The Value of the Kingdom
Matthew 13:44-50
October 16, 2011
As you know we are studying through the gospel of Matthew.
You know it to be one of four gospel accounts in the New Testament,
All equally inspired by the Holy Spirit,
And yet each coming from their own unique perspectives,
And focusing on their own attributes of Christ.
For Matthew it was simple.
Matthew as fascinated with the kingdom of heaven.
(a phrase only used by him and used 32 times)
After all Matthew left his job, his wealth,
And his financial security in order to follow Jesus.
He traded his earthly kingdom for an eternal one.
It is no wonder he was focused on it.
Certainly that is what we have seen here in this 13th chapter.
Here we find 8 parables concerning the Kingdom of Heaven.
Jesus is explaining the mystery surrounding it.
We know that the disciples were
Confused about some things regarding the kingdom.
They had certainly read the prophecies
Regarding the glory and grandeur of God’s Kingdom,
But had failed to understand the violence it would first endure.
Jesus must have blown their minds when He said:
Matthew 11:12 “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force.”
Certainly the disciples never pictured
The kingdom of heaven being under attack.
In reality there were several things about the kingdom
That the disciples didn’t understand.
It is those mysteries that Christ is revealing here in Matthew 13.
As already noted, Jesus is revealing these mysteries
Through the use of parables.
Now, contrary to popular belief,
These parables were not meant to make the mysteries easier to understand.
Parables were used to keep the truths hidden
From those to whom the mysteries were not granted.
Matthew 13:10-11“And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.”
And so Jesus is giving these truths rather cryptically.
Matthew 13:34 “All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable.”
These truths are given in parable form,
And apart from a divine explanation
They are absolutely impossible to understand.
That means that if we understand them, we are blessed.
It indicates that the Spirit of God has seen fit
To allow us to understand these magnificent truths.
Matthew 13:16-17 “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. “For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”
So we are blessed this morning to be allowed insight into
Some of the most sought after and captivating truths of all eternity.
We are granted access to classified information.
We are given the truths of the kingdom of heaven.
Now we have already seen several mysteries explained.
WHY DOESN’T EVERYONE ENTER THE KINGDOM?
The Parable of the Sower: They have bad hearts
WHY DO THE UNRIGHTEOUS EXIST, AND WHY DO THEY REMAIN?
The Parable of the Tares: An enemy planted them, God is protecting the wheat
WHY IS THE KINGDOM SO SMALL?
The Parable of the Mustard Seed: It starts small, but ends big
The Parable of Leaven: It spreads by influence
WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE UNBELIEVERS?
The Parable of the Tares Explained: They will be removed
And so we have already been given great insight
Into the kingdom of heaven.
This morning we see two more mystery revealing parables.
They teach us the value of the kingdom.
And it is vitally important that we understand this mystery.
For we understand that there is a great cost
To entering the kingdom of heaven.
Salvation doesn’t cost anything, but there is a great cost to salvation.
Already in Matthew’s gospel we have seen 4 fishermen
Leave their families and their fishing businesses to follow Jesus.
We have seen a tax collector leave his tax booth to follow Jesus.
We have seen a man confronted with being homeless if he were to follow,
And another confronted with losing his inheritance if he wanted to enter.
Matthew 8:19-20 “Then a scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
Coming in Matthew’s gospel is a call to lose your life.
Matthew 16:24-25 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”
And Luke’s gospel reminds us that it may cost even our families.
Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.”
And all of this is consistent with Jesus teaching on entering the kingdom.
Jesus said:
Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
And so to simply state it,
Entering the kingdom may well indeed cost you everything.
That is why Jesus tells people to count the cost before they enter.
Luke 14:28 “For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?”
We are told to count the cost.
This, by the way, was the main problem of the ROCKY SOIL.
• He immediately accepted with great joy
• And when persecution arose it shocked him and drove him away.
So we must count the cost.
BUT WE MUST NOT LET THE COST DETER US.
That is what the WEEDY SOIL did.
So there is a balance.
Counting the cost and paying it anyway.
But that brings about a very important question.
IS IT WORTH IT?
This is what Peter wanted to know.
He had just seen Jesus tell the Rich Young Ruler to sell everything
And he saw the Rich Young Ruler (weedy soil) say “No”,
That cost is too high.
The young man didn’t get the kingdom, but he still had his riches.
That got Peter to thinking.
Matthew 19:27 “Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?”
Peter wanted to know if he made the right decision.
Is the value of the kingdom equal to it’s cost?
That is the mystery that Jesus is explaining here
With these two parables.
#1 THE PARABLE OF THE TREASURE IN THE FIELD
Matthew 13:44
Now this isn’t a difficult parable to understand,
But it is one that is worth being examined a little more closely.
“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field,”
Now first off, this isn’t all that strange.
In Bible times people didn’t put their treasure in banks,
Nor did they hide it under their mattresses.
In those days you buried your money or your treasure and either left yourself a map or you buried it next to a landmark you could remember.
Achan did this with the spoils of Jericho.
Furthermore it was also highly possible in Jesus day
For buried treasure to be found from time to time.
WHY?
Because Israel had been completely deported during the exile.
Imagine people with buried treasure either being killed or deported
And not being allowed to return for 70 years.
By that time most treasures would be forgotten or lost.
And so it wasn’t uncommon for treasures to be found.
And here Jesus uses that analogy
To describe the kingdom of heaven.
And here the treasure is in fact one that gets found.
“which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”
We have here a man who found a treasure in a field he did not own.
It is obvious what type of man he was, he was a treasure hunter.
He was in search of a treasure.
And on this day he found one.
And the treasure he found here was of great value.
Now we know how this works.
You wake up on Saturday morning at 6 because you want to be the first person to the garage sale and you take with you $100.
When you get there you find a treasure of treasures,
But the cost is more than you brought.
You could steal it, and this man could have.
(but you would always run the risk of losing it)
SO WHAT DO YOU DO?
You bury it.
You find the box of used caps (which no one wants)
And you stick that treasure in the bottom of that box
And run home to gather the funds you need and fly back to the sale.
That is what this man did.
He “hid it again”
And then notice what Jesus says:
“and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”
Make sure you understand the point.
• This is not a man who was reluctantly forced to give all that he had.
• This was not a man who begrudgingly had to give such a high price.
This man joyfully gave all that he had to buy that field.
WHY?
Because the treasure in the field was worth far more than all that he had.
Yes he gave all that he had,
But in the end he was far more wealthy than when he started.
This parable is not about the cost of the kingdom.
(sure it cost him everything)
This parable is about the value.
This man was filled with “joy” to do this.
And you’ve been to that garage sale.
• Now you’ve gone home and gotten the money needed, and you fly back to that
garage sale and make a bee-line for that cap box.
• You are a little nervous because there is an old man going through that box
and trying on caps,
• But you are able to push him down without causing any major damage, and
what a relief when you find that treasure still there.
At that moment when the treasure is still there, how do you feel?
Are you sad, that now you have to pay for it?
NO – you are rejoicing that it now can be yours.
And so it is with the kingdom of heaven.
The cost you may pay is so far smaller than the value you receive
That there is no buyers remorse after the fact.
UNDERSTAND: This was a treasure hunter.
He wasn’t the type that willingly parted with treasures.
His life was all about collecting them.
And yet he found a treasure so great
That he willingly parted with every other treasure he had ever found
In order to gain this one.
The kingdom is that valuable.
Now, let’s move on to our next parable.
#2 THE PARABLE OF THE PEARL OF GREAT VALUE
Matthew 13:45-46
And we notice the word “Again”.
That is a key word for us to let us know that this parable
Is repeating a truth already learned once.
(You will see that again next week as the parable of the dragnet
restates the parable of the tares of the field)
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls,”
Now, for explanation sake, let’s see that this man
Is in some ways different from our previous man.
• The last man was a Snooping Traveler.
• This man is a Shrewd Trader.
And notice the description of this man.
• He is a “merchant”
• He is not a collector.
• He is not a consumer.
• He is not a jewelry maker.
This man is a “merchant”
WHY DOES HE WANT PEARLS?
To sell them.
To make money off of them.
It is important that you understand that,
So that you will know we are not dealing with a sentimental man.
This is not a man who would be duped into over paying for a pearl.
If the pearl isn’t valuable he won’t pay for it.
He knows the value of pearls; that is his business;
That is his trade; that is his livelihood.
And he is “a merchant seeking” them.
And so in that regard our two men are very much alike.
One worked, one scavenged,
But they both were searching for something of great value.
(46) “and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
And again we find a similar result.
This man found something of such great value that in order to obtain it,
It cost him “all that he had”
So there was a definite cost to be paid.
We are not overlooking that.
However, this man was a businessman, and he would not have paid that price, unless what?
He thought he was getting a good deal.
Here was a man who understood the value of pearls
And he just happened to run across a pearl
That was worth more than the total gross value of his entire estate.
If he thought he was getting a raw deal, he wouldn’t have sold his stuff,
Nor would he have purchased the pearl.
And that is the point.
The pearl had great value.
AND THAT IS JESUS’ POINT TO THE KINGDOM.
• It is not about the cost you will pay.
• It is about the value you will receive.
It is not as though Jesus is here telling people to leave all that they have
For the kingdom, and they do so feeling cheated by Jesus.
Jesus is not a car salesman.
Where He overcharges you and then you feel cheated later.
The reward Jesus has for you is so great, that if you could see it,
You would gladly forsake all that you have to get it.
If someone came and said, “I’ll sell you all of the oil rights in west Texas.”
You’d say, “How much?”
If they said, “All that you have.”
Would you do it?
All you have to figure is if the total value of your estate
Is worth less or more than all the oil rights in Texas.
The kingdom is that valuable.
Matthew 19:27-29 “Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?” And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.”
The answer is, that it is worth it!
The kingdom has tremendous value.
Take it from the apostle Paul.
DID HE KNOW THE COST OF THE KINGDOM?
He talks of financial difficulty. He talks of emotional oppression.
He talks of demonic attack. He talks of physical pain.
He talks of incarceration. He talks of shipwreck.
He talks of rejection. He talks of a loss of reputation.
The kingdom was tremendously costly for Paul.
DID HE VALUE TO HAVE MADE A GOOD TRADE?
Philippians 3:7-11 “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
Paul said in comparison to the kingdom.
All that I used to have is “rubbish”
I like the KJV – “dung”
Every time I mow I pick half a five gallon bucket of poop
Out of my backyard that my dog has left me.
And I want you to know, if anybody ever offers me new shop
In exchange for my bucket of poop, I’m trading them
(I’ll even throw in the bucket). I won’t hesitate.
Paul said the same.
The kingdom is that valuable.
SO LET’S GET TO THE APPLICATION PART NOW.
Theoretically we would go now into some sort of invitation asking,
“Don’t you want to enter this extremely valuable kingdom?”
But I’ve already told you this chapter is not for those outside.
That is why it is written in parables.
Jesus gave this truth to those who are already in the kingdom.
WHY DID HE WANT US TO KNOW THE VALUE OF THE KINGDOM?
So that we would rejoice!
So that we would continue!
So that we would act like leaven and spread the truth!
You will notice this chapter ends with a parable of great responsibility.
Matthew 13:51-52 “Have you understood all these things?” They said to Him, “Yes.” And Jesus said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”
Jesus is going to expect the disciples to go and share these truths
With the members of their household (i.e. the church)
But it is awful hard to get people motivated
To share such depressing news.
But if the disciples really knew what they inherited
Was much greater than what they lost,
Then they would easily share it with others.
Friends, Jesus wants you to know that your decision to follow Him
Was not a bad decision.
• And your decision to sacrifice for Him is not a bad decision.
• And when you tell people to leave their life behind and forsake all to
follow Jesus, you are giving them good advice.
Because the kingdom you are inheriting and the kingdom you are offering
Is far more valuable than anything they or you could ever lose.
And if you could see it, like these men did, you’d know that.
In the mean time, accept it by faith.
That our inheritance, our treasure,
Is greater than anything we could ever lose!
So share this great truth!
Psalms 145:10-13 “All Your works shall give thanks to You, O LORD, And Your godly ones shall bless You. They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom And talk of Your power; To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts And the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.”
That is why Jesus shared this parable with you.
He wanted you to know the greatness of the kingdom you are inheriting,
And He wanted you to speak of the glory of this great kingdom.
So rejoice!
Share this truth!
And do not grieve the cost that you now pay.
If you could see it ahead of time,
You’d consider yourself to be getting the bargain of a lifetime!
Luke 12:32-34 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom. “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
