Pulling a Fast One

Nov. 24

Read: Matthew 13:44

Pulling A Fast One

“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.” - Jesus

What if you woke up this morning to find someone in your front yard digging a hole? What would you say? What would you do? I am sure one of the first questions you would ask is, “what are you doing here?” In this tiny parable, Jesus seeks to teach us about the Kingdom of God by using this very same picture of a man dining a hole in someone else’s field. As popular as this parable is, I think we gloss over just how odd it really is. No doubt, the Kingdom of God is worth more than all that we have and we should joyfully recognize that and be willing to hand it all over… but I think there is a lot more st stake in this little “gem” of a parable.

Why would someone in Jesus time be walking around a field digging holes? The truth is that in the ancient world when you had anything of value, you would bury it so that it would not get looted or stolen in a “take over” by another government or power. In short, buried treasure was as common as banks and safety deposit boxes today. To be wondering around on someone else’s land digging holes is to be snooping around for treasure! The character of this “digger” is a little suspect if you ask me! When he buries it, he joyfully sells all that he has to acquire the field - but have we thought about the underlying principle? What is this “digger” presuming? He is presuming he can get the drop on someone… take advantage of them… leverage his ill-gotten knowledge against their ignorance to score a treasure worth more than what he sold all of his goods for. He was banking on taking advantage of someone else!

Why would the owner sell a field with (let’s just say) $10 million worth of treasure in it for $1 million to this “digger”? I think this is the most powerful part of this parable. I think herein is one of the most stirring pictures of the Kingdom of God. Think about it… we have two options here really: 1.) The owner doesn’t know about the treasure - and is getting duped. 2.) The owner knows about the treasure and sells it anyways. It is hard for us to fathom the second scenario… and yet - isn’t that exactly what the Kingdom of God is like?

The Kingdom of God is the sort of place where a “digger” with suspect motives and a conniving heart ends up receiving great blessing that they don’t deserve and didn’t earn for themselves. The Kingdom of God is the sort of place where a proverbial “landowner” would knowingly take the loss and in unthinkable grace, mercy, and generosity handover a priceless gift in exchange for something that is not worth anything near what the treasure is worth. The Kingdom of God is the sort of place where we come snooping around looking for a “quick buck” or to catch a “break” then try to, by our own resources, “purchase” or take hold of what we long for the most when the reality is that we have nothing even close to the value of what it is we are longing for. The Kingdom of God is the sort of place where Jesus takes OUR SIN - that is the sum of what we liquidate and bring to the negotiations - and in exchange gives us KNOWINGLY a field with immeasurable treasure. This is the Kingdom of God. Imagine that diggers face as he was leaving the building after the sale… thinking he had pulled one over on that land owner… only to have the previous landowner tell him “enjoy that treasure” as his hand reached for the doorknob to leave! What a scene! That is the KOG.

What JOY there is in that exchange… the joy found in willingly giving all you have in exchange for the KOG. This is what we ought to give genuine thanks for the season. May the reality of this sort of Kingdom of God sink in to our hearts and minds. What ways do we think we are “pulling a fast one” on the Lord? What ways are we still hoping to “take advantage” of the one who “owns the field”? Knowing what we know about the generous nature of the landowner, I wonder what he would have done if the “digger” simply asked for the treasure!?! Just my sanctified imagine being curious. Love you guys. - JDP

* Hey all,

I had misplaced my phone before a trip with our students and was not able to send our Devos the last ten days. I am grateful to have my phone back and able to send messages. Thanks for your patience. I am excited to say that I have set up a new number to use for Devo’s so that I won’t run into this problem again. I should be sending them out from that number shortly. - JDP