Are you Ready for It?
📜 The Word
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.”
— Matthew 13:44
🌎 The World Behind the Word
You likely won’t get through this one without being moved …
Chapter 13 is full of stories. At first glance you think it’s a nice testament, or reprieve, from a bigger story. But no, as usual there is something going on behind the scenes at chapter 13.
Leading up to 13 there is a sense that Jesus has a little frustration. John the Baptist doubts him, cities reject and threaten to kill him, Pharisees speak publicly of his demonic possession, his own brother and mother suggest he slow down— it’s getting a little too hot for comfort.
Jesus is not being heard. Nobody seems to have ears to hear— including his own disciples.
So, he takes a seat on a boat, away from the crowd that has gathered. The boat takes on the imagery of separation. Maybe something like: you want to understand? Well, now you are going to have to work for it.
The people on the shore are likely uncertain if Jesus is serious. Some stick around; some walk away.
He tells Matthew:
“To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.”
This is not a claim that the disciples know something the others don’t— it’s a sense of frustration that even though they’ve been told about the Kingdom, and witnessed it, not even the disciples understand.
The stories in chapter 13 range from whimsical, to judgment, to hope, to fear. The whole fruit salad with chicken liver thrown in at times. As much as I’d love to go through each one right now, we need something to kick our days into gear in the future, so you’ll have to wait.
❓ The Meaning
This is among the most precise and short parables ever spoken. I haven’t checked, but it very well may be the shortest.
The story doesn’t say the man was commanded to sell everything. He wasn’t warned he may lose it— n fact, he hides it again (hold on to this). The act of hiding might suggest some fear around losing it but “then in his joy” he rushes off and sells his entire estate. Not just the new donkey in the garage— he sells everything.
The decision appears immediate— no questions, no guilt, no obligation. It would seem he even could have just taken this treasure right on the spot… but he didn’t. Hold on to this too…
JOY wins over him— no questions asked.
The treasure must have been great because it outweighed the entire value of everything else he had (and this)… for something in a field…
🌿 Covenant Contrast
Old Covenant Ritual:
The Kingdom of God is obtainable by works
New Covenant Grace:
The gift has already been given
🤵 Pastoral Word
Notice something subtle in that the man did not go looking for treasure. He stumbled upon it. It came to him without looking for it. It was there waiting for him.
His joy reveals the secret of the Kingdom of Heaven— JOY itself.
I’m here trying to figure out the perfect way to put this and, while I do, I realize just why Jesus is spoke the way he did in chapter 13.
Nobody had figured it out by the big deeds he had done. The miracles, the sermons, speaking truth to power without fear.
So instead, he resorts to “simple” storytelling and imagery. And the stories hit on nearly every point that either keeps us from, or leads us to the Kingdom… all without the majesty of his extraordinary being and power.
Throughout this chapter, as if he is admonishing his own child, he says over and over, “the Kingdom of Heaven is like”, “No really, the Kingdom of Heaven is Like”, “again, it’s like the Kingdom of Heaven”.
The Kingdom is not found by striving.
It is found by encounter. (<— good word, encounter)
And once you have seen it— once you have felt it— you can never see your old life the same way again.
Everything you once protected suddenly looks small. Not worthless. Just… not worth more than this.
A flame comes alive within you. 🔥
Put on your full heart-gown now…
I’m going to ask you to do this small, but possibly transformational experiment. If you dig deep, it could well be an experience you won’t soon forget.
Are You Ready?
The verse doesn’t say what the treasure was, but you likely had a picture of it this whole time while reading.
Ask yourself now:
What TREASURE justifies you immediately, without thinking, without delay, and full of JOY go and sell everything you own?
💥
I won’t pretend to know exactly what the treasure was— but I will tell you that it wasn’t any form of earthly wealth…
and when you see and feel the treasure,
you’ll sell everything!
Oh but wait! If this “treasure” represents omnificence, extraordinary and God-like wealth— never ending. Why did he hide it?
This is where I leave you to do the work.
…and that, my dear friends, is the moral of the story. All the answers are right there around that scripture.
I’ll be back on Monday, until then you will be blessed and blessing
🙏 Pray
Infinite Source of Light and Life, Heavenly Father,
I stand before You now, not to ask for anything, but to surrender to everything. I am breathless at the sheer audacity of existence. I am undone by the fact that I am here—a conscious soul woven from stardust and breath by your Grace, awakened to this moment that has never been before and will never be again.
I look at the sky and see the fingerprints of Your glory in the swirling galaxies; I look at my own hands and see the miracle of design. Thank You for the gravity that holds me, the oxygen that feeds me, and the mysterious pulse of life that persists without my permission. I am struck with a holy trembling at the complexity of the universe and the simplicity of a single tear.
I cannot go back to the person I was. In this moment of radical gratitude, the scales have fallen from my eyes. I see that everything is grace. Every breath is a gift; every heartbeat is a prayer. I am no longer a seeker; I am a witness to Your abundance.
I step forward into this day—and every day following—as a vessel of this light, forever changed, forever grateful, and forever Yours.
Amen.
🔥 Carry this With You Today
In all I see, in all I witness, in all I experience this day, I am grateful!