The Stories That Jesus Told
Sermon # 14
“The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price”
or
The Value of the Church
Matthew 13:44-46
“The
Parable of the Treasure” and “The
Parable of the Pearl” are twin parables with essentially the same message. We
read the Parable of the Treasure in verse forty-five only as an introduction to the
Parable of the Pearl which we will be examining in our study today of “The Stories That Jesus Told.”
"Again,
the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and
for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. (45) "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a
merchant seeking beautiful pearls, (46) who, when he had found one pearl of great price,
went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
The two parables we’ve just read are
very similar. Each parable has a man. Both men found something of great value. In both
cases, they recognized that great value and were willing to pay any price to obtain what
they had found. Their sacrifice was made joyfully. But there’s one big difference,
though. In the parable of the treasure, the man made his find by accident, he stumbled
across his treasure. In the parable of the pearl, the man was searching for pearls when he
found one.
"Again,
the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, (46) who, when he had
found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
(Matthew
13:45-46).
Here’s a man who was a merchant. The
Greek word is "emporos", from which we get the English
word "emporium". The merchant was a
man who would buy things wholesale and sell them to a retailer. In the parable, he is
looking specifically for beautiful pearls. It was common for entrepreneurs in that day to
look for pearls to sell and at the same time look for high-quality pearls for themselves.
In those days, people would invest in pearls. Pearls were perceived in the first century
in much the same way we view diamonds today. They were the most valuable gem in the world
at that time. If you owned a pearl, you owned a fortune.
The most important question for us today
is, “Who is the merchant? and Who or What is the pearl?
One common explanation is that the merchant
represents a Christian, and the pearl of great price is the Kingdom of God to which he
gives his all so he can be a part of it. Another interpretation is that the pearl is
Christ, and a Christian gives his all to Him. As meaningful as these interpretations may
be, they present problems.
This interpretation would show the sinner,
as the merchant, diligently searching the world and sacrificing all to find the Kingdom of
God or Christ. This cannot be the case! The Scriptures disprove that we are the merchant
seeking to "buy" the Kingdom of God, Christ or
eternal life. If the pearl is either Christ, the Kingdom of God or eternal life, it
contradicts many other Scriptures regarding God's grace.
J. Vernon McGee says, “Are sinners looking for salvation? My Bible does not read that
way, nor has that been my experience as a minister. Sinners are not looking for salvation.
The merchant-man cannot be the sinner because he has nothing with which to pay. To begin
with, he is not seeking Christ, and if he were, how could he buy Him?” [1] How can we possibly buy
the Kingdom of God or eternal life or forgiveness if we have nothing with which to buy? If
we think we have something with which we might barter with God, or if we think we have
something to sell in order to buy from Him, then grace ceases to be grace!
The merchant “sells all that he has” - how can a sinner sell all that he has when he is dead in
trespasses and sins (see Eph. 2:1)? Further, the Scriptures are very clear that Christ and
salvation are not for sale. Salvation is a gift - “For God so
loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). God so loved that
He gave. And in Romans 6:23 we are told that “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ
our Lord.”
Therefore a much better interpretation, one
in line with the clear teaching of Scripture, is that Jesus Christ is the merchant, the price
paid was His life, and the church (made up of individual Christians) is the
pearl.
· He Sought the Pearl.
"Again,
the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
seeking beautiful pearls, (46) who,
when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and
bought it.” Jesus left
His heavenly home and came to this earth to find a pearl of great price. Why should Christ
regard us in such high regard?
· He Bought the Pearl.
"Again,
the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, (46) who, when he had
found one pearl of great price, went and sold
all that he had and bought it.”
One translation says he “gave all
that he had” to purchase the pearl. He found lost sinners and died for them
by shedding His precious blood. He sold all that He had to buy us and redeem us to God.
Paul told this to the Corinthians (2 Cor. 8:9): “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he
was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich”. He redeems us to God—He bought us.
Paul writes, "Therefore
take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you
overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood"
(Acts 20:28).
And to the church
Philippi Paul wrote (Phil. 1:5-8), ?“Let this mind be in you
which was also in Christ Jesus, (6)? who, ??being in the form of God, did not
consider it ??robbery to be equal with God, ?(7)? ?but ?made Himself of no reputation,
taking the form ??of a bondservant, and ??coming in the likeness of men. ?(8)? And being found in appearance as
a man, He humbled Himself and ?became ?obedient to the point of death,
even the death of the cross.”
He left the glories of
Heaven, he became so poor that he occupied a manger, in order that we might occupy a
mansion. Of the price that he paid to purchase our pardon Peter said (1Peter 1:18-19)
“knowing that you were
not redeemed with ?corruptible things, like silver or
gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, (?19)? but ??with the precious blood of
Christ, ?as of a lamb without blemish and
without spot. ” (NKJV)
The general
interpretation being established we need to understand the characteristics of a Pearl.
First, The Pearl Is Created Through Suffering.
“Why
did our Lord choose the symbol of
You
probably know how a pearl is formed. A little particle of sand or some other irritating
substance gets inside the shell of the oyster and it is like cracker crumbs in bed
-constantly irritating. The oyster has no hands with which it can brush the irritant out,
no means of defense except to transform that thing that is injuring it. What an apt and
beautiful symbol our Lord has chosen here for the church!” [Ray Stedman. The Case of the Valuable
Pearl. www.pbc.org/library/files/html/0458 ]
The pearl is interesting in that, unlike
other gems, pearls are produced by a living organism, an oyster, as the result of an
injury. It usually begins forming around a grain of sand or an egg of some parasite that
invaded the oyster. The oyster protects itself by layering the irritant with nacre—mother-of-pearl—until,
out of pain and suffering, it forms an object of great beauty. The offending particle
actually becomes a gem of great worth!
The production of the pearl is a gradual,
even tedious, process. Slowly, the oyster adds layer after thin layer of nacre until the
pearl is transformed. So it is with the church.
The Pearl Is
Created Through Suffering and….
Secondly, A Pearl Cannot Be Improved by Man
The pearl is an especially appropriate
figure for the Church because it is the only gem that cannot be improved by man.
Think about it! All other jewels have to be cut and polished by skilled craftsmen before
they have value as gemstones. But a pearl is perfect when it is found and it can’t be
improved by cutting and polishing.
A Pearl Cannot
Be Improved by Man and ..
Third, The Pearl Is A Source of Great Joy To the Owner. (v. 44)
I do want to notice
one thing from The Parable of the Treasure
in verse forty-four. Jesus said that the man who finds the treasure (v. 44) “for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has.”
The phrase (apo
tes charas autou) literally means “from the joy of it.” This man doesn’t just
sell everything he has, but he does so with joy. He doesn’t regret it. He doesn’t
complain about the sacrifice he has to make. In fact, he probably doesn’t even
consider it to be a sacrifice. He gives a lot for the field, but he gets so much more in
return.
At the end of The Parable of the Coin in Luke 15:10, we
are told, “Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the
presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
I think it worthy
of note that this verse does not say “there is joy among the angels” but
rather “joy in the presence of the angels.”
I believe the source of the joy is the LORD himself. The Lord rejoices over every single
person who places their faith in Him and as He rejoices so also does all of Heaven.
The wonder of
salvation is that not only brings joy to the giver but it also brings joy to the receiver.
Peter wrote of the indescribable joy of knowing Christ in 1 Peter 1:8, “whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet
believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.”
The Apostle Paul wrote
of the joy of knowing Christ in (Philippians 3:7-8),
“But
what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. (8) Yet indeed I also
count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for
whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain
Christ.”
When we come to the last book of the Bible,
the Book of the Revelation, we find a description of the New Jerusalem, the future home of
the church. Notice the emblem on the outside of the city—the gates are made of pearls
(Rev. 21:21)! That is no accident, friend; it is planned that way by Christ’s
design. He is the merchant “Who, when he had found one pearl
of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.”
Conclusion
1.
The Pearl Is Created Through Suffering.
2.
A Pearl Cannot Be Improved by Man.
3. The Pearl Is A Source of Great Joy
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