In this installment of the Parable Project, Laura and I will dive into two separate parables that are similar yet different. The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl of Great Price. Both of these can be found back to back in Matthew 13:44-46.

References to Bible Verses:

Matthew 13:11-12; 1 Corinthians 2:7-8; Matthew 13:44-46

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Welcome and Introduction

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Jason: Thank you for listening and welcome back to the podcast. We are your host, Jason. In this installment of the Parable Project, Laura and I will dive into two separate parables that are kind of similar, kind of different, the parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl of Great Price. Both of these can be found back to back in Matthew 13 versus 44 through 46.

Now, first glance, these might seem like small, simple. Parables, but they packed some great lessons for us about the kingdom of heaven. So get comfortable while Laura and I peel back the onion and dive deeper into both of these parables and what they mean for us as Christians.

Personal Updates and Life Events

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Jason: So welcome back, Laura. How you doing?

Laura: Oh, I'm doing all right. Jason, how are you?

Laura: 20 days left

Jason: The content has be.

Laura: not quite, but 20 days left. Then I only count school days. I do not count weekends.

Jason: That's fair. That's fair. So I don't, I think I mentioned this to you in, in a text and we talked about it just a second ago, but my daughter and I are actually going to be in a play together at a local community theater, which super fun 'cause I haven't been on stage since high school, which was 30 years ago-ish.

Laura: That sounds very exciting.

Jason: It is a little exciting, a little nerve wracking, but it, it'll be a fun little thing we do together. So I'm excited about that.

Laura: That's awesome.

Scripture Reflections and Timely Verses

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Jason: Also, I thought I'd mentioned to you Proverbs three, verses five and six has been kind of on my heart lately, that trust in the Lord with all your heartly not on your own understanding and all your ways to submit to him, he will make your past straight.

Laura: I'll talk about timely scripture verses because with stuff I'm going through right now. Trying to job hunt and relocate and all the, all the things. That is definitely a verse I need to keep at the forefront of my mind.

Jason: Well that one in Jeremiah 29 11.

Laura: Yeah. Yeah. That one in Philippians four 19, the same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches. Philippians four, six. Don't worry about anything instead, pray about everything and the list goes on.

Jason: You've got quite list there, so big changes coming. That's exciting.

Introduction to the Parables

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Laura: Yes, and they're actually really, really short, but I think most of them are, they like me.

Laura: Oh,

Jason: pretty, pretty amazing parables. I think We'll.

Laura: they certainly are. And then just this morning I was scrolling through Facebook and came across a reel that actually ties a verse in the Old Testament, back to these parables, and I'm like, mind blown? Oh yeah.

Jason: So I like, I love context. You know me, I love context and was, was digging into this and I found that Jesus kind of, he actually expressed truth about the kingdom in three separate pairs. Of parables all found in Matthew 13. So the first set is like the seed in the sower versus two through 23 and the weeds in the field versus 24 through 30.

So I thought that was kind of interesting.

Laura: Absolutely. I was noticing that as well, and the thought kind of went through my head. What if we make the next few episodes the Kingdom of Heaven parables.

Jason: Lemme just go backwards.

Laura: Kind of like a flashback. We start at the end. We start at almost the end, I should say, and then go back to the beginning and just kind of take them in pairs.

Jason: We could do that. We, we could have done it Tarantino style. We could have the middle and then the first, and then the.

Jason: So.

Why Jesus talks in parables. Um, he, he calls out the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, specifically in, in Matthew 13, 11, and 12 because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more and they will have an abundance. Whoever has, does not have even what they have will take.

And then I also found First Corinthians two verses seven and eight. No, we declared, we declare God's wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

And I'm.

Laura: Absolutely, and that actually ties into the verse that I've stumbled across this morning. Uh, Proverbs 25, 2. It is the glory of God to conceal a matter. It is the glory of kings to search it out.

Jason: Oh, that's.

Jason: To,

Laura: So,

okay.

Jason: and I wonder if so much concealing it as we just can't see it if we don't believe, like maybe we hide it ourselves by unbelief.

Jason: Fair. And I mean, to be fair, if you wanna find somebody in a game of hide and seek, you.

Laura: This is true too, which actually does tie into these parables.

Jason: I love it.

The Parable of the Hidden Treasure

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Jason: So I think I read the first par, the first part of the parable time You.

Laura: Sure. Uh, this one's the one, uh, the parable of the hidden treasure. The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered, hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.

Jason: I.

Jason: I like this. Good segue,

Laura: Um, because we, when we think about the kingdom of heaven, we assume that it's synonymous with heaven,

Jason: right?

Laura: Oh yes.

Jason: Under Rabbinic law, if a worker stumbles upon a treasure. Field and removes it. The treasure belongs to his master or, or basically whoever owns the field owns that treasure.

So in this parable, the man, let's say it's Jesus in this case, is careful not to lift the treasure until he's bought the field and can own the treasure. So he bought us and he owns us through his sacrifice.

Laura: Right, because when Adam sinned, Adam owned the land. But when he sinned, he turned ownership of the land over to Satan and then Jesus came to earth to buy back the field through, as you just said, his sacrifice on the cross.

We can't work hard enough. We can't pray hard enough. We can't believe, behave, or, or, you know, do enough on our own without Jesus to earn that treasure.

Laura: Oh, absolutely.

Jason: And I actually found this Spurgeon quote that, that aligns with this, this reasoning of it, if you wanna hear it.

Laura: Oh, go ahead

Jason: Uh, he put, so did Jesus himself at utmost cost by the world to gain his church, which was the treasure, which he desired.

So let that sink in for minute.

Laura: and, oh yeah. Oh, that was deep.

Jason: Yeah, he, our kingdom because we were.

Jason: Absolutely. I like where this went. That was fun.

Laura: Oh, yes. Absolutely. That was fun.

Jason: That was really good. Alright, so I, I mean, you pretty much nailed everything that I wanted to say about this one. That was, that was awesome.

Laura: And just so our listeners know, we did not collaborate on this before we sat down to talk,

Jason: No, not at all. Not at all.

Laura: unlike our revelation series where we collaborated every step of the way.

Jason: Yes. In a shared document That was, that was in the, um, the bloopers reel.

Laura: Oh yes. It was actually quite fun because we would sit and watch each other type

Jason: Yeah, it was, it was cool.

Laura: anyway, scrap

The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price

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Laura: exactly, which does kind of fall along the same lines as the parable of the hidden treasure.

Jason: It does,

Laura: You wanna read that? Go ahead.

Laura: I definitely agree.

Jason: And then the believer, you and me. Me, Laura, our listeners, everybody, were the pearl that Jesus sees. And so value the wants that he would be willing to give all he had to have it forever.

Laura: Which is kind of humbling if you think about it.

Laura: Absolutely. I mean, he went even so far in some verse somewhere, I can't remember it off the top of my head, but, you know, don't cast your pearls before swine. In other words, don't

Jason: But, but I mean, you know, when, when we willingly seek the kingdom, Jesus will willingly sacrifice all in order that we can find our way to it. I mean, it's kind that.

Jason: Now if.

Laura: Exactly. While I say us, because I mean, I'm not gonna pick between you and me.

Jason: Yeah, no.

Comparing and Contrasting the Parables

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Jason: And there's similarities and there's differences between these two parables. I mean, they both talk about the Kingdom of Heaven. They both have this main idea of some inestimable value of God's kingdom. Um, in both of them, the person gives up everything. Uh, the personal cost is worth it. Uh, and they're both short parables in a.

Jason: I noticed that too, and I Was I asking you about that? Because I couldn't. Context, any commentary that really distinguished what that meant? I'm not sure, you know, I'm, I'm trying to wrap my mind around, I'm trying to like fabricate some sort of an explanation. Uh, and I can't fathom why one would be an accident, one would be intentional.

Jason: Right.

Laura: Kind of going back to, um, Genesis, I want to say. 24. Yes, it would have to be 24 because that's the one where Abraham is telling his servant.

Laura: an accident. It's not actually an accident. It is a defined appointment.

Jason: Before you remove the treasure. But there's, there's, there is always intention, and maybe that's where I got confused, is that there's always intention in God's plan. Uh, so for there to be an accident just didn't make sense, but for us, yeah, from our perspective, absolutely. Um, you know, because kind of happened to be, um, I just sort of stumbled upon a church.

I mean, I was. I wasn't having much luck. I was ready to give up and then somebody reached out to me from a church Facebook messenger, the weirdest thing, and it like, oh, this, this just out of randomness, but it didn't,

Laura: Right.

Jason: so that's That's interesting.

Jason: Okay.

that's kind of what happens. You know, that's what happened with you. Your HAP was to light upon your church, and they reached out to you and said, Hey, stay here. And, and you were brought in and you were brought into the kingdom of God that way, which if that hadn't happened, guess what? We wouldn't be friends.

Jason: We wouldn't be doing this.

Laura: No, we would not. Yeah. And I've kind of been trying to toss this one in, but you keep using the word context, which of course is a great word, but did you know that, um. Context without the text is actually a con.

Jason: Yes, well played

Laura: You're welcome.

Jason: well.

Jason: It's good. Worth enough. It's good enough. So, yeah, so we've got the differences, the, you know, accidental, stumbling, uh, actively searching, you know, found by surprise, diligently seeking. Um, one of the other differences I noticed is that the hidden treasure, it's, it's kind of like it's a labor or some sort of a traveler.

A merchant that, um.

Jason: Yeah. And these do exist in pairs. These, these parables, they exist in

Laura: a parable.

Jason: Wow.

Laura: I had to,

Jason: Yes. A pairable

as I was going with that thread before you dad joked me.

Laura: I am the queen of dad jokes, my friend.

Jason: Yeah. Fair. Uh, you're very good at, I will say

Laura: What about a

Jason: anyways, wow, we're never gonna get this over with.

Laura: I am sorry.

Jason: No, you're good. That's funny. Anyways, my thought process there was,

Laura: Available?

Laura: Yes.

Yes, we do.

Jason: so you, you've, you've actually moved away from dad jokes.

Laura: I know, but aren't most puns, you know, can't they be considered dad jokes as well?

Jason: I suppose they could, or dad jokes could be considered a pun.

Laura: Eh, either way. They're

terrible.

Jason: Oh, well, you know,

Laura: Um.

Jason: joke becomes a dad joke is when it becomes.

Laura: Exactly, exactly. I used that with somebody recently. I think I used that with, uh, one of my friends out in Dallas. I.

So I what to do with this point. Told, recycle them back to next year. No way.

Laura: Well, you could always put 'em in a scrapbook.

Jason: Thinking about that too, I just wanted, just this year for whatever reason, I wanted keep, but anyhow, we're off.

Laura: totally, totally makes sense. Um, that was a scrap trail for the record books, by the way.

Jason: Oh yeah, no, we're getting good at this.

Concluding Thoughts and Farewell

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So that's what I had to say on this. Anyhow, thank you all for joining us and our shenanigans. We, we had a great time. Um, you know, we'll. Out there. Next time we do the Parable Project, uh, we'll pick something else. Maybe we will continue in the Kingdom of Heaven, uh, theme as it would be. But until next time, keep loving your neighbors, dive into God's word daily and may the Lord bless you and keep you and fill you with his peace.

Take care. God bless, and we'll see you in the next episode.