The Parable of Great Price

Why does selling everything you own to buy one thing like giving it all up for the kingdom of heaven? seems more like an obsession to me...and that the pearl is being put before God...????... I don't know...i just don't get it. I looked up a different version last night and was only more confused.”—Brandi, Illinois

Ahh, yes, the parable of the Pearl of Great Price. Jesus was the Master Teacher and He often spoke in parables. Parables are stories from everyday life used to illustrate God's truth to us. When Jesus speaks of the pearl of great price, He speaks of its value. Pearls in the ancient world were considerably hard to find and worth a fortune. Allow me to quote the parable from Matthew 13 as well as the one before it,

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.

45"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it."

When Jesus calls us to Himself, He calls us to die. We die to ourselves, our wants, our desires, and we die to our former way of life (Gal. 2:20; Eph. 4:22) . Jesus calls us to follow Him, to pick up His cross daily and follow Him. When He spoke these words to the apostles (the language about picking or carrying their cross), He had not yet died. It was a profound statement, because Jesus was drawing on the image of capital punishment. He was saying, in modern day usage, "Take up your electric chair and follow Me." Why? Because of who He is, what He has done and what this world is. The Bible says that this world is hostile to God (James 4:4). It desires what is contrary to God's Word.

When the man in the parable discovers the treasure in the field (v. 44), he has discovered something worth much more than all that he possesses. The treasure is the kingdom of heaven and all that he has is his former way of life. He gives up everything he has in order to get much more. When we come to Christ we give Him our life in order to have eternity. Allow me to illustrate. There is a story of a young boy who had his hand stuck in a jar. It was a blue jar and one couldn't see inside it. The adults around him tried everything that they could in order to get his hand out of the jar. They used water, butter, etc., but no matter what they did, the boy couldn't pull his hand out of the jar. Finally, one of the adults looked at the boy and said, "Here, do like I do, stretch out your hand like this and slowly slide your hand out." But the boy replied, "No, I can't, I will drop my penny if I do."

The point of the story is, many want to hold onto their former way of life (i.e. sins, desires, their own wants, etc.). But Jesus will have none of it. Jesus is infinitely greater than what this world has to offer. We give up everything in order get everything. Or as Jim Eliott, a martyred missionary of a bygone era once said, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep in order to gain what he cannot lose." This world and it's desires are passing away and will pass away. Only what is done for Christ and in Christ is going to last.

So, this merchant that sold everything he had in order to get that pearl, so do we give everything in order to get everything. For we recognize who Christ is and what He has done. He is the Lord of all the universe and salvation is found in no other name except His (Acts 4:12). We give all in order to get all and nothing is worth more value then Him. He is worth more than my comfort, my wealth, my status, my dreams, family, etc. As I tell my wife, "Honey, you are number 2 in my life." And she readily understands and would want it no other way. Jesus Christ is my Lord, my Savior, my Redeemer, and my God. He is my all in all and when I came to Him as a dirty sinner, I gave Him everything. I gave my brokenness, my sin, my future, my relationships, everything.

Perhaps another illustration may help us here. Imagine for a moment, you and your husband were to purchase a home. What would you do when you moved in and the previous occupant had moved everything out of the house but one room. They kept one bedroom for themselves and put all of their junk and dirty stuff in it. Gross and unacceptable, right? The same is true of us spiritually. Christ has purchased our spiritual home (our very lives) on Calvary. He paid the price for our sins, but we must accept that payment by placing our faith in Him, or as the Scripture says that we, "Must be born again" (John 3:3). And when we do that, we become "new creations" (2 Corinthians 5:17). We give over the entirety of our house over to Him and let Him do with it as He sees fit. We are no longer our own, but His and submit and order our lives accordingly.

Great question, please keep them coming!!