If you ever wonder what the parable of the hidden treasure and the pearl’s summary is, reading this article, you will find it.
In Matthew, the Lord gives two parables similar in purpose. Namely, He compares the Kingdom of heaven to treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; for his joy, he sells all he has and buys that field.
Then again, he compares Paradise to a shipper seeking beautiful pearls; finding a pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
Most of the parables spoken by Jesus Christ (including the parable of the hidden treasure) refer to the Kingdom of God and how we can get there. Since dealing with such a subject is quite sensitive. For a fuller understanding, the Saviour spoke to the crowds in parables. The Lord Christ can reach the heart of each one. He has for each man means of wisdom, of enlightenment of the mind. But it is essential that we also want to understand what the Saviour offers us. The parable of the hidden treasure and the parable of the net that gathers all kinds of fish represent how God works in the world.
Hidden treasures in the Bible
From His hand come His divine words, scattered to the four corners of the earth—meant to reach every soul in this world. All those who wish to become heirs of His eternity receive His divine words. And also strive to make them work in their daily lives. In every man, God has hidden a treasure.
Nowadays, wealth and poverty are constantly updated realities, and the inequality of wealth distribution is growing. With the economy dominated by money and not by production, money becomes the primary yardstick, and the love of money becomes everyone’s passion. Being associated with the selling out of Christ, the love of money is called Paul, the root of all evil. Cash takes on metaphysical dimensions in human life and becomes the god mammon, who opposes God.
The view that money has only economic and social importance, without moral implications, is wrong. A Christian author pointed out gives the illusion that it possesses many characteristics of a deity. It seems to offer security, it gives us freedom, it gives us power, and it seems to be omnipresent. And the most sinister thing is that it gives man the illusion that he is all-powerful. Money comes to claim the loyalty and love that only God deserves and has the power to trap us.
Divine command theory
The divine commandments represent a meeting place with God. The fact that the Saviour calls the rich young man to sell all his possessions and follow him shows that Jesus Christ is the end of the commandments. The rich young man was to understand the commandments, which he claimed to keep as paths to meeting God. Following Christ is the natural consequence of traveling the way of the commandments. Outward observance of the commandments does not lead to an encounter with God. The rich young man meets the Son of God. But in spirit, he is far away and, therefore, cannot follow Him.
The globalization of money and the exploitation of the weak leads to the further impoverishment of the already poor and the acceleration of wealth accumulation by the richest. It also increases people’s tendency to seek easy gain in any form. In this idolatrous register, where success is measured in terms of money and possessions, the unscrupulousness of our age allows us to resort to injustice, deceit, violence, murder, conspiracy, and immorality.
Divine truth meaning
Therefore, as divine words, the commandments are the place of man’s encounter with divine reality, the site of tasting the divine Truth. Through the divine commandments, man tastes holy joy, unlike human principles and laws, which, lacking any real support, become artificial. The commandments are not only to be encountered, but they are to be contemplated and pondered by man in his capacity as the image of God. Fulfilling the commandments is always followed by knowing God. Doing and learning are inseparable.
The Holy Fathers have repeatedly shown that the divine commandments must not be reduced to purely moral phenomena. Gregory Palamas shows that the work of the commandments leads to union and likeness with God. By keeping the commandments in daily life, a man comes to contemplate the divine commandments in creation (religious reasons) and see God’s very Glory. Contemplation of the divine commandments is “the feast of the spiritual gaze. Which reveals and enlightens, ennobles, and nourishes all those who through purity in an understanding way. Of heart spend themselves in it in an understanding, or rather spiritual, the way”. Whoever does not live in the spirit of God’s commandments dwells in a false world, in a pseudo-reality, which makes people insubstantial.
What is the meaning of salvation?
Salvation is the exclusive gift of God. And the virtues polish the soul so it may receive the mystical grace of divinity. Salvation cannot be seen as a reward for the asceticism of our soul and body. Abstinence, as a need, places man in the gift of God. If it is merit due to us, then it can no longer be the exclusive gift of God but the assistance of the good done. The logic of the facility is this: you receive something that you feel is beyond your powers and merits. The gift surprises you because you don’t deserve it. The facility is yours because it is a reward for your efforts. Salvation is becoming inward, putting on grace, and overcoming all the weaknesses of human nature.
He who finds treasure must also produce good deeds
Gems are clean if people have buried them with a clear mind: whoever finds them should use them and do good deeds. Other prizes are unclean because their owners preferred to give them to the dirty rather than let others take them. Those are of no use.
If you ask them, wise people will tell you that the natural treasures are love, family and health, wisdom, kindness, humanity, and generosity. They were helping a man in trouble. And also saying a kind word to a troubled man, learning to forgive and ask for forgiveness. These are treasures that everyone has at hand! Take care of your soul, and never forget to act like a child of God that has learned from the parable of the hidden treasure!
