Absolute Hope and purpose can be found just by TRUSTING IN JESUS; only He can bring genuine peace, joy, and everlasting life. Learning to believe in Him will change our lives forever. Our search for hope and purpose in Jesus is like the merchant who was looking for fine pearls, and “…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.” (Matt. 13:45-46) By the way, a parable is a story you throw out alongside a person’s life to cause a different perspective or way of seeing from the hearer. It actually IS like an onion, with layer upon layer of truth, getting more stimulating the more you peel into it. Both personal and inspirational. parables are designed to be felt and experienced.
What’s the Kingdom of Heaven like? Well, it’s like a merchant who went in search of pearls but found something altogether ‘MORE’ THAN WHAT HE INITIALLY WENT IN SEARCH FOR. And upon buying it, his identity changed. He was no longer a merchant. Although being a merchant, or a trader, to Jesus first century Jewish audience, merchants did not have glowing reputations. Most references to them in the Bible are negative. “Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and SOME FOR COMMON USE?” (Rom. 9:21)
Imagine if you had never heard this parable, who would you expect Jesus to compare His Kingdom to? Maybe a Rabbi, or the widow who gave all she had? Or a young man who started a charity? Nope. A MERCHANT. Someone the community could never really trust. He is a strange character. It would have surprised Jesus followers to hear Him use this character in the parable, much less someone who could attain to the Kingdom of God. The pearl is an equally strange choice. In the ancient world, pearls were the MOST EXPENSIVE JEWEL ONE COULD BUY. They represented the essence of wealth. It’s just like Jesus to use surprising characters and mysterious treasures to expand our perspective on what the KINGDOM OF GOD could really include, and who could be involved in it. “…God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure IN JARS OF CLAY to show that this all-surpassing power IS FROM GOD AND NOT FROM US.” (2 Corin. 4:6-7)
Your Personal Pastor -Bill Stockham