Others discover it only after diligent searching, like the man who bought the pearl. But in either case,
Jesus Illustrates His Gospel
of the first century, wrote of "the gold and the silver and the rest of that most precious furniture which the Jews had, and which the owners treasured up underground against the uncertain fortunes of war."5
Matthew 13:44 is a complete parable in one verse: "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field." Jesus didn't say how the man in the parable found this store of wealth. Perhaps he was employed by the field's owner to cultivate it, or maybe he just happened to pass through and stumbled over part of the treasure protruding above the ground. Immediately he put it back where he found it. Then he sold everything he owned in the world and bought the field so the treasure would be his.
Was this unethical? Didn't the treasure legally belong to the owner of the field? No. Rabbinic law said that if a man found scattered fruit or money, it was his. Obviously this cache did not belong to the landowner, or he would have dug it up before selling the field. It undoubtedly belonged to a previous landowner now deceased. It may have been there for generations without being discovered. The man who uncovered it had a rightful claim to it.
In fact, this man's actions show how fair and honest he was. He could have walked away with the treasure and no one would have been the wiser. Or he might have quietly pilfered just enough to buy the field. But he didn't. Instead, he liquidated everything he owned and bought the entire field so that no one could accuse him of obtaining the treasure unethically.
A Costly Pearl
The parable of the costly pearl is only slightly different: "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it" (Matt. 13:45 – 46). Here we meet a wholesale merchant who specialized in pearls. Unlike the man in the first parable, he did not make his discovery by accident.6 His life was one long search for the finest pearls, which he would then sell to retailers — until the day he discovered one pearl that he wanted more than anything else in the world.
5. Quoted in William Barclay, Th e Gospel of Matthew, vol. 2 (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1958), 93 – 94. 6. Some people stumble upon the kingdom as if by accident, like the man who found the treasure. Others discover it only aft er diligent searching, like the man who bought the pearl. But in either case, once they see its value, they are willing to sacrifi ce everything to have it.