The Bible Study Podcast, episode 436.

Today, the Bible Study podcast continues the study of Matthew 13 and finishes that chapter.

Welcome to the Bible Study podcast. I'm your host, Chris Christensen.

We jump into chapter 13 and verse 44.

We get two more or three more parables, depending on how you count them.

The first goes like this.

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.

When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

Again, 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.

These are two very short parables that don't come with an explanation, but I think we can unpack them.

One of the things that we learn about the kingdom of heaven in these two parables is that it has value.

Not only does it have value, but it has great value.

It has greater value than anything else. When Paul talks about,

I call all as loss, that he has given up for the kingdom of heaven, it's the same theme as these

two parables. Now, the interesting thing with these two parables is that the man who finds the field, the treasure hidden in the field, and the man who finds the pearl, what they're doing looks weird.

The first man, for instance, finds this treasure in a field.

Now, it's interesting to note that it's not his field, And so he's hiding the treasure again because he has

to go by the field so that he can claim it. That's a little unscrupulous, if you ask me.

But it's saying that the kingdom of house like this, that the man has found this treasure,

and he goes and he sells all that he has in great joy, not because he has to, but because

he knows that what he's giving up is of less value than what he's getting.

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