Imagine a man who trespasses into someone’s field and finds a treasure in the middle of that field. Then, instead of telling the owner of the field that there is treasure, he covets the treasure for himself. He sets his heart on getting it into his own hands. So, instead of protecting his neighbor’s property (aside from just telling him about it), he hides the treasure, he sells absolutely everything he has, and deceptively buys the whole field from his neighbor.

Imagine a legitimate, but fairly obsessive, merchant who searches for high value pearls. (In the ancient world, pearls may have been as valuable as diamonds are today.) As the merchant searches for pearls, he finds an extremely rare pearl, a one-of-a-kind pearl. He decides that he must have it. So, he sells absolutely everything he has and buys that one pearl.

These two stories are basically the gist of two of the parables in today’s Gospel. Jesus’ parables are down-to-earth everyday stories about farmers, shepherds, merchants, family members, widows, kings, employees, employers, etc. … stories about regular people. The thing about the Lord’s parables is that within these every day stories, there’s often something absurd within the story that would either surprise Jesus’ hearers (or really offend them). Think of the farmer who sowed seed absolutely everywhere—even on the road… Absurd to Jesus’ hearers. The Samaritan stopped to help a man beaten to near death after a priest and Levite pretended not to see him… Caught Jesus’ hearers off-guard. The father ran to see his prodigal son who months earlier told the father, “I wish you were dead.”… Unthinkable to Jesus’ hearers. This morning’s parables involve two treasure hunters. One is deceptive; the other is a bit obsessed. We might see the both of them as foolish for selling absolutely everything to own to buy their treasure.

How should we understand today’s parables? Dr. Jeff Gibbs (emeritus professor of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis) urges us to think of the “kingdom of heaven” as the “reign of heaven.” Do you notice the difference? “Kingdom of heaven” emphasizes a place ruled by a king. That’s not really what Jesus wants us to imagine here. “Reign of heaven” emphasizes the activity of a king. Jesus wants us to picture God’s activity through His Son, as He reinstates His reign in His fallen creation. God, in Christ Jesus, operates in a way that’s unexpected as He reconciles the world to Himself. These two parables illustrate the Lord’s activity, and understood in that way, they are fairly easy to interpret.

In the first parable, the field is the world, the whole Christian Church is the treasure in that field. The man who finds the treasure and buys the field is none other than Jesus. Our Redeemer has found the treasure in the world. Our Redeemer has hidden (or protected) the treasure in the world. He has protected the treasure from the assaults of the devil. He has protected the treasure from the temptations of the world. He has protected us amid the effects of sin in this fallen creation. Christ has hidden you in the world so that you may be protected. Just as Noah and his family were protected from the flood within the ark, so the Lord has brought you into the ark of His Church where He feeds you His Word and Sacraments to keep you alert and strengthened amid the dangers of the world.

In the parable, the man doesn’t just buy the treasure. He buys the entire field. Again, think of this from the perspective of the activity of Jesus. He doesn’t only redeem certain people. He is the world’s Redeemer. Scripture says He “takes away the sin of the world.” Scripture says He’s “the propitiation for our sins, and not for our sins only but also for the sins of the world.” The man didn’t buy a part of the field, He bought the whole field. Jesus didn’t only buy those who believe with His precious blood, but He died for the whole world. Scripture says, “For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” God, in Christ, reconciled the world to Himself. He bridged the chasm of sin that separated God and humankind.

What seems to be a story of deception turns out to be a story of the Lord’s very own determination to redeem you. The Lord goes to great lengths in order to purchase you. He stops at nothing to save you. The mission to pay the price for your sins will not be denied. Scripture says, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?” The answer is, “No! Neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The love of God is like a man who finds treasure in a field, hides it, and then buys the field with all he has! He lays down His life to buy the field! Nothing will stop him!

In the second parable, the merchant is none other than Jesus and the pearl is the whole Christian Church. Just as the merchant searches out fine pearls, so the Lord “seeks and saves the lost.” Even though we are all by nature sinful and unclean such that sin corrupts the core of our being, the Lord values sinful humanity as creatures made in His image and likeness.

The first parable describes the extremes that the Lord goes to in order to redeem you. This parable describes the value that the Lord places on you as part of the Christian Church. Because of the kind of work he’s involved in, the merchant likely has money. He’s well-to-do. He has stuff. He has wealth—probably lots of it. But… but… he gives it all away to have one pearl!

Think of Jesus…He gave up everything. Scripture says, “Though he was in the form of God, [He] did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of man. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Jesus had everything. There was a point in time when He was 100% God only. But then through His conception in the virgin Mary, He assumes humanity into Himself and becomes 100% God and 100% man—a humbling reality. The Creator becomes Creator/Creature. Not only that, but He does this for the very purpose of suffering hell on the cross and dying for the sins of mankind. Scripture says, “Though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich.” Jesus sold everything He had (even His life) so that He may possess you. The Lord bought you with His precious blood and innocent suffering and death. Scripture says, “God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

The final parable actually returns us to the theme that we heard last week in the parable of the weeds. The reign of heaven is like this giant net that catches all kinds of fish. Scholars say that the nets used for fishing were very large. They would be dragged through the water between two fishing boats. Then the fishermen would keep the good fish and toss aside any bad fish.

Similar to the way that the man in the first parable bought the whole field, the Lord’s net captures everything it meets. The death of Christ Jesus redeems all people of their sins with such effect that His resurrection means all people will be raised from the dead. The bodily resurrection will happen to all people, because Jesus “takes away the sins of the world.”

The benefits of the bodily resurrection are received through faith. Sadly, for various reasons, there are many who want nothing to do with the Lord who bought them, there are many who ignore the Lord who bought them. Salvation is for them; Jesus has already obtained it. Yet, He doesn’t force Himself on people. Many reject the Lord and His forgiveness that frees them to stand in God’s presence. Rejecting the Lord who redeemed them, they remain in their sins. Rejecting the Lord’s grace and mercy, they will face judgment with nothing on their record except sin. Unfortunately (and really unnecessarily because of what Christ has done), they will be eternally separated from God’s mercy and cast into hell—even though Jesus died for them.

After telling a series of seven parables (some we’ve heard the last few weeks), Jesus asks His disciples, “Have you understood all these things?” They say, “Yes.” The Lord then says, “On account of this every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.” 

The Pharisees and most of the crowds don’t understand the parables. They don’t perceive that the reign of heaven is embodied in the person of Jesus who has come into the world to reestablish God’s reign in this fallen creation. The Pharisees see Jesus as a law-breaker stealing their thunder. The crowds see Him as a magician who does things to make their lives better. They all are missing out on the joy that Jesus has come to save them from their sins.

The disciples, on the other hand, believe that Jesus is the Messiah. They don’t understand a lot of what Jesus is doing and they are often overconfident in their thinking. Nevertheless, they were promised that after Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven, the Holy Spirit would give them understanding and teach them all things. So having been trained by Jesus, they pass on what He taught them to the succeeding generations—right down to you and me. We are blessed to pass on their teachings to succeeding generations. The Lord “trained the disciples to make disciples” as we hear at the end of this Gospel.

The apostles were trained to understand and teach Jesus’ activity in the world. In so doing, they brought out what is old and what is new. Think about it this way, a dinner party host is able to bring out delicious “new” foods like fresh vegetables while at the same time satisfying guests with “aged” foods like cheeses. Without throwing aside the Old Testament, Jesus taught His disciples to bring forth the New Testament. For example, you hear and understand that the Old Testament prophesies of and points to Jesus. You hear and understand that Jesus fulfills the Old Testament and brings to culmination God’s saving plan from before the beginning of the world in the New Testament.

Rejoice, dear Christians! The Lord Jesus has purchased you to live and reign in His kingdom now and forevermore. You are His treasured possession having been redeemed with the payment of His life’s blood. He promises never to forsake you, but to feed and nourish you with His Word and Sacraments while He protects you in His Church. Amen.