occurred frequently enough that there were
Jewish Rabbinical laws written to address it. One such law stated that: ““if a
man finds scattered fruit or money, it belongs to the finder.” Christ is simply
using yet another familiar practice to make a truth more relatable.
Now the behavior of the man in our parable may sound
unethical to us, but instead he was acting well within his rights. “Finders
keepers” if you will, was the law of the land in Israel.
Furthermore, this parable isn’t about greed or illegitimate
gain. The point of the story is not to warn against covetousness (there are
other parables that address those issues). Rather, the lesson Christ would have
His hearers learn is that His kingdom is worth more than anything else you own.
Once you have discovered it, you need to do whatever you must in order to obtain
it.
The Bible is full of examples of men and women who were
not out looking for Christ, but once they discovered this “Hidden Treasure”
they were delighted to do whatever they must to make Him their own. Nothing you
have in this life is worth holding on to if it keeps you from holding on to
Jesus.
Dear reader, have you found this hidden treasure? There
is nothing that can bring greater joy, than discovering the cherished prize of
eternal life in the Lord Jesus Christ!
Lewis Kiger
Memorial Heights Baptist Church
Memorial Heights Baptist Church
svdbygrace2@roadrunner.com
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