Treasure
Hidden.
.
by Joanie Nath
Introduction
It is frequently the case that expansive
thoughts, particularly in Scripture, are
communicated with few words. One such example is
the very short parable recorded in Matthew 13:
44.
The
kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden
in a field. When a man found it, he hid it
again, and in his joy, went and sold
everything he had and bought that field.
At first
glance, there seems to be nothing remarkable
about this parable. It is simple and
straightforward. But upon closer examination,
wisdom begins to be revealed as we uncover its
hidden meaning. To unpack it we need to explore
the field, the kingdom of heaven, and the
treasure. And in so doing we will gain a rich
(pun intended) understanding as it relates to
our own lives.
The field
The parable does not define what sort of field
this is so we must assume that it’s probably
like other fields that are described in the
Scriptures, four of which we will look at
here.
Preceding the hidden treasure parable in Matthew
we find the description of the first field. It
is the familiar story of a man who has sown good
seed in his field only to have his enemy come
during the night and sow weeds in among his
wheat. Jesus explains to his disciples that the
field is the world, the good seeds are the sons
of the kingdom and the weeds are the sons of the
evil one, and they are both growing together in
this field. That was not the original intention
of the landowner, but that is now his reality;
wheat and weeds growing together until the
harvest.
You will notice in this story that the seeds
have been sown in the field which means they
have been purposely planted there by the
landowner with the expectation that they will
grow and produce a harvest. They didn’t end up
in the field through happenstance. Neither have
they managed to separate themselves from the
weeds. They are not occupying one side of the
field and the weeds the other. No, they have
been planted, for better or worse, in the same
field, intermixed, side-by-side, together with
the weeds. And for now, that’s the way the
owner of the field wants it to stay. So
our first field is where the sons of the kingdom
have been purposely planted and are growing
intermixed with the weeds who are the sons of
the evil one.
In John 4 Jesus says, “I tell you, open your
eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for
harvest!” And in Luke and Matthew he says, “The
harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers
into his harvest field.” In these verses
Jesus is using the metaphor of the harvest to
suggest that there are great numbers of people
in the world who need to hear the Gospel, and
we, as willing laborers, should go out to gather
them in by speaking to them about Jesus and
sharing his salvation message with them. The
second field is where the harvest is.
The third field is where the sheep live and
graze. Throughout the Scriptures we have many
examples of shepherds caring for their sheep in
the fields. Perhaps the most familiar passage in
the Old Testament is Psalm 23 where the shepherd
and sheep metaphor is used to describe the
Lord’s care for his people and our relationship
to him as our personal shepherd and guardian.
Jesus uses this same metaphor frequently in the
Gospels. Some of the sheep are familiar with his
voice, but there are others who are lost and who
need to be brought back to the fold.
And before his ascension into heaven Jesus
exhorts Peter to feed and care for the sheep
that are now under his care. As followers
of Jesus we are asked to care for one another as
well.
The field is also where battles are fought. We
see the battlefield most frequently described in
the Old Testament in stories such as David and
Goliath.
Although our approaches to warfare have changed
greatly over the centuries, for thousands of
years men fought battles by lining up on
opposite sides of the battlefield and engaging
in hand-to-hand combat.
We see this same kind of battle imagery when we
read Paul’s description of the armor of God in
Ephesians 6. He tells us to take up the helmet
of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness,
the sword of the Spirit, etc. that we might be
armed, ready for battle and able to stand our
ground in the face of the enemy. The imagery is
not that of a massive invasion but of individual
soldiers withstanding assault, protecting their
ground, defending their territory, preserving
their own lives, the lives of others, and
securing the field on which the battle is taking
place.
There is a fifth kind of field that is
noteworthy. Pope Francis recently described the
church as a field hospital in the world.
Although not a biblical image, it is a valid one
because it accurately puts forth the image of
the church as a healer in a sick and wounded
world. As the church, we take care of those who
are hurting, the broken and bleeding and those
who are being injured in the battles that are
happening all around them. It is not only
our peers that we care for in this field
hospital, but our own family members, our
children, and grandchildren. It can be a
sobering thought to consider that our children
and grandchildren are often the victims of the
warfare in which we are engaged. They are the
ones who are particularly vulnerable; those who
most easily get picked off by the sniper’s
bullets.
Alone, each of these fields can seem
overwhelming enough. But what would it look like
if what is taking place on each of these fields
individually were happening simultaneously on
the same field? Chaos and turmoil, disorder and
confusion are just a few words that easily come
to mind. It would seem as if life on the field
was completely out of control!
What is the Lord saying to us?
What might the Lord be trying to communicate to
us through the descriptions of these fields?
Whether we consider each field individually or
assume that all of this activity is happening on
the same field concurrently we can still draw
some reasonable conclusions.
First, he is saying that there is a great
harvest of souls living here. He has planted us,
his children, in this field to take the Gospel
to them. We will encounter those who don’t want
anything to do with the Gospel. Some of them
actually mean to oppose or do us harm. But there
are sheep here as well. We are expected to look
after the ones who know and belong to the
Shepherd and to encourage those who are lost to
come back to the fold. We will be called to
fight battles, not only to maintain possession
of the field, but also to fight for those who
are vulnerable to an enemy who seeks to destroy
them. There will be some who will be injured,
even lost in the battle. We will be expected to
comfort and care for the wounded and to help
them heal from their battle scars.
There is a great deal happening on this field
and to care for it seems a daunting task; the
very thought of it can seem overwhelming. One
minute we may be engaged in a skirmish on one
part of the field, the next we’re bandaging the
wounded on another. Tomorrow, we may have
opportunity to proclaim the Gospel to a lost
sheep or be looking for ways to live peaceably
with the weeds we have for neighbors or family
members!
It is tempting to want to run from the field to
find respite in the shade of the trees, escape
the battles, shirk our responsibility for the
sheep, let someone else worry about the harvest
and leave the hurting and wounded to the care of
those who seem to be more suited to such tasks.
But God has left this field in our hands and he
expects us to accomplish all that he planted us
here to do. This is his field and we have been
given a great responsibility in tending to it.
“Buying into”
the field
The field in this parable is not just any field
– there is something different about it. There
is a treasure here that has been left,
presumably by the owner, which is of such great
value that like the man in the parable, we would
do well to sell everything we have in order to
gain it. Rephrased a different way, we should
want the treasure in this field so badly that we
will invest everything to “buy into” the field.
We hear this contemporary expression often.
Someone might say to a young person, “You need
to “buy into” your education if you’re going to
get into an Ivy League school.” But what does
that mean? It means you have to be willing to
invest yourself, give your best effort, dedicate
yourself wholeheartedly, put aside lesser
things, have a singular focus and “buy into”
your education if getting into a particular
school is the goal. The same is true for this
treasure in Jesus’ parable. We will have to “buy
into” the field in order to acquire it.
Hidden in plain sight
Often in the Gospels, Jesus tells parables like
this one to help people understand the kingdom
of heaven by comparing it with something they
are familiar with; something from their everyday
lives to which they can relate. In this parable
Jesus is describing something more than a
material treasure of great value. He is
describing the great riches of the kingdom of
heaven by comparing it with very valuable
treasure trove, a treasure that has been kept
hidden in a field for some time. Hiding treasure
in a field was something that was quite common
in that day. Many people typically protected
their treasure by either burying it in the
ground or by hiding it in clay jars used for
storing supplies, simple jars made of earth that
had nothing special or fancy to mark them. Some
would even leave these jars in plain sight and
no one suspected there was anything valuable
hidden in them. This parable doesn’t actually
tell us if the treasure was buried in the ground
or not. It just says it was “hidden”. It
might be buried and perhaps a person coming into
the field might have to dig to find it. But it
is also possible that the treasure is hidden in
a bunch of clay jars that have been left in this
field. Water, oil, wine and food were often
stored in clay jars or containers and left for
the use of those on the field e.g. shepherds,
workers in the field and soldiers.
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to
show that this all-surpassing power is from
God and not from us. - 2 Corinthians 4:7
In this Scripture passage Paul the Apostle is
talking about the treasure that is the Gospel – the all-surpassing
power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the good
news of our salvation, the power of God that
transforms us from within. And it is hidden in
simple, clay jars, jars left out in plain sight.
It is hidden within us so that when people look
at our lives, in all the living, battling,
serving and activity that goes on daily on this
field where we live there will be no doubt that
something beyond our ordinary strength or power
is happening here. In fact, it is something
beyond normal human strength and
abilities. In ourselves we are quite
unremarkable – we are fragile, vulnerable, and
weak in many ways. But through the death and
resurrection of Christ we have been given new
power and new life which comes from God. We
carry in us, through the power of the Holy
Spirit, the very life of Christ in these mortal,
frail clay jars as we live our lives on this
field so that his life might be revealed in and
through us. The Lord wants this new life to
shine through us so that everyone around us –
even the wounded on the field – may recognize
Christ’s presence and power –
thus giving glory to God!
The treasure is not something tangible or of the
material world. It is the rule and reign of God
in our midst. It is having the possession of God
within us, living out the life God intended for
us from the beginning here on earth through the
power of the Holy Spirit. It is experiencing a
foretaste of the life we will eventually live in
heaven right here, right now. It is our life
together in covenant community, in the Body of
Christ, in the church, caring for our brothers
and sisters, searching for the lost, and
fighting the battles we encounter as we live
next door to the weeds that are in the field
with us. It is found as we participate in
serving each other, loving those difficult
neighbors, being disciples on mission, engaging
in the battles for the hearts and minds of our
children, caring for the hurting and the lost,
bringing in the harvest as we live the daily
challenge that is life on the field. That’s the
treasure! That’s the kingdom of heaven! It is
the life of Jesus Christ who lives in each one
of us being shared with one another. The kingdom
of heaven is among you!
This life we live on the field is flawed,
imperfect, and it can sometimes feel chaotic.
There are battles and losses, hardships, and
struggles. But there is great joy here as well.
There is treasure here, left to us by our Father
who wants us to discover it for ourselves. It is
a mystery, this treasure. And it is hiding in
our everyday life as we experience it on this
field! Recently, I read this definition of a
mystery: It is something hidden which has
been revealed, something unapproachable which
invites entry and something unknowable which
offers true understanding. And isn’t that what
we are seeing here? How we find treasure on this
field is a mystery which the Lord in his
goodness is revealing to us as we live our lives
here.
Some defining characteristics
of treasure
- Treasure
is any person or thing that is considered
valuable and of significant worth.
(Webster’s Dictionary)
- Treasure
grows in its value. Often, the older it is
the more value it has.
- Treasure
is almost always out of plain sight…it
requires a person to go in search of it, to
look for it, to have a certain determination
in finding it.
- Treasure
often isn’t something that has been amassed
by the person who has found it; it was put
there by someone else and left for his
discovery!
- It is
often referred to as hidden, buried or
sunken. It generally is not obvious where
the treasure is. In this case, the treasure
is “hidden” in the field, sometimes not seen
or it is out of view.
The word
“hidden” also means that it may be
unrecognizable by some who walk through the
field. Like a rare treasure sold for far less
than its true value, e.g. a rare painting or a
priceless antiquity sold for pennies at a yard
sale. In this context, a treasure could be
hiding in plain sight. There are those who will
walk upon the soil of this field who will be
blind to the treasure hidden there. It can be
undervalued or unappreciated. “One’s man’s trash
is another man’s treasure!” Only the one who has
eyes to see will recognize its true value.
Some others might wonder what is so special
about it and question why someone would be as
eager as the man in the parable to sell
everything he has in order to buy the field.
Others may suspect there is something of value
in this field but not want to invest the time to
search for it or do what is required to take
possession of the field; it will appear to
require too much effort.
Finding treasure brings freedom
Although falling into an inheritance or finding
a lost treasure can and often does alleviate
financial concerns for one’s life, as Christians
we are more keenly aware of the value of
spiritual treasure. Its benefits far exceed any
comfort an earthly treasure could ever afford;
it isn’t limited to just the temporal, but more
importantly it provides for our eternal
well-being.
The treasure our Father has left for us is of
such great value that we can live securely on
this field. Our lives are enriched today because
we’ve found this treasure. Our future and our
children’s future is full of hope and promise
because we have been provided for. We don’t have
to wonder or be afraid of what the future will
bring because we have all we need. And because
we have been blessed with such abundance we have
the privilege and the duty to help others who
wander onto this field. We can live in
peace and freedom as we care for the sheep,
bring in the harvest, engage the mission, fight
the battles and bind up the wounds of the
injured with confidence because our Father has
provided for all our needs. And every day there
is more to discover, more to acknowledge, more
to appreciate and be grateful for, and more that
we should be willing to give everything to
possess!
When a man found it, he hid it again…
We don’t know exactly why the man in the story
hides the treasure again, but there are several
reasonable possibilities we can consider.
First, the field does not belong to him. It
belongs to the owner. Therefore, the treasure
also belongs to the owner. To take the treasure
without buying the field would be to attempt to
steal the treasure. He knows he can’t do that.
The treasure and the field go together.
Perhaps the treasure is too great for him to
manage or move alone. Maybe it can’t be removed
because it is simply too big!
He hides it again so he will not forget where to
find it and so that it will neither be lost nor
stolen from him.
He knows in his heart that this is a rare find
and does not want to lose sight of it. He knows
where it is and he seems to know intuitively
what he must do to attain it. As long as the
treasure stays with the field he will know where
it is.
And then in his joy, went
and sold everything he had and bought that
field
In recognizing the value of the treasure in this
field this wise man would gladly give all for
the chance to seize it; it is the chance of
a lifetime and well worth the purchase
price. Even though it costs him everything he
has there is no reservation or hesitation about
what he is paying in order to gain the treasure.
He cannot have the treasure unless he buys the
field and he seems to understand that. He
doesn’t bargain with himself or the landowner
about the purchase price. He isn’t bartering
down the price or requesting to buy only the
portion of the field that he likes… “I’d like to
buy the part where the sheep are, but I’m not
interested in the field hospital or the
battlefield. I don’t think I want to invest
there.” He is filled with joy at the thought of
taking ownership of the whole field.
Half measures will not do for the kingdom of
God. This man seems to know that:
- He cannot
be a “renter” on the field and get the
treasure.
- He cannot
“visit” the field and get the treasure.
- He cannot
live as a squatter (for free) on the field
and get the treasure.
- He cannot
just “take” the treasure; it goes with the
field and remains with the field
- He cannot
be a bystander simply observing what is
happening on the field and get the
treasure.
- He must
participate in all that is happening on the
field. He must decide to “buy into” the
field or live apart from the treasure it
contains.
- He knows
that this is an all or nothing proposition
and he is “all in”.
Jesus himself
and the new way of life he gives us through the
Holy Spirit is the treasure that awaits us in
this field. But in order to gain him, in order
to enjoy the fullness of the blessings he has
for us we need to buy the field, with all that
that means, giving everything, all that we have,
and all that we are. If we recognize the
value of the treasure that awaits us in this
field, we too will have great joy at the
prospect of taking ownership if it. He wants us
to build and to plant, to grow and to produce a
harvest on this field, to fight to retain
possession of it and to care for those who are
living life here with us. He wants us to
willingly “buy into” the field, to be “all in”.
It will cost us everything, but the reward is a
life filled with treasure beyond compare!
Joanie Nath has been married for 39 years
and is the mother of three grown children.
She has been a member of the People of God
Community in Pittsburgh for 33 years where
she serves as a Senior Woman Leader and
retreat speaker. She also serves in the
Sword of the Spirit North American Region as
a Regional Senior Woman Leader. She resides
in Bridgeville, Pennsylvania, USA.
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