The Hidden Treasure
Jesus anticipates All Saints Day with a Parable
Matthew 13:44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”
Joy and excitement hardly describe how the man was feeling as he walked away from the real estate agency. In his hand was a deed of title. That day he had secured possession of a field his heart had been set upon owning for a very long time.
The sum he’d paid to close the deal was no paltry sum. Such was his desire to make the field his own that he’d sold absolutely everything! He knew something about that field that had made the price he paid completely worth it, for he knew there was treasure there.
The man had discovered the treasure that was buried there, and hid it again before going back to the city to sell up and buy the field. People had wondered why the man was so happy, and wherever he went children and their parents would gravitate toward him - his joy was contagious.
And soon the day arrived. The cup of suffering that overflowed that day was agonizing and humiliating. However the thought of the treasure that was buried in that field, the joy just ahead, strengthened his resolve. He endured the pain and disregarded what others thought of his passion.
Before the day had ended, the field was his, the title deed was in his name, and the treasure he would claim as his own.
It was a day no one would forget, for this was no ordinary man, this was none other than the King of love, the creator and sustainer of every person who had ever lived. And this was no ordinary field, it was the entire race of humankind since the very first man had been created.
And the price he paid for the field was nothing less than his life …
of his own free will he gave up all he had,
and took the nature of a servant.
He became like a human being
and appeared in human likeness.
He was humble and walked the path of obedience
all the way to death
his death on the cross.
(Philippians 2:7-8 GNB)
And the hidden treasure known to him? They were the dead: buried out of sight to the living, but known to the King of love for they had been created in his image, flowing from the other-centred love that defined the relationship he had with his Father in the Spirit.
There was precious Adam and beautiful Eve, there were the multitudes held like captives hoping a day would come when the locks and hinges would go flying as the doors were smashed open. Hoping they would be led out as the King’s captives.
And it happened. Because the Divine King was fully human he was subject to death - like the rest of Adam’s race. But for him, death was a doorway to the place of the departed, and now with the keys to death and hell (they came with the title deed), he descended to the realm of the dead. He had a message to proclaim, to preach in that place, that those who were there had not heard before - that they, along with the living and those yet to be born, were counted in Christ’s reconciling death.
The love that radiated from the King illuminated the halls of Sheol, and light touched every soul.
One of them had once written …
“Where can I flee from your presence?
... If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.”
Psalm 139:7-8
Before the day of his death, before this descending, the King had said, “Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.” (John 5:25)
The King would be radiating his love and preaching God’s grace, forgiveness and reconciliation for three days. And then, taking Adam and Eve by the hand, he who had descended started to rise ... an entourage too numerous to count were following. He rose, they rose and ascended far above all the heavens. (Ephesians 4:8-10)
The grave had been plundered, Sheol had been harvested, and the man who had bought the field had all his treasure.
The Storyteller: Retelling the Parables of Jesus. My Journey in God’s Love and Grace by David Collins - www.amazon.com/Storyteller-Retelling-Parables-Jesus-Journey