Matthew 13:44-46; the Bible
"Again the Kingdom of Heaven is likened to treasure that was hidden
in a field which a man found and hid, and for his joy he went
selling everything that he had and he bought that field."
At first glance here, it looks like Jesus is praising a man for doing something underhanded; like finding a large sum of money in a purse at a yard sale, closing it back up and buying it from the owner for the $5 asking price. I mean, after all, he does find a hidden treasure. He does cover it back up, and it does look like he might be buying it at a lower price; kind of like insider trading on the stock market.
Perhaps though, this parable isn’t about motive. Jesus never said the man was doing everything holy and upright. In fact he never commented on the motive. It seems almost irrelevant. Perhaps the owner of the field did not consider it of any worth. After all it doesn’t say who hid it or from whom it was hidden. We just assume that the owner of the field thought it was valuable and buried it in the field for safekeeping.
Jesus doesn’t condemn or condone – he just states the facts. Perhaps the point here is the risk. The man found something so valuable to himself that he was willing to risk everything he had ever done, ever made, ever acquired, or even perhaps everything that gave him prominence in the community.
Once he sold it all, there was nothing left but a bag of money, nothing to identify him by trade or status, no place to live or food to eat. Soon he would be left with no money, only himself an empty field and the thing buried in the ground.
Perhaps the motives don’t matter as much as the desire. Perhaps the monetary value of his possessions is also irrelevant as long as there is enough to buy the field.
Perhaps his passion was all consuming.
Perhaps that’s the point.
I’m not sure – I was just wondering….
Perhaps the Gospel is found in the most unlikely of places.