Smoodock's Blog

Men often get the wrong idea concerning what the Lord has done or what he requires of us. The parables speak about things that are hidden from our normal understanding. The word of God is hidden in a man’s heart (Matthew 13:19), and men of God are hidden in the world. The leaven, which the “woman” takes is hidden in the three measures of meal (Matthew 13:33), and the treasure for which Christ gave all he had is hidden in the world (Matthew 13:38). Men often believe that parables “reveal” great truths, but this isn’t so; they “hide” great truths, and merchants come seeking their value (Matthew 13:45).

Who understands? Who knows the truths, which are hidden in the parables? According to Jesus, it is he who has “ears to hear” (Matthew 13:9, 43). The first reference, verse-9, was given to the multitude, while the second, verse-43, was given to Jesus own disciples. Jesus told his disciples that it was “given (to them) to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but for others, those without ‘ears’ that hear, it wasn’t given (Matthew 13:11). This tells us two things. First, the parables contain great mysteries that folks simply do not understand, when they hear/read them. Why? It is because “their hearts are waxed gross (what men say is most important to them), and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes THEY HAVE CLOSED, lest at any time they would “see” with their eyes and “hear” with their ears, and “understand” with their hearts and be converted,” vis-à-vis be healed/put right by Christ their Messiah (Matthew 13:15).

Secondly, the mysteries of the parables are understood, not because one has great learning, or because they can be figured out by those who are wise. They are understood by men, whom the Lord has chosen to unveil the truths they contain. It is God, himself, who reveals their truths, and he does so only for those, whom he has chosen (Matthew 22:14). Indeed, the many are called; the many have heard the Gospel, but the many have closed their eyes to the truth and, therefore, cannot understand (Matthew 13:15), because they prefer darkness over light, because their deeds are evil (John 3:19), vis-à-vis not necessarily morally evil, but because they’ve decided to reject Christ’s claims about himself, by demanding more and more proof that he is who he claims to be (Matthew 12:38, cp. 23-24, 30), vis-à-vis they have no faith, and no amount of proof is enough.

Therefore, it is in this context that Jesus asked his disciples if they understood all the things that he told them (Matthew 13:51), and they claimed that they did. Nevertheless, we must not presume they understood completely, because the Parable of the Hidden Treasure, involves Jesus paying the price of the crucifixion to “buy” the field, vis-à-vis the world, which contains his beloved disciples, and, when Jesus more openly told them that he had to be crucified (Matthew 16:21), Peter, immediately, rebuked him, saying this thing cannot happen, because Messiah does not die (Matthew 16:22; cp. John 12:34). Thus, we can get a glimpse of the power of darkness (John 3:19), which hides the truth through lying doctrines, vis-à-vis holding a wrong worldview that denies the word of God and the work of Christ. Yet, the disciples claimed they understood, but we must take their reply as superficial understanding, the kind of understanding that is naïve, but will later grow into a more mature and perfect understanding.

Therefore, taking his disciples at their word, Jesus told them that every man/disciple who is instructed in the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven is like a householder, who brings out his treasures for his family to enjoy. The disciple doesn’t horde them like a miser, wishing to please only himself. Rather, he shares his treasure with others and with liberality. Moreover, although the parable unveils Jesus’ disciple as a merchant (Matthew 13:35) who traffics in goodly pearls, he no longer behaves as a merchant seeking to profit with what he’s found. Instead, he gave up everything he possessed, selling it to obtain the pearl of inestimable (Christ) value, only to also give it away out of the treasure place of his heart (Matthew 13:52; cp. 13:19).

In other words, he gave away all he possessed, vis-à-vis his attitude and his former worldview, in order to know and understand the word of God, only to give it away, as well. The difference is, his new worldview is an endless supply that isn’t diminished when given away. Afterward, when Jesus had finished teaching these parables, he departed that country (Matthew 13:53). Mark has Jesus and his disciples get into a boat (Mark 4:35) and go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee to the country of the Gadarenes (Mark 5:1).       [EB1]