Hidden Treasure

“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."

Matthew 13:44

Perhaps you have noticed. My topics the last two weeks have tended towards the basics of the faith.  Two weeks ago I talked about the “Catechism.”  Last week, I looked at the role of the law as a mirror showing us the sinful truth about ourselves.  This week I have been thinking about what picture I might use for the  “The Gospel.”  Lo and behold Jesus provides just such picture in 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 love the image of the Gospel as “hidden treasure.”  That image fires up my imagination. As a kid we were always playing pirates and searching for “buried treasure.”  How is the “Kingdom of heaven” a hidden treasure?    Well, how in the world could an ordinary baby be the “son of God?”  That’s crazy!   Yet we believe that is the treasure hidden in the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ.  He is “the word made flesh.”  How can a crucified man be the Savior?  That’s crazy too. Yet we believe that’s the treasure hidden on Calvary’s cross.  The innocent God-Man Jesus Christ suffered the penalty for our sin so that we who are guilty might be declared “not guilty.”  How can we stand at the funeral, looking at the dead body of a loved one and yet confess hope that even though he has died “yet shall he live?”  That’s the treasure hidden in Christ’s tomb – the fact that His tomb is empty… that “because He lives, we shall live also.”  That is a treasure worth selling all you have so that you might make it your own.  Of course that’s also the problem for you and me.  Even if you or I gave everything we had, even our very lives, we could never afford to buy this treasure for ourselves.  Our only hope is that someone else might by it for us.

 That’s why many have wondered if perhaps the hidden treasure in this parable is you and me.  Perhaps the one who goes and sells all He has to buy that field is our God and Savior.  After all that is what God did.  He gave His Son to purchase us for Himself.  Jesus purchased us for the Father “not with gold or silver but with His holy precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death.”  The problem here is – how can you and I be considered “treasure?”  After all, we must confess with St. Paul “that nothing good dwells in me…”  As we confess on Sundays “I am a poor miserable sinner…”  How can you or I be considered “treasure?”  Again its hidden treasure… hidden not in us but in God’s amazing love for us.  What makes us treasure is how much He loves us, in the price that He is willing to pay for us, in the blood He shed that you and I “might be His own…”

Just before Linda and I left the US we took Bethany, Jason and John Wayne out for dinner at a really nice restaurant.  That night I spent a lot of time walking John Wayne around so that Beth could enjoy the meal.  Later, dreading a little how big the bill was going to be, I asked for the check so I could pay.  To my surprise, the waitress said, there is no bill.  That couple over there paid it for you.   We didn’t know the couple.  There was no reason for them to pay for us.  They just liked watching me carry our grandson.  Wow, what a gift, I thought.  And, what a picture of what our God has done for us.  We don’t deserve salvation.  We can’t afford it.  But our God and Savior has paid the price for us!  Whichever way you interpret this parable, that’s the point. That’s the unbelievable hidden treasure. That’s the Gospel – God’s invaluable gift of salvation given to us for free in Christ.