Smoodock's Blog

The final three parables were delivered, not to the people, but to Jesus’ disciples. Furthermore, no explanation is offered in the text, because, when Jesus asked if they understood what he told them, they claimed they did (Matthew 13:51). Nevertheless, I have to wonder, did they really understand what Jesus had just told them privately? Let’s consider this thought for a moment.

Most scholars believe that Jesus was speaking of the Gospel that was hidden in the parables, which, when a man discovers this hidden treasure, he sells all he has in order to obtain the riches he has found, vis-à-vis in contradistinction to the weeds in Jesus’ first parable that choked the seed, and the Gospel, under those circumstances, couldn’t bear fruit (cp. Matthew 13:7, 22). Instead, this fellow gets rid of all other consuming interests in order to fill his heart with the Gospel. So, the ‘selling’ was what was done with a man’s other interests, and this was done to make room for the Gospel. While this is a good thought, and the servant of the Lord should put his interest in the Gospel above all other interests, and, indeed, Jesus’ disciples did do this very thing (Mark 10:28; Luke 18:28), this explanation doesn’t fit the content of the parable! Therefore, we should look for another explanation. However, in light of what Peter told Jesus (Mark 10:28 & Luke 18:28), this is something which Jesus’ disciples could have thought Jesus meant in the final three parables.

What is wrong with this interpretation? To begin with, the person who found the treasure in the field, didn’t buy the treasure, which is defined as the Gospel in the presumed explanation above. Instead, the person, who found the treasure, bought the field that contained the treasure. Once he bought the field, the treasure automatically became his own possession. So, what’s the field that had to be bought, before possession of the treasure could be arranged? In the Parable of the Sower, the ‘field’ where the seed was sown, and the ground was a man’s heart (cp. Matthew 13:19, 23). In the Parable of the Weeds, the ‘field’ is the world (Matthew 13:38). So, does either of these fields make sense in the context of it holding a great treasure, desirable enough that one would sell all he had in order to gain possession of it?

As we continue in this logic, the heart in the Parable of the Sower was valuable only if it was good ground, and the good ground didn’t contain anything. The seed was deposited in it and the good ground caused the seed to bear fruit. On the other hand, the field in the Parable of the Weeds was the world, and the world contained both good and bad seed. According to the Gospel Christ bought us with a price (1Corinthians 6:20), meaning Christ saved us. Continuing in this logic, the text says further that Christ “saved” the whole world (1Timothy 4:10), but he is especially or chiefly the Savior of us who believe. In this context **we** are the treasure, which Christ hid in the world. Moreover, he was exceedingly rich, but he sold all he had, became poor (2Corinthians 8:9). He was equal with God, but he exchanged his godly form to take the form of a man, in order that he might be able to die on the cross (Philippians 2:6-8), to purchase us, whose value as a treasure is understood in the price that was paid for our freedom. Does this explanation fit the terms of the parable (Matthew 13:44? I’ll let the reader decide what he “hears” in his heart. However, lest we think that Peter could have understood this, we need to keep in mind that later, when Jesus began explaining to his disciples that he must die the death of the cross (Matthew 16:21), Peter came to him to say he had it wrong (Matthew 16:22). Messiah cannot die (John 12:34)!