5. The Costliness of the Kingdom (Matthew 13:44-46; Mark 10:17-24)
by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson
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James J. Tissot, detail of "The Hidden Treasure" (1886-96),
watercolor, Brooklyn Museum, New York.
Full image. |
I'm afraid that we have domesticated Jesus into
the gentle founder of the Christian faith, whose sweet words offer
comfort to the distressed and whose death provided forgiveness for
our sins. But in domesticating and taming Jesus' message, we have
lost its radical call for discipleship, for serving Jesus as
personal King, for giving our all to obtain an infinitely costly
Kingdom.
In this lesson we'll consider two short
parables and one famous incident that will help us hear the
undomesticated Gospel of the costliness of the Kingdom..
To begin, in the collection of Jesus' parables
found in Matthew 13, the Gospel writer records twin parables -- the
Parable of the Hidden Treasure (Matthew 13:44) and the Parable of
the Pearl of Great Price (Matthew 13:45-46). Both are short -- only a
sentence or two long -- and both have a similar teaching about the
costliness of the Kingdom. Let's examine them in greater detail.
"The kingdom of heaven is like
treasure1 hidden2 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)
In our day, we can store treasure in the bank
or in a safe deposit box. But in Jesus' day, burying treasure was an
extremely common way of safeguarding it. In fact, according to
rabbinical law, burying a treasure was the most secure way of
protecting it.3 One's treasure might be stolen by thieves or plundered by foreign
invading armies. But if it were hidden skillfully, rarely it be
detected.
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Sir John Everett Millais, (Pre-Raphaelite painter,
1829-1896), "The Hidden Treasure" (1864), relief print, 140
x 108 mm, from illustrations to The Parables of Our Lord,
engraved by the Dalziel Brothers.
Larger image. |
But people often died in such invasions or
passed on without disclosing the location of the treasure to a
relative. In that case, a hoard of coins or jewels buried in a
pottery jar might be discovered that would make its finder rich.
Today people dream of getting rich by winning the lottery, but
ancient literature is full of stories of people finding buried
treasure and becoming fabulously wealthy. Jesus' story along this
theme would have captured the imagination of his listeners.
In Jesus' story, a man found the treasure in a
rural field.4 Perhaps he was employed as a laborer and his plow hit the container.
Or perhaps erosion had uncovered a portion of the treasure. We just
don't know.
But when the man finds the treasure he is
overcome with joy. He buries the treasure again so that no one else
can find it. Then he sells everything he has and buys the field.
Some have questioned the ethics of the man's
purchase without disclosing the treasure, but ethics weren't Jesus'
point. And according to rabbinical law, it might have been possible
to claim legal ownership of personal property that had been found on
another's land, but if he had been on the land as an agent or
employee of another (say a farm hand), his legal right might have
been clouded.5 Therefore, the man didn't take the treasure, but reburied it to hide
and protect it, and then purchased6 the land; thus his action was both legal and reasonable. It's quite
possible that the original owner of the treasure had died decades or
centuries before.
But none of that is Jesus' point. There are two
keys to understanding this parable:
- "In his joy..." and
- "sold all he had and bought that field."
Jeremias observes:
"When that great joy, surpassing all
measure, seizes a man, it carries him away, penetrates his inmost
being, subjugates his mind. All else seems valueless compared with
that surpassing worth. No price is too great to pay."7
In the parable, the man's joy is in his good
fortune of finding a huge treasure hoard that will make him rich for
life. Anything he spends to gain legal right to that treasure is
worth it, since the value is so exceedingly much greater. The
emphasis here is on the importance of parting with everything we
have and own in order to obtain something inestimably greater. This
is not a parable about buying salvation, but the incredible value of
salvation that far surpasses any amount a poor man might be able to
scrape together to try to acquire it.
While the subject of the Parable of the Hidden
Treasure is a poor man who can barely scrape up enough money to
purchase a piece of land, the subject of the next parable is a
wealthy man.
"45Again, the kingdom of
heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46
When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything
he had and bought it." (Matthew 13:44-46)
He is called a "merchant." The word is
emporos, "'one who boards a ship as passenger', then, especially
one who travels by ship for business reasons, merchant." Here it
"denotes a wholesale dealer in contrast to kapēlos,
retailer."8 He specialized in searching for9 and acquiring fine pearls, which he would then sell to retailers. He
was doubtless a wealthy man who was used to spending and receiving
large sums of money.
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Harold Copping (British illustrator, 1863-1932), "The
Merchant Finds the Pearl of Great Price."
Larger image. |
Pearls were highly valued in ancient times.
This was before the time of cultured pearls, so pearls were not
plentiful. They were regarded as precious stones in antiquity, taken
by divers from the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the Indian Ocean.
Pearls were used for necklaces and other ornaments, and could be
extremely costly, so the word "pearl" came to be a figure of speech
for something of supreme worth.10 Ancient literature tells of pearls worth millions of dollars. Caesar
presented Brutus' mother with a pearl worth 6 million sesterces
(hundreds of thousands of dollars). Cleopatra is said to have
possessed a pearl worth 100 million sesterces.11
Thus when the pearl merchant in Jesus' parable
finds one "pearl of great price" (KJV), "great value" (NIV, NRSV),12 he leaves the potential seller of this huge pearl, liquidates all
his assets down to the last penny -- "sold everything he had" -- and
then rushes back to buy the wonderful pearl that has enchanted him.
Jesus' point in the Parable of the Pearl of
Great Price is similar to the Parable of the Hidden Treasure. When
you find such a valuable pearl, it is worth selling everything you
own to obtain it, whether to admire, as some contend,13 or to sell for a much greater profit. When you find the ultimate
pearl, you spare nothing to make it your own.
A third way the Gospels teach about the great
value of the Kingdom is in the incident of the rich young ruler,
where Jesus observes, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the
kingdom of God!" (Mark 10:23)
This incident is a troubling one. It was
troubling for the disciples, for the wealthy young ruler, and for
us. It seems too radical, too abrupt, too ... well, too immoderate
to suit our tastes. But it's easy to miss the truth when it is
delivered in moderation. The truth, however, can be unmistakable
when delivered unvarnished, undiluted. And that kind of powerful
truth-telling is what Jesus is known for. It begins earnestly
enough:
"As Jesus started on his way, a man
ran up to him and fell on his knees before him." (Mark 10:17a)
Jesus is about to leave the town. It is the
man's last chance to ask his question, to meet Jesus face-to-face.
And so he runs up to him and falls on his knees before him. It is a
picture of urgency and humility.
Luke calls this man a "ruler," archōn,
generally, "one who has administrative authority, leader, official."
It is used of various Jewish leaders, including those in charge of a
synagogue and members of the Sanhedrin.14
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James J. Tissot, detail of "The Rich Young Man Went Away
Sorrowful" (1886-96), watercolor, Brooklyn Museum, New York.
Full image. |
Matthew 19:22 adds another detail and refers to
the ruler as a "young man," Greek neaniskos, "a relatively
young man, youth, young man (from about the 24th to the 40th year)."15 Luke 18:23 tells us "he was a man of great wealth." "Wealth" is
Greek plousios, "pertaining to having an abundance of earthly
possessions that exceeds normal experience, rich, wealthy."16 The adjective "great" translates Greek sphodra, "a very high
point on a scale of extent, very (much), extremely, greatly."17
And so we have an earnest young man, wealthy -- very wealthy, indeed -- and probably because of his wealth and
earnestness about spiritual matters, a person entrusted with
governance in the synagogue, a ruler, a respected person in the
community.
I see him in his fine robes, immaculately
groomed, kneeling at Jesus' feet in the dirt of the roadside at the
edge of town, with a burning question on his heart.
"'Good teacher,' he asked, 'what must
I do to inherit eternal life?'" (Mark 10:17b)
Most of the wealthy, religious people who asked
Jesus public questions were trying to trick him into some imprudent
statement -- "Should we pay taxes to Caesar?" (Luke 20:22). "Why do
your disciples pluck grain on the Sabbath?" (Luke 6:2). But this
man's question was no trick. It was a sincere question to which he
needed to know the answer -- how to inherit eternal life. The word
translated "inherit" is Greek klēronomeō, "acquire, obtain,
come into possession of something, inherit."18
The question tells us several things about the
young man:
- He must be feeling inadequate in his spiritual preparation
somehow or he probably wouldn't ask the question.
- He sides with the Pharisees rather than the Sadducees
(another religious party in first century Judaism), since the
Sadducees didn't believe in life after death, and this question
clearly implies that he does.
- He believes that eternal life is something that one earns or
merits by what he does.
Ask the common man or woman in your community
and you'll probably come up with a similar belief. You go to heaven
if you do good. You go to hell if you do bad things. Well, only
very bad things. Eternal life is a reward for what you do on
earth. That's what people tell you.
The young man's question betrays both his
superficial understanding of inheriting eternal life, and his
superficial understanding of a person's ability to do good deeds
that are pure, unmixed by ulterior motives. The Prophet Isaiah's
scathing words spoken 750 years before, "all our righteous acts are
like filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6), must have somehow escaped the young
man.
Notice that in the brief scope of a few verses
salvation is spoken of in various terms and figures: "eternal life"
(Mark 10:17), "treasure in heaven" (10:21), "entering the Kingdom of
God" (10:23), and "being saved" (10:26). These are used
synonymously.
In this sincere young man's superficial way, he
addresses Jesus as "good teacher," a somewhat improper way to
address a Rabbi. We don't see this expression elsewhere in
Rabbinical literature until the fourth century. The word "good" in
both verses 17 and 18 is Greek agathos, "pertaining to
meeting a high standard of worth and merit, good."19
Jesus rebukes the young man concerning his
careless address:
"'Why do you call me good?' Jesus
answered. 'No one is good -- except God alone.'" (Mark 10:18)
The young man can't understand anything else
Jesus will tell him unless he grasps that our relative standards of
goodness are much, much different than God's absolute goodness and
God's standards of righteousness.
Some have felt that, by these words, Jesus is
somehow denying his own divinity. If Jesus had meant to do so, he
would have replied simply that he was a sinner. But Jesus' divinity
isn't the issue. Jesus is calling the young man to reflect on his
words. Jesus is trying to teach him. Perhaps Jesus is trying to
prompt him to reflect on who He is, too. As Jesus said to the woman
at the well of Sychar, "If you knew ... who it is that asks you for
a drink...." (John 4:10). But this rich man can't see, can't
understand.
I can't help but recall another conversation
Jesus had with an earnest Jewish ruler, Nicodemus, related for us in
John's Gospel, that we'll study in
Lesson 6:
"Now there was a man of the
Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He
came to Jesus at night and said, 'Rabbi, we know you are a teacher
who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs
you are doing if God were not with him.'
"In reply Jesus declared, 'I tell you the truth, no one can see the
kingdom of God unless he is born again.'" (John 3:1-3)
I notice three points of comparison:
- Both of them greet Jesus with gracious praise.
- Jesus' response is not the expected gracious reply, but
seemingly off-the-wall, jarring, and unanticipated.
- Both exhibit lack of spiritual understanding.
Jesus doesn't exchange pleasantries with these
men. He comes right to the point, he teaches, but in a completely
unexpected way. In both cases, these rulers are hungry for spiritual
guidance. But they need to abandon some dangerous presuppositions
about their state before God before they will be able to understand
any further truth.
After pointing out the young man's inadequate
understanding of "goodness," Jesus proceeds to inquire more of this
man's -- and his culture's -- measure of righteousness.
"'You know the commandments: Do not
murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false
testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'
20 'Teacher,' he declared, 'all these I have kept since I
was a boy.'" (Mark 10:19-20)
The verb "kept" (NIV, NRSV), "observed" (KJV)
is Greek phylassō, "to continue to keep a law or commandment
from being broken, observe, follow."20 The commandments Jesus mentions all relate to the man's
relationships with other people. Jesus will approach commandments
that relate to God in another manner.
The young man's response is immediate: "All
these I have kept since I was a boy" (Mark 10:20), and his answer
should not surprise us. The Rabbis held that the law could indeed be
kept in its entirety. This might be true if you were defining the
commandments as the Pharisees did, but we know from the Sermon on
the Mount (Matthew 5:17-48) that Jesus' view of keeping these
commandments goes far beyond the legalistic interpretations of his
time. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus relates murder to its root
in anger and adultery to its root in lust.
The young man has kept all the commandments,
but feels incomplete, a lack, or else he wouldn't have come to Jesus
in the first place. Now Jesus speaks to the young man's point of
need:
"Jesus, looking at him, loved him and
said, 'You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money
to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow
me.'" (Mark 10:21)
I am struck by Jesus' love here. Jesus isn't
just engaged in verbal jousting. He loves this rich young man and is
trying to help him be saved. This is tough love, but love strong and
true.
Jesus affirms the young man's sense of need.21 Jesus' prescription, however, is unpalatable -- to the young man and
to us. "Sell everything" and give the proceeds to the poor. The word
translated "give" is Greek diadidōmi, "apportion among
various parties, distribute, give."22
If the man does this, Jesus assures him, he
will have treasure in heaven. "Treasure" is Greek thesauros,
"that which is stored up, treasure,"23 which we saw in Matthew 13:44. It is an ironic exchange that Jesus
proposes -- exchanging fabulous wealth here on earth for fabulous
wealth in the Kingdom of God. Many in history have tried to buy
their way into God's good graces. Many of the world's great
cathedrals, temples, and mosques are inscribed with the names of
generous benefactors. But Jesus is not proposing buying anything or
doing anything glorious. He isn't proposing a massive contribution
to the Jesus Christ Evangelistic Association that will spread the
Gospel in perpetuity.
Jesus proposes that the man sell all his
property and give the proceeds to those who are least able to
reciprocate -- the poor. St. James is right when he characterizes
true religion:
"Religion that God our Father accepts
as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in
their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world"
(James 1:27).
The truth is that money itself has a way of
polluting us, that is, tempting us to compromise our values in order
to gain and retain it.
"For the love of money is a root of
all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from
the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs" (1 Timothy 6:10).
As we saw in
Lesson 3, in the Sermon on the
Mount, Jesus has taught his disciples about the importance of
faithfulness to God as opposed to money: 24
"No one can serve two masters. Either
he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to
the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."
(Matthew 6:24)
Now his disciples have an object lesson to
learn from -- an actual rich man, fabulously wealthy. Can he -- will
he -- become a disciple?
Money, however, isn't the only thing that Jesus
asks the young man to give up:
- Possessions, what money will buy, the accouterments of
wealth. A new car, a nice house, a membership in the country club,
and fashionable clothing.
- Status and influence that wealth affords. People make
way for the wealthy, hoping that some of that wealth might rub off
on them. At the very least, people kowtow to the wealthy to keep
from becoming their enemies.
- Power. Wealth is power. It buys influence. It buys
others who will make it easy for the wealthy to have their own way.
- Community leadership. The man isn't very likely to
continue as a respected ruler without his wealth. If he gives up his
wealth, he will be misunderstood and resented by the other
influential people in his community. No, he won't be a ruler for
long.
- Family. The young man probably comes from a wealthy
family. But if he disposes of a huge chunk of the family wealth,
will his siblings understand and accept it? Will his wife and
family? His father or mother if they are still living?
How often have you been tempted to do things
that were wrong or unethical or self-serving because of the lure of
money, even a little bit of money? Money must either be controlled
or it will control us. It is a sad thing when our possessions begin
to possess us!
But Jesus' words don't just upset the rich
young ruler. They also upset us. As a pastor I have heard many times
the response to this passage: "That doesn't mean everyone should
sell what they have, does it? If everyone did that it would result
in chaos."
Obviously. But why are we even worried with the
question? Do we, too, feel possessive of what we have? Do we fear
that Jesus may require us to do something that would cost us too
much? What are we afraid of? And why do we fear?
We fear because we sense that we are not fully
surrendered, that's why. Jesus' words to the rich young ruler are
quite consistent with what he has been saying to his disciples
throughout his journeys:
"If anyone comes to me and does not
hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and
sisters -- yes, even his own life -- he cannot be my disciple. And
anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my
disciple." (Luke 14:26-27)
"In the same way, any of you who does
not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:33)
"For whoever wants to save his life
will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it." (Luke
9:24)
"Whoever tries to keep his life will
lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it." (Luke 17:33)
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Q2. (Mark
10:21) Why do you think Jesus requires the rich young ruler
to divest himself of his fortune? Why does this trouble us
so much? If there was no other way for the man to be saved,
what does that say about the spiritual dangers of wealth?
http://www.joyfulheart.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1010
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The story of the rich young ruler exposes a raw
nerve in us that causes a reaction. But disposing of wealth was not
all that Jesus asked the man to do.
"Jesus looked at him and loved him.
'One thing you lack,' he said. 'Go, sell everything you have and
give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come,
follow me.'" (Mark 10:21)
Jesus
concludes with two commands. "Come" is Greek deuro, an adverb
functioning as an interjection, "here, (come) here, come!"24 The word "follow" is the characteristic word of discipleship, Greek
akoloutheō, "follow," figuratively, "to follow someone as a
disciple, be a disciple, follow."25
However, I don't think that the following Jesus
invites this man to do is just figurative. Jesus looked at this man
and loved him (Mark 10:21). I think Jesus is inviting the rich young
man to join him on his journeys, to become one of the disciples who
enjoy the immense and unspeakable privilege of spending time with
Jesus and learning from him on a day-by-day basis. What a wonderful
invitation!
But the invitation implicit to us is no less
wonderful. We, too, are invited to come to Jesus, and then to follow
him on a spiritual life journey. To enjoy his company, his presence.
To be taught along the way by his Word and Spirit. To become part of
his great extended family, the Body of Christ throughout the world.
And to be filled with hope in the closing days of our journey as we
know his promises and feel his comfort within us.
"Come, follow me," is the invitation Jesus
extends to you and me.
But this radical call to discipleship is too
much for the rich young ruler.
"At this the man's face fell. He went
away sad, because he had great wealth." (Mark 10:22)
"Sad" is lypeō, "be sad, be distressed,
grieve."26 The earnest young man with dust on his fine clothing, gets up
slowly, his face stricken with grief. He averts his eyes from Jesus,
as I see it, turns slowly, and moves away from the band of
disciples.
He cannot go with them. He cannot go with
Jesus, as much as he would love to. Because he loves one thing more,
and he cannot leave that to serve God.
In a very real sense, he has broken the first
commandment: "You shall have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3).
Nor can he obey the Shema, which, as a devout Jew, he recites
twice a day: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your strength" (Deuteronomy 6:4).
Jesus has pierced the man's naïveté, and has
proved to him, and those who were privy to this conversation, that
you cannot serve God and Money! For the wealthy young ruler
it is sadly true.
There is more -- Jesus comments on the rarity,
the impossibility of the rich or of anyone being saved.
The challenge for disciples remains. My dear
friend, is there anything, any hindrance, that you are unwilling to
give up to follow Jesus? You may not be wealthy, but if there is
something you possess, or that possesses you, laying it down is a
vital part of following the Master. He must have your all. And he
calls gently to you: "Come, follow me."
The disciples were shocked. In the Judaism of
the day, only the Pharisees were considered wealthy enough to keep
all the commandments. If they couldn't be saved, who could?
Now Jesus zings home his point:
"23 Jesus looked around and
said to his disciples, 'How hard it is for the rich to enter the
kingdom of God!' 24 The disciples were amazed at his
words. But Jesus said again, 'Children, how hard it is27 to enter the kingdom of God!'" (Mark 10:23-24)
"Hard" is dyskolos, "pertaining to that
which is difficult to fulfill or do, hard, difficult."28 Jesus continues with a parable of impossibility, a camel going
through the eye of a needle, but we'll conclude our study here.
We have examined three teachings:
- The Parable of the Hidden Treasure (Matthew 13:44)
- The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price (Matthew 13:45-46)
- The Incident with the Rich Young Ruler (Mark 10:17-24)
Each reinforces a similar theme, that the
Kingdom is valuable indeed:
- A farmer is willing to sell all he has to purchase the land
containing the buried treasure,
- A wealthy pearl merchant is willing to liquidate all his
holdings to purchase the ultimate pearl of great price, and
- A rich young ruler is unwilling to do the same, because he
values his wealth more than the Kingdom.
Of course, we know that these teachings are to
underscore the
immense value of the Kingdom, not to teach
that we can buy it through anything we might pay or do! The Kingdom
is a gift of God's grace, pure and simple. Praise God!
Dear friend, which of these three men are
you most like? Jesus is telling us that the Kingdom cannot be
taken lightly. It is not a religion, a faith. It is not trivial. It
is of such a cost that a person must be willing to give up all else
to enter it.
Come, follow me in the Kingdom, says your Lord.
Prayer
Lord, I know that the more I listen to my
culture, the less I value your Kingdom. The world and your Kingdom
seem like different, opposed worlds. Help me to esteem your Kingdom
properly. Help my actions conform to this radical Kingdom value
system. In your holy name, I pray. Amen.
Key Verses
"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, NIV)
Jesus looked at him and loved him.
"One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and
give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come,
follow me." (Mark 10:21, NIV)
"It is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom
of God.… With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things
are possible with God." (Mark 10:24b-25, 27, NIV)
Discipleship Lessons
on Jesus and the Kingdom Bible Study
Copyright © 1985-2012, Ralph F. Wilson. <pastor
joyfulheart.com> All rights reserved. A single copy of this article is free. Do not put this on a website. See legal, copyright, and reprint information.
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