Through the eyes of Jesus
The Parable of the Pearl
Matthew 13:44-45
2011-04-10
This parable follows right on the heels of the previous one about the Hidden Treasure and a lot of Bible expositors link the two by saying that they are basically the same parable only told from a different perspective. If we look at the wording in the parable we can see that despite their similarities, you can also see that they are two different parables.
There are two distinctions between these parables. In the Hidden treasure, the searcher comes upon it by accident and then when he finds it, he buries it for later purchase, while the searcher in the Pearl the search is done with intention and is purchased as soon as it is found.
As in the previous parable, there have been many interpretations to its meaning and despite well intention I feel have missed the mark. If we once again look at the entirety of the parables given they all need to be able to fit together in order to understand the totality of what is being taught.
In this parable, the most often route taken is the searcher is none other than sinful man. He is out searching for the truth that he knows is out there and when he finds it goes and sells all that he has to purchase it. In this understanding, we then see sinful man searching for and purchasing none other than Jesus Christ. This interpretation takes us away from the fact that Jesus has already described the man doing the searching none other than Himself and what scripture says about mans’ search for God.
Psalms 53:2 - 2
2 God looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God. 3Every one of them has turned aside; They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one.
Paul puts it this way in Romans 3:11
11 There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God
In addition, Jesus says this in Luke 19:10
10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
In addition to this, Romans 6:23 says that what God has to offer is a gift and since it is a gift, it cannot be bought or sold and in Luke 7:42 Jesus tells another parable about two debtors and neither one had any money to buy their freedom, so by the grace of the creditor, he forgave them both.
If we truly stack up all that scripture has to say, there is no way that this could be sinful man intentionally looking for and then having the ability to purchase none other than the Son of God.
Unlike most of the other parables that had three visible points of focus, this one only has two; the merchant man and the Pearl.
Focal Point 1 The merchantman.
The primary understanding of the term merchant man is one who goes on journey in the anticipation of making a purchase or an importer. With this understanding of the term for the merchant man there is no way that this could apply to a poor wretched sinner.
In addition, this merchant was more than just an importer; he knew what he was looking for. Scripture says that he was SEEKING.
This word seeking tells us two things about this merchant.
This in essence symbolizes Jesus leaving his heavenly home and traveling to earth.
If we are honest with ourselves and I think that we really need to be as we read these parables that Jesus tells us here, there is no one here that in the beginning ever set out to really find truth in the beginning.
In fact I think that more of us are really like the Samaritan woman that Jesus met at the well one warm afternoon.
John 4:4-26
5 In Samaria Jesus came to the town called Scar, which is near the field Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there. Jesus was tired from his long trip, so he sat down beside the well. It was about twelve o’clock noon. 7 When a Samaritan woman came to the well to get some water, Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” 8 (This happened while Jesus’ followers were in town buying some food.)
9 The woman said, “I am surprised that you ask me for a drink, since you are a Jewish man and I am a Samaritan woman.” (Jewish people are not friends with Samaritans.)
10 Jesus said, “If you only knew the free gift of God and who it is that is asking you for water, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
11 The woman said, “Sir, where will you get this living water? The well is very deep, and you have nothing to get water with. 12 Are you greater than Jacob, our father, who gave us this well and drank from it himself along with his sons and flocks?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give will never be thirsty. The water I give will become a spring of water gushing up inside that person, giving eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so I will never be thirsty again and will not have to come back here to get more water.”16 Jesus told her, “Go get your husband and come back here.”17 The woman answered, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right to say you have no husband. 18 Really you have had five husbands, and the man you live with now is not your husband. You told the truth.” 19 The woman said, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet.
Truth comes upon all of us in very unique and subtle ways. When it does come upon us, just like the woman, we are overwhelmed and even possibly awe struck that it is being presented to me. But the reality of it is, when we do grasp the truth it answers the emptiness that we have been trying to fill.
As in the other parables in this section, the person doing all the initial work is none other than Jesus. Not only is he the one spreading the good news in the parable of the Sower and the seed, he is also the merchant man looking for the goodly Pearl.
Focal Point 2 The Pearl
What an item is the Pearl. It is never mentioned in the Old Testament at all, almost as if it an unknown commodity and on average it is mentioned six times in the New Testament and it is always associated with wealth and adornment.
Two unique qualities associated with a Pearl.
1.Unlike Rubies, Diamonds and other precious stones, a Pearl is from a living organism.
Gems like Rubies, Diamonds, and Sapphires are simply various chemical compounds in the earth that have under gone extreme heat and pressure. Take the diamond for example; in reality it is simply carbon or a variation of coal that has undergone this extreme heat and pressure in the earth’s crust.
Once the gem has been mined, it must then be cut and polished to reveal its true brilliance
2.A pearl on the other hand is the result of an injury to the living organism.
To get a peril, a living organism known as a mollusk (oyster / clam) must have some kind of irritant placed within its body that it cannot expel. To ease this irritant, the mollusks defensive system takes over and produces what is called “Nacre” or Mother of Peril which is a calcium carbonate compound.
As long as this irritant stays within the confines of the mollusk it will continue to produce layer upon layer of this nacre salve to protect it from causing more harm to the mollusk.
The reality in the formation of pearl is due to an injury being covered up by a protective agent which in the end produces great beauty and wealth.
So just how does this Parable of the Merchantman going after a great Pearl relate to the growth and expansion of the Church if that is what Jesus is trying to show us in the totality of these parables.
Ada Habershon (1861 – 1918) Author of the Hymn “Will the Circle be unbroken” and studies such as Study of Types, Study of the tabernacle and Study of the Parables gives us these Six points of comparisons.
Both the mustard seed and the pearl grown from something small. Unlike the mustard seed which grew large and fast, the pearl never grows very large but its vale can be almost priceless. Pointing out that it is not necessarily size that determines wealth.
Just as in the formation of the peril when an irritant has been embedded in the mollusk and it secrets this Nacre, the Holy Spirit secrets His protective layering generation after generation.
Just like the mollusk whose flesh is corruptible and has this irritant embedded in it, the church is embedded in this world of corruption. Which in the end will be brought forth in brilliance and glory.
Originally the pearl found its home in the murky depth of the ocean floor among the mire and scavengers.
In scripture, the sea is often known of as a type of godless peoples, nations and tongues out of which the Church is taken. Think about what our very nature, is it not full of the miry nature of the world? Is it not what we are still fighting with as we mature as Christians. Remember in the Parable of the treasure, it was only buried, but here in this Parable, it is at the lowest depths of the sea.
Psalm 69:14
14Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: Let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters
Just as David wrote in Psalms 139:13 - 16
15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.
Just like formation of the human body, only God can see the true growth of not only the human body, but the human spirit. Behind the façade of building that has been called the church, the true growth of the church is taking place.
The Church as we know it is not necessarily the Church as God sees it. Just as in the Parable of the Mustard seed, that showed us the growth of the false church, and the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares showed us the infiltration of false ideas and Hypocrisy in the church, there is the visible that the world sees and there is the church that God sees.
Just as there is a difference between the true Church and the false Church, there is a difference between the visible church and the invisible, there will be differences between pearls.
Matthew 7:22-23
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
The merchantman in this parable will know the difference between the true pearl and the inferior one. Just as in the Old Testament when the Pearl seemed to hold little value to the nation of Israel, the Church seems to hold little value to the world today. Just because it seems to hold little value does not mean there is no value to it, for remember its not about the size that’s important, but what one is willing to pay for it.
As I said at the beginning, most parables have three visible points and this one only had two, but just because it only has two visible points does not mean there is something more, so that brings us to the final and hidden point of this parable.
The Cost.
This is one point that we can never fully grasp the totality of; what the merchant man gave up to buy this pearl.
Matthew 13:46b
sold all that he had
What did Jesus give up to purchase His church; YOU AND ME.
It’s so easy to read that he came to earth, was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on a cross and rose again on the third day.
What does it mean to give up Your Glory to become a servant to those that hate and despise you?
What does it mean to step out of purity into the depravity of human sinfulness?
I don’t know!
But I do know that because if it, I am forgiven. I have a heavenly Father that loves me enough that He sent His only Son to come and rescue me from myself.
Through the eyes of Jesus
Parable of the Dragnet
Matthew 13:47 – 50
April 24, 2011
A couple weeks ago, Judy asked me if I was still going to keep following through on the teaching of the parables as she realized that this one fell on Easter. As you can see, I kept to the path I was on and you may be asking why nothing on the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus this day.
I don’t think that there is a person living in America that has not heard the story about Jesus Christ being crucified, buried and rising on the third day, the question that needs to be answered is do they know or understand the story.
The eunuch as he was riding in his chariot as he left Jerusalem that day had heard the message, but he did not know the message, that is until Phillip explained it to him.
Today we look at what most consider to be the final parable in this series of parables, The Parable of the Dragnet. Gregory the Great ((Pope Gregory, 590AD – 604AD) 540 AD – 604AD) says this parable was; “to be trembled at rather than expounded.”
As in many of the teachings of the Bible, I feel that we have really failed at understanding the emphasis behind these parables. We see them too often as simple stories rather than what they are, warnings about future events.
This Parable is often associated with the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares. Both of these parables show the good and bad living together and at the appropriate time separation.
As we open this parable we have three main components to it.
In this area we have two components
A) Sea B) Net
The sea when it comes to Biblical interpretation represents the mass of human existence.
Isaiah 24:13 - 14
13For thus shall it be in the midst of the earth among the peoples, as the shaking of an olive-tree, as the gleanings when the vintage is done. 14These shall lift up their voice, they shall shout; for the majesty of Jehovah they cry aloud from the sea.
Daniel 7:2 - 3
2 Daniel spoke, saying, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea. 3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other.
Revelation 13:1
. . . And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns, and seven heads, and on his horns ten diadems, and upon his heads names of blasphemy.
The word that Jesus uses in the parable for net is one that means a dragnet.
This type of net is a very large net that is spread or cast over a very large area.
On the top rope is some kind of flotation device to keep this rope on the surface. On the bottom rope is attached weights to pull it to the bottom of the water. The two ropes are then attached with multiple smaller ropes that from a webbing. When this assembly is pulled or drug through the water it then traps all the fish that are too large to fit through the small openings.
The design of the dragnet was not to just cover the shallows, but also the depths. It is also designed to not pass by those too bad or those that were too good. It was designed to catch all that came into its wide path.
This spreading of the net is then very similar to the first parable of the spreading of the seed as it is cast across the field or in the case of the truer understanding the spreading of the gospel. The purpose of both was to cover as much territory as possible to have as great effect as possible on the area being covered.
In this area we have two components
Unlike the other parables, this one here takes a slight twist. Up to this point all the main characters have had a singular nature, meaning that it was one person or identity doing or representing the doing, here Jesus makes the activity a plurality.
Look closely at verse 48
48 which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down
Matthew 4:19 - 20
19 Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
Mark 1:17 - 18
17 Then Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” 18 They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
As much as these parables are about Jesus and the fulfillment of the Kingdom age, Jesus is setting the stage by saying you are an important part of this work also.
Remember, the first four men Jesus called were literally fishermen. They were the initial recipients of the casting of His net into the sea of men. Little did they fully understand what was to come of their lives, but here in this parable Jesus is giving them one more indication that they were going to be involved in His work.
What is the ultimate responsibility of fishermen; to catch fish.
When a fisherman tosses a dragnet into the waters, he basically knows one of two things are going to happen.
The challenge with catching nothing is a lot of work was expanded for no result.
The challenge with catching something is he has no control over what he will catch. Meaning in his net he will have good fish (saleable product) or bad fish (non saleable product). The good fish were placed in a container for safe transport while the bad fish were cast aside.
At some point, every fishing adventure brings a time when decisions have to be made. If you are out by yourself with a single fishing pole it must be made as soon as you pull the fish in, do I keep it or do I let it go. What does Jesus say was the result of the casting of this dragnet into the waters? “gathered some of every kind”. So too will a decision have to be made about the fish that are in this net.
Before we go there, what does this kind of fishing tell us?
This gives us three pieces of information.
Meaning just because the gospel is spread, does not mean all people are affected by it.
Just because people are in the church does not also mean that they are true Christians.
When it comes to those in the church net, there will be a separation between the true and the false Christians.
As the fishermen pulled these loaded nets from the waters, they had to come ashore and then separate the good fish from the bad fish. The one thing that we need to take into account here is this is where this parable again takes a turn like in the parable of the Wheat and the tares, the responsibility of separating the good from the bad when it comes to humanity will not be yours and mine to do.
Matthew 13:49
49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, 50 and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
Final separation or determination of the good and the bad is NOT YOUR RESPONSIBILITY.
The thing that we need to be concerned about is in which direction will the angels cast me?
As I mentioned a few minutes ago, this is the first time where parable is not centered around the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, it is centered around “They”, that is you and me.
They fished. They pulled the net.
Luke 5:4 - 11
4 When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
5 But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” 6 And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. 7 So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”
9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; 10 and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” 11 So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.
Simon and the others that night had been fishing their way, the way it has always been done. They knew the facts for they were fishermen as were their fathers before them. But as Jesus told them, you need to stop fishing based on your know how and do as I say. What was the results? A catch so big that their boats were on the verge of sinking.
As often as we focus on the facts of Easter, the betrayal, the scorn, the flogging, the cross, the burial and the resurrection, the ultimate question comes down to one simple question; “What does it mean to me?”
Its’ one thing to know the facts of Easter, but to have experienced the reality of those facts is another. So as you exit this Easter season, let us stop using the barbed hook or spear of a single fisherman and become part of the team that cast the net of forgiveness. For by doing so, the net the angels will one day pull in will be overflowing with souls. May it be filled with more good than bad.