Matthew 13:44-52
July 26, 2026
There is a long running television show known as “Storage Wars,” that shows the auction sale of storage lockers taken from renters for their failure to pay the rental fees. Usually the buyers don’t know exactly what they are getting, because the only information available to them before the bidding is what they can see from the locker door, as they are not allowed to enter the unit or open any containers. The items inside the locker usually do not look like they are worth very much, but sometimes the bidders find items that actually are valuable, such as a comic book collection, which the winning locker bidder bought for $2500 and then resold for $130,000.
That show reminded me of something that belonged to my grandfather, that I was hoping he would pass down to me someday. Some of you have heard me tell this story, but my grandmother told me, after his death when I was about 8 years old, that the next time I came for a visit I could take one item from my grandfather’s desk to keep. I knew exactly what I wanted – his baseball card collection. About a month later we went to visit my grandmother and I went to my grandfather’s desk, I found his cigar box in his drawer where he always kept his baseball cards, but when I opened it there was nothing but pens, pencils, and paper clips inside. I showed my grandmother the box and asked her, “Where are grandpa’s baseball cards?” “Oh, Bill,” my grandmother said, “those cards were so old and dirty I threw them away.”
I was a little disappointed, because in that old baseball card collection were cards of Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, and many other old time baseball players. I didn’t know it at the time, but that old collection was probably worth thousands of dollars and probably would be even more valuable today. But to my grandmother, she couldn’t imagine those old cards were worth anything. They didn’t look valuable and they didn’t cost my grandfather very much money to get them – he probably paid a penny for each one of them, so my grandmother didn’t think anyone would ever want them.
In our Gospel lesson for today we hear two parables of how the kingdom of heaven brings great treasures to its members. In the first one, Jesus uses a general term – “treasure” – in describing the kingdom of heaven saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” In the second one Jesus uses a specific term – “a pearl” in describing God’s kingdom saying, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” I think Jesus used the general term to help us think of all the wealth that is found in His kingdom: love, joy, peace, forgiveness, and hope. But He talks about these spiritual treasures as being hidden in a field. Initially that might seem a little strange. However, we need to remember that whenever Jesus spoke in parables, He used language and scenarios that His audience could relate to and understand.
Well, in those days there were no banks for ordinary people to go to in order to store their valuables. So people would often hide part of their fortune or certain treasures, especially during times of danger or crisis, by burying them in a field. This was considered safe, because no one would ever consider looking for treasure in an ordinary field. And if the owner would die before he could retrieve the buried valuables, then they would usually lie there in the ground for a long time until someone else stumbled upon them. By this time the original owner was probably forgotten and nobody would have a legal claim to the treasure except the fortunate person who found it or the person who currently owned the land.
Jesus then gets specific and says that the kingdom of heaven is like a pearl. Again, this was an object that people in Jesus’ day were familiar with. While today companies are able to gather pearls rather easily and even make them artificially, in Jesus’ day it was probably the costliest and most sought after gem in the world. Why? Because the pearl was perfect. It did not need to be polished and nothing needed to be added to it.
Therefore, with that in mind, what could be more complete and perfect than the pearl of eternal life that Christ has already earned for us on the cross? Yes, the kingdom of heaven is perfect and it’s open to all of us; but the pearl also reminds us that membership in the kingdom of heaven is an expensive bargain. Just consider the dangers experienced by ancient pearl divers. They did not have the modern diving equipment that we have today, so pearl divers in our Lord’s day probably had to hold their breath and plunge into deep and dangerous waters. Sometimes they came up with a pearl in their hands, but their body may have been cut and bruised from different creatures that lived in the dangerous waters below. Sometimes a diver never made it back to the surface alive.
Jesus, in obtaining for us the pearl of eternal life, fought with all the creatures of the deep pit of hell and all the hosts of evil as He willingly gave His life on the cross in order to earn for us permanent membership in His heavenly kingdom. That is an amazing love Jesus has for us. Plus, consider the incredible love that His Heavenly Father had for us, as well, as He was willing to allow His perfect Son to die in our place. If you are a parent who has ever had to watch your child suffer in pain, no matter how old or young they are, then you understand how excruciating that is. You would do almost anything to make that pain stop. But God the Father gave up His Son unto death, knowing He could have stopped the suffering at any time, so that we could live as His sons and daughters with Him forever.
We are truly God’s treasure. Every person here today is one of God’s finest pearls, great in value. But just as the two men in these parables sold everything they had in order to purchase what they found, so the kingdom of God had to be purchased for all of us. And Jesus was the only one who could pay the cost with His perfect life and death on the cross. Even here in worship today, Jesus continues to offer Himself to us, as He gives us His body and blood in bread and wine of Holy Communion so that our faith may be strengthened and that we may receive forgiveness for all of our sins.
The treasures of God’s kingdom – love, joy, peace, comfort, and hope – are free and they are available to all of us in this holy book we call the Bible. In fact, I don’t think there is any book that is easier to get than the Bible. Every year it is available in new ways and more languages. And yet these spiritual treasures are considered hidden, because many times people will look in all the wrong places for these treasures.
It’s kind of like this baseball card that I have of Nolan Ryan. He was a great pitcher for many years and this card is over 40 years old. I keep it in its wrapper hoping it will be worth something someday. I don’t know if it is worth more than the 25 cents I paid for it, but if my grandmother were alive today she wouldn’t see any value in this card. But some people will look at a card like this or other material things and they will spend their lives trying to accumulate such things. Some will work long hours and run themselves down in order to get more of these so-called treasures. Others will sacrifice their families, their health, and their relationship with God in order to acquire more things. But in the end, if these things become more important than their relationship with God, they will discover that they have forfeited the pearl of eternal life for some cheap imitation that’s worth nothing.
At the end of His parables, Jesus asks, “Have you understood all these things?” because if we do, then we need to tell those who don’t. The treasures of God’s kingdom that we have been given by Jesus have been bought and paid for in full, and if we really want to make life count, then we need to share these treasures with others. In fact, the more we give them away, the more richly we possess them ourselves.
