The parable of the hidden treasure is another one verse parable of about 30 words. It is very similar to the parable of the pearl merchant that follows it and makes a similar point.

The Kingdom of God is a treasure, but what happens when we find such treasure? This person, out of sheer joy, goes and sells all that they have to buy the field — exactly what the rich young ruler in Matthew 19 refused to do, sell all that he had.

In Jesus’s time it was not that unusual to find buried treasure since many people did not trust banks or bankers, which in any case were few and far between. There is an element of scandal here since the treasure clearly belongs to the original owner of the field. “The finder” re-hides it from the one who hid it originally. It was there before he found it, and they found it simply by accident, by sheer dumb luck, by unmerited grace.

The parable reminds us that God has made the treasure of grace available to all through Jesus, but most of us do not know how to use it. We may use it improperly or it may even become a scandal for us. The parable also reminds us, says Thomas Keating, that the Kingdom, although given to us as sheer gift, is not given to us only for our personal benefit. We must share it with others. The treasure, when not used for others, becomes a source of scandal for us, similar to the large harvest of the rich fool in Luke 12. 

Jesus said the Kingdom is among us and within us. The treasure is participation in the divine life, to which nothing else can compare, and which is most fully enjoyed when it is shared. Those who have received grace, mercy, and forgiveness extend grace, mercy, and forgiveness to each other.

The parable of the drag net is a fitting finale to the seven parables of the Kingdom in Mathew 13. Here the net, a drag net, is thrown into the sea to collect fish of every kind. When it is full, it is dragged ashore to sort the good and the bad. But note, this is only at the end of the age, and it is the task of the angels to separate the wicked from the righteous, not the fishermen. That is why in Joel Schoon-Tanis’s painting, we see women selling the good fish, while an angel carries away the bad fish.   

If we look for Robert Farrar Capon’s five clues to the Kingdom, we see them again in this last parable.

• Catholicity: the net catches absolutely everything (the Greek in verse 47 doesn’t have fish).
• Mystery: who is wicked? Who is righteous? Only the angels truly know.
• Actuality: the catch, fish are caught in the net. We are the fishers.
• Hostility: “all kinds” were in the net, even gentiles! Additionally, fishermen were not the most respected people, maybe just above shepherds.
• Response: our role is throwing out the net and hauling it ashore, similar to going to the highways and byways in the parable of the Great Banquet.

Being a preacher or missionary is a lot like being a teacher. You try to reach as many people as possible but you are never sure what people are getting from you or what they will do with what you pass on. It is only years later that you can tell if you made much of a difference at all to anyone. After working in Africa since 1983, I’m not sure which of my efforts had the most long-term impact. At the end of the day, maybe I was the student, and my neighbors were really the ones teaching me.

Sometimes Kingdom work is like the disciples toiling all night and catching nothing. Then one day we try throwing it on the other side, and we have an amazing catch, or other times, just an ordinary one. Not everyday is there something to “write home about.” At the end of it all, it could be the smallest things, some done without much thought, that made the biggest difference. 

Gather us in, the lost and forsaken;
Gather us in, the blind and the lame;
Call to us now and we shall awaken;
We shall arise at the sound of our name.
lyrics by Marty Haugen, 1982

Header photo by Collab Media on Unsplash