Finding Something of Great Worth

RELATED SCRIPTURE:

Matthew 13:44-46

In 1956, Jim Elliott, an American missionary, was one of five men killed while seeking to share the gospel with the Huaorani people of Ecuador. He was just 28 years old.

Six years before his death, he wrote a now-famous line in his journal - a quote that continues to resonate with many:

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.

He is no fool who gives up temporary things to gain something priceless and eternal.

Finding Something of Great Worth

What is the most valuable thing that you possess?

What is the most valuable thing that one can possess?

One day, Jesus got into a boat by the Sea of Galilee and began to teach the crowds. He spoke to them in parables—stories that convey eternal truths.

Jesus began teaching about the Kingdom of Heaven: '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.

Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.' Matthew 13:44-46

In Jesus' parable, a man stumbles upon buried treasure and immediately recognises its immense value.

Filled with joy, he doesn't simply take the treasure - that would have been theft. Instead, he sells everything he owns to buy the field and legally claim the treasure as his own.

Did he have a duty to inform the landowner?

Not according to the rabbinic laws of the time. Jesus' listeners would have understood the cultural and legal context: as long as the treasure remained buried, it belonged to the owner of the land. So, by purchasing the field, the man acted both wisely and truthfully.

Unlike the man who stumbled upon hidden treasure, the merchant in Jesus' second parable is intentionally searching for a pearl of great value.

In ancient times, pearl divers would plunge into dangerous depths, often risking their lives to find a perfectly formed, beautiful pearl of immense worth.

When the merchant finds such a pearl, he immediately recognises its value, and - like the man before him - sells everything he owns to acquire it.

While burying treasure or searching for pearls isn't something we do nowadays, these practices were fairly common in Jesus' time. People often buried their riches for safekeeping, and buying pearls was considered a wise and reliable investment.

Yet these two parables are not about earthly investments or gaining worldly riches, but rather about how we can gain eternal treasures.

The Kingdom of Heaven

The Kingdom of Heaven - or the Kingdom of God - is 'not of this world.' John 18:36

At present, this Kingdom is a spiritual and eternal realm: 'the Kingdom of God is in your midst.' Luke 17:21

All who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour enter this spiritual Kingdom.

Finding salvation through Jesus Christ is the true treasure - priceless, infinite, and eternal in value.

For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? Matthew 16:26

Salvation: A Gift from God

Salvation from sin and its ultimate consequence, eternal separation from God, is not something we can buy or earn. It is a gift from God, offered to all who believe.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9

This gift is free to us because Jesus Christ paid the price for the sins of the world.

There is no one righteous before God, no one who could enter His holy presence based on their righteousness or good deeds.

Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, died on the cross, bearing the weight of our sins so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

If entering the Kingdom of God is free for all who believe, is there still a price to pay?

Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it, a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price [...] it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows Him. Grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly, because it condemns sin, and grace, because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of His Son: 'you were bought at a price', and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon His Son too dear a price to pay for our life but delivered Him up for us. [...] Costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus. - D. Bonhoeffer

The Cost of Discipleship

Crowds often followed Jesus, but not all became His disciples. Very few found salvation. Some loved His teaching, others came seeking healing or miracles. But not many were willing to truly follow Him.

While salvation is a gift, discipleship comes at a cost, and Jesus called people to count the cost of following Him.

To be a disciple of Jesus is to surrender everything to God: our will, desires, possessions - even our very lives.

So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be My disciple. Luke 14:33

This might seem like too high a price to pay, but God is the one who works in us, making us both willing and able to fulfil His purposes.

In Jesus' parable, both the man who found the hidden treasure and the merchant who discovered the pearl of great value sold everything they had - yet what they gained in return was immeasurably more valuable.

To know Christ - and to be known by Him - is of infinite, eternal worth.

Worth the Cost

Peter once asked Jesus: 'See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?' Jesus answered: 'Truly I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne [...] everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for My name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.' Matthew 19:28-29

On two separate occasions, Peter received the call, 'Follow Me.' It was the first and last word Jesus spoke to His disciple (Mark 1:17, John 21:22). Between the two calls lay a whole life of discipleship in the following of Christ. The first occasion was by the lake of Gennesareth, when Peter left his nets and his craft and followed Jesus at His word. The second occasion was when the Risen Lord found him back again at his old trade. Once again, it was by the Lake of Gennesareth, and once again the call was: 'Follow Me.' The grace of Christ Himself prevailed upon the disciple to leave all and follow Him. In the life of Peter, grace and discipleship are inseparable. He had received the grace that costs. - D. Bonhoeffer

The Surpassing Worth of Knowing Christ

I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus My Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ. Philippians 3:8

The most valuable thing one can possess - here and now - is salvation through Jesus Christ, and one day, eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Even now, the treasures we possess are righteousness, joy, and peace in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17), and the eternal rewards awaiting us far surpass anything we may give up on Earth.

Whether you're intentionally seeking life's meaning and purpose, like the merchant searching for a pearl of great value, or whether you've stumbled upon the knowledge that can lead to salvation, God offers you today the free and unmerited gift of salvation and eternal life through Jesus Christ.

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Romans 10:13

Today, you can experience the joy of having peace with God, the forgiveness of sins, and the hope of eternity.

Today, the Kingdom of Heaven can be yours, an eternal treasure that surpasses in worth everything that this life can offer.

And if we answer the call to discipleship, where will it lead us? What decisions and partings will it demand? To answer this question, we shall have to go to Him, for only He knows the answer. Only Jesus Christ, who bids us to follow Him, knows the journey's end. But we do know that it will be a road of boundless mercy. Discipleship means joy. - The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer