Sunday Readings: 1 Kings 3.5, 7-12;, Romans 8.28-30; Matthew 13.44-52
Jesus spoke to the crowd in parables. “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it (Matthew 13.44-45).
A parable links the daily and familiar with the mystery of God that is beyond our knowing. This means our experience cracks open the door to the mystery of God. The gospel writer Matthew packs six parables that begin the kingdom of heaven is like. . . Last week the parable advised letting the wheat and invasive weeds grow together until harvest, then to separate them and cast the weeds into the furnace of fire. By weeds the parable means evildoers who will be separated out in the last judgment. As a gospel writer Matthew’s seems to love scolding and threatening with fire.
This week the kingdom of heaven is like a man who accidently finds a treasure hidden in a field, sells all he has, and buys the field. The kingdom of God is also like a merchant who deliberately searches for a perfect pearl, finds it, and sells all he has to buy it. In both stories the person buys what is precious, the field with hidden treasure, the perfect precious pearl. Accident or search, both parables ask us the hearers to give everything we have to claim the kingdom of heaven.
The farmer and the merchant totally realign their lives and resources. What treasure is worth selling all one has to find joy. But what do buyers do with their finds? The parable focuses only on possession, not outcome.
There is a third parable this Sunday—about a catch of fish of every kind that has to be sorted, good fish kept and bad thrown out. Similarly, angels will separate the righteous from the evil folks.
Jesus’ parables challenge us to work on the insights they reveal to us about ourselves. Parables call us to make judgments, to throw out the useless in our lives, embrace all that gives life, to give all we have in love to one another.
- What is the treasure for you in being a Christian?
- What is something you no longer need in your life?
Perhaps some cannot see in Jesus a treasure worth their lives and wholehearted commitment. Jesus’ parables don’t boss us about how to live. Instead the parables challenge us to work on what they reveal to us about ourselves. Parables call us to make judgments, to throw out the useless in our lives and embrace all that gives life. l What is the treasure for you in being a Christian? l What is something you no longer need in your life?What pearl is worth selling everything to possess? A state of happiness comes with the field—joy. The merchant possesses a perfect pearl. The field and the pearl are things
I helped the sister who did vocations work back when I entered the Sisters:
“What do we give ourselves to wholeheartedly? To what the gospel writer Matthew pack eight parables in chapter 13 practices make no difference? Perhaps people are sorting themselves out in the new Christian communities. Some choose to open their hearts as good ground to receive Jesus’ word. Some choose to spend themselves wholeheartedly as disciples.