Matthew 13:44-52 (Pentecost 9)

Matthew 13:44-52 (Pentecost 9)

St. John, Galveston 7/26/26

Rev. Alan Taylor 

+ In Nomine Jesu +

Grace to you and peace, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

A friend of mine, Dr. Jeffrey Gibbs, wrote the three volumes of the Concordia Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew. Needless to say, he gives a lot of good insights into Matthew’s Gospel. One of those insights relates to the Gospel reading for this morning, which is made up of three parables, the parable of the “hidden treasure,” “the parable of the pearl of great price,” and the parable of “the Net.”

Of the first two parables in particular, the “hidden treasure” and the “Pearl of Great Price,” Dr. Gibbs writes the following. “There is an almost unanimous interpretative tradition of these two parables. This tradition holds that the two parables teach “the cost of discipleship” and, therefore; they exhort all Christians to hold Christ and/or his reign as the greatest good for which they should be willing to suffer the loss of all other things.”

One of the problems with that interpretive tradition is that it leaves all us condemned by the parables, because none of us have suffered the loss everything for the privilege of following Jesus. Even more though, the traditional interpretation misses something that is characteristic of what are called “the reign parables” in Matthew’s Gospel. The reign (reign) parables are the parables that talk about the coming reign of Christ in the world. 

Regarding those parables, Dr. Gibbs continues, “In Matthew’s Gospel, whenever a reign parable has a lone human figure in it, that figure always represents, God, or more specifically, Jesus. Furthermore, when there are multiple characters in the parable, with one of them being in the central position, that central character, once again, always represents God, or Jesus. In other words, in the reign parables in Matthew’s Gospel, God or Jesus, is always the central figure, indicating that the reign of God has to do chiefly with what He is doing in the world through the coming of His Son, as opposed to what we do to receive His reign.” 

What God is doing in the world through Jesus. There are, of course, a number of ways to approach that subject, but based on the first two parables for this morning, we’ll approach it based on three principles, or three absolutes regarding God and His creation. First, from the very beginning, God considered His fallen creation worth saving. Frankly, this has been a difficult issue for many people over the course of their lives. Where, one might ask, is my worth as a human being? What makes me, or what makes you worth something? Many people struggle their whole life with the essential question of being, of worth. Well, quite simply, your worth is not primarily in you, rather it is in God.  

One of the first things God did after Adam and Eve disobeyed His single command, plunging all of creation into sin and death, was to promise to restore it, to redeem it. And then, in time, as the Scriptures say, “in fullness of time,” He gave His only begotten Son, the seed of the woman, to suffer and die the penalty of sin, in order to crush the head of the serpent and to deliver humanity from sin and death. And so, in God’s promise, and in the fulfillment of it, He demonstrated the great value that each of you have in His eyes.

Secondly, to redeem the world from sin and death, God didn’t call to claw and strain in life to make our way to Him. Rather, He came to us in the person of Jesus. Which is to say, God came to find you, rather than demanding that you seek and find Him. This truth about God is evidenced throughout the Scriptures. For instance, in John 3, we are told that, “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.” And so, later in the New Testament, the Apostle writes, “(He, meaning God) has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Again, as Jesus Himself said, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you.”

What God is doing in the world through Jesus. So, God found great worth in His creation by virtue of the creative act itself. Secondly, in order to redeem His creation from sin and death, He came down, He descended from His heavenly abode, He came to you and to me, precisely because of His great love for you. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but shall have everlasting life.”

These things being true, we might better look at the first two parables in this morning’s Gospel reading them from the point of view of the central character, who in the reign parables in Matthew’s Gospel, is always, always, God, or Jesus. “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who found a hidden treasure and merchant who found a pearl of great value.” Folks, you are not the man who found the treasure, nor are you the merchant who found a great pearl, rather, you are the treasure, the pearl itself. 

Now, please note that this interpretation of the two parables isn’t brand new, nor is it, by any means, unique to me. To the contrary, this is the way Martin Luther, as well as, many of the other Lutheran Reformers understood the two parables. In his commentary on Matthew 13, Luther made note of what he frequently called the dynamic of the "great exchange". He wrote, “Christ, the heavenly merchant, gives up all that He has (His very life) to purchase the pearl. Historically, some theologians debated whether the pearl was the Kingdom of Heaven (which is the traditional view) or the soul of the believer. Luther frequently emphasized that Christ sacrificially buys us—the sinner—with His precious blood to claim us as His own.”

What God is doing in the world through Jesus. This last point of Luther, about the “great exchange,” is where the Gospel is revealed to us in such clarity, such beauty and such comfort to our souls. The Apostle stated this doctrine of Scripture with great clarity,

“God made Him who knew no sin (meaning Jesus), to be sin, that you might be the very righteousness of God in Him.” The prophet Isaiah wrote of the same righteousness when he addressed the salvation of the people of Judah. “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels…The Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.”

You have great value in the eyes of God because He has chosen to value you. God took what is yours, namely, sin and death, and He gave you what is His, righteousness and holiness before God. The two little parables before us this morning, the one about the hidden treasure and the other, about the pearl of great price, reflect what we believe and confess regarding out salvation in Jesus Christ.
 

“I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord, who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true.”

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.

+ Soli Deo Gloria +