INTRO
What lady doesn’t like pearls? I know mine does. A number of years ago, when Hallie was just a little tike, a Chinese man we knew gave Danielle a string of pearls as a gift. Okay — not what you’re thinking. We were considering bringing this man into our (former) business —and I think he was trying to show off or something. We later found out the Chinese government had a warrant for his arrest. Anyway, the pearls he gave to Danielle were different from the ones we might find in a jewelry store; they were natural, not cultivated.
Now, the most common kind of pearl found in jewelry stores are those cultivated by oyster farmers. According to one online source, cultured pearls are often “pre-formed, and tend to follow the shape of the implanted bead. Once the oyster farmer inserts the pre-formed beads into the oyster, the oyster does its thing to make the pearl around bead. After about six months, the farmers harvest the pearls, and sell them to jewelers to shape and polish.
But, the pearls given to Danielle were different. These pearls we natural and harvested from the bottom of the sea floor. They weren’t perfectly round, nor were they the same size or color. Instead, they were different shapes and shades. They weren’t fancy, and they may not have been highly prized because they we’re large or perfectly round, as some natural pearls can be. Still, here’s what’s neat; someone — probably living near the South China sea — dove into the water and gathered hundreds and hundreds of oysters in order to string together just a few pearls, who later sold them to the Chinese man, who then gifted them to Danielle.
This morning, we’re going to dig into God’s word, and see how God compares the kingdom of heaven to fine pearls, and what that means for us. So with that, please open your bibles to the Matthew 13:45–46. Let’s read it again for our good pleasure and for our listening audience. READ MATTHEW 13:45–46
THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
Now, before we go any further, I thought it would be fitting us to understand that there’s a few different ways we can look at this passage. The most obvious is that which accepted by the general community. We’re going to look at this, but much like pearls, there’s multiple layers to this passage and other interesting ways to look at it. So, let’s do that by first considering what the kingdom of heaven is, and once we’ve done that, we can see why it is to be sought like a fine pearl.
Now, to be truthful, we could try to understand the kingdom of heaven in the most complex of ways. But to be honest, we can put aside any scholarly understanding and look at through the lens of simply the text. The first place we see any mention of the kingdom of heaven is in Matthew 3:2. Mathew wrote, “In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” In v.8, John said to the Pharisees, “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”
But what did the Baptist mean? The clue lies in VV 11-12 of that same passage. Let’s read it together. John said, “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
So what John the Baptist was saying here, is that the kingdom of Heaven is coupled to the one who gathers unto himself the righteous —who live fruitful lives —because they have been liberated from the unquenchable fire that burns. In short, John was speaking of Jesus, and linking Jesus with the kingdom of heaven. So what he’s really saying here, is repent for Jesus is at hand.
Now, of the Kingdom of heaven, Jesus never said directly what it was, only that like John before him, all people should repent, because the kingdom of heaven was at hand. But what did Jesus mean? It can seem like we’re spinning in circles?
After all the years I’ve studied and read the bible, this is what I believe it to mean. The kingdom of heaven is all that Jesus encompasses in his incarnation, life, ministry, death, resurrection, and future return. The kingdom of heaven is all that’s enveloped within Christ.
Jesus is the promised resurrection. He is the way we really know and live peace and love. He is the means by which we are forgiven, saved, redeemed, and brought into the eternal inheritance in God’s everlasting kingdom. He is the hope of the present, and the hope of the future. He is the means by which evil is abolished; and he is the way to living rightly with God and others.
So, when Jesus is saying that the kingdom of heaven is upon us, he’s saying: love, salvation, redemption and the way, the truth, and the life to eternal peace is upon you through me. He’s saying that the kingdom of heaven, through him, is the means to living a fruit-filled life of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
And while all this is a lot, this still doesn’t fully describe the kingdom of heaven. Jesus said to Peter, as recorded by Matthew 16:19, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Now truthfully, this passage can get complex too; however, part of what Jesus is saying here is that the Kingdom of heaven is to be lived and made available through the church. One scholar put it well when he stated:
“The kingdom is the whole of God’s redeeming activity in Christ in this world; the church is the assembly of those who belong to Jesus Christ.” Later in his writing he said, “The church is the assembly of those who have accepted the gospel of the kingdom in faith, who participate in the salvation of the kingdom, which includes the forgiveness of sins, adoption by God, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the possession of eternal life.”
What all this means is that kingdom of heaven is something to be highly treasured. It came with extreme cost to Jesus Christ, and it comes at extreme cost to those wanting to participate in the kingdom of heaven’s eternal promises. In that way, Jesus likens the kingdom of heaven to a fine pearl. Let’s go back to Chapter 13.
THE KINGDOM IS LIKENED TO A FINE PEARL
Let’s look at vv 45-46 one more time, because we can quickly forget what we’ve read when we’ve been looking related concepts. Jesus said, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. We need to ask, who’s the merchant looking for fine pearls? This is where it get’s fun, and we can look at this passage from different angles.
One way for us to understand Jesus’ words is too see that he was comparing the merchant to those who are seeking God’s eternal promises. But we have to be cautioned in what we’re reading, because, if we read this literally, versus metaphorically —as a parable is — it can sound as though we can buy our way into the kingdom of heaven. But we can’t. We can’t purchase our salvation on our own behalf; we can’t purchase the kingdom of heaven —like some tried and failed to do.
I think of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5. They lied to Peter about selling their property and giving the proceeds to the church. Peter gave them a chance to fess up, but they both continued their lie. They were trying to puff themselves up and act as though they had “sold out;” but in reality, all they did was sell out themselves. For their deceit God, struck them down —dead.
Then, in Acts 8, we read of Simon the Sorcerer. Luke wrote, “When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.”
What Peter was saying to Simon was, may you have no part in the Kingdom of Heaven -- you’re money cannot buy you the Kingdom, Simon. So, Jesus IS NOT saying here that we can buy the kingdom. Instead, what Jesus is doing here is playing with our human sensibilities. He knows what like nice things — like pearls; like precious gems; like gold and silver, and all the things we can buy today — things like electronics, cars, and fine jewelry.
Now, if we really want something fine, something we value, there’s a number of ways we can acquire it. We can purchase it on credit; we can save up for it and pay for it with cash; we can barter for it; or we can sell other things we already own to buy that, one precious thing —as we see in the Gospel for this morning. Still, there’s also one other way we can acquire that thing we value: we can simply ask for it —for maybe the one who dove for the pearl will give it for free if we simply ask.
What Jesus is talking about is a combination of the later; we can buy the kingdom of heaven, but it is ours for the asking. However, just because its free, doesn’t mean that it didn’t come at a high price, and we should be willing to sell all that we have in order to buy that thing we treasure.
So ultimately, one of the things Jesus is doing here, is he’s getting us to ask ourselves, what is that I really value? Do I value the Kingdom of heaven enough to give up all that I’ve ever acquired, all that I’ve ever worked so hard for, in order to obtain it?
He saying to us, “Because you asked, I’m going to give you this pearl. It’s the finest pearl in all the universe; nothing compares to it, except you. But please know, this pearl came at a price, and by giving it to you, I ask that you change the way you live your life. No longer seek after the things that adorn your lives and make you feel worthy, like this pearl. Instead, sell out-out by giving me your all, and as you do, this peal will be of more value.
And as great news as this is, there’s still one more way we can look at this passage — by comparing Jesus to the merchant who sold all he had to purchase that one, fine pearl.
WE ARE LIKE FINE PEARLS
To God, you are that most precious pearl. You are a fine pearl, with infinite value, and because you are, Jesus was willing to dive into the sea of humanity in search of you. Not only that, but he gave up everything —he emptied himself, including his life — in order to purchase you from the devil on the Cross of Calvary. Jesus came from heaven, to bring the kingdom of heaven to earth, by purchasing the kingdom with his life.
Let m e close and summarize with this. The kingdom of heaven is like a fine pearl. As those likened to the merchant, Jesus says, “Search yourself and ask, are you willing to give up all that you’ve ever known and own to come into the kingdom of heaven?” And as those likened to the pearl, Jesus was willing to give up all that he ever had to purchase us from Satan, and back into God’s eternal love, peace, and eternal presence.
For both these reasons, Jesus is saying to us, “Wear the kingdom of heaven around your neck, like that of a beautiful pearl necklace.” Show off the kingdom to all your friends, and when they ask where you got it, tell them it was a gift —one that you too can have. Let me ask you in closing, “Won’t you show off your pearl necklace today?”
