The Parable of the Hidden Treasure
Dr. James Smith
Matthew 13:44
7 September 2003
Webster’s dictionary defines “hoarding” as a “hidden or stored supply guarded for future use.”
Throughout the centuries, men and women have hoarded precious commodities in the face of uncertain days and times. And every now and then, some careful archeologist or lucky farmer digs up a cache ancient coins or jewelry from days long past.
From the ancient world to modern times, men and women have always tended to hoard all sorts of things when future prospects looked bleak.
But lest we think that hoarding is an entirely evil thing, I would direct your attention to historical examples that show prudence and wisdom.
In Genesis 41, you will remember the story of Pharaoh’s dream of seven skinny cows eating 7 fat ones. By God’s will, Joseph was able to interpret the dream and Pharaoh put him in charge of hoarding grain because of the seven years of drought that were to follow.
You may remember the entertaining and morally instructive, Aesop’s fables, as well. In the story of the ants and the grasshopper, the grasshopper made fun of the ants for working so hard storing food during the summer, while he sat around chirping and making music.
When winter came, the grasshopper changed his tune and begged the ants for food. The ants, whom were intensely practical and had little by the way of Christian compassion, told the grasshopper to feed himself with one of his rich songs, leaving him to die.
Most people, at least in theory, would probably consider hoarding a bad or selfish thing, even though most of us do it in one way or another in the forms of food, clothing, money or something else.
But hoarding seems to be a natural human response to scarcity. And in times of danger or uncertainty, people throughout history have tended to bury their money and family treasures.
In Matthew 13:44, we have a fascinating little parable of Jesus that is found only in the Gospel of Matthew. It speaks of the ancient tendency to hoard money.
Remember, the ancient near east was no stranger to wars, conquering armies and the human misery that was left in their wake. And in a day when there was no such thing as F.D.I.C. insured banking, one could not be too careful.
And if you and I had lived in the land of Israel that had been conquered by the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks and Romans over its many years, in addition to the problem of unreliable banks, high taxation and common thieves, I bet we would give serious thought to burying our money or valuables until we absolutely needed them.
After all, it wasn’t too many years ago when the American banking system collapsed during the Great Depression and wiped out the assets of millions of people.
It was a crazy and chaotic time when disillusioned people committed suicide and ladies in mink coats stood in soup lines.
For years after, my great uncle stuffed money inside his mattresses and Deb’s grandfather buried coffee cans of money along the back of his property.
As they say, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
So when Jesus first told this parable, he was picking up on a common historical practice of those days and would have had in mind a jar containing silver coins or jewels.
But as to be expected, if buried treasure is supposed to be a secret only known by its owner, it’s natural to assume that there were plenty of times when the owner either forgot exactly where he put it, or died before he could reveal its whereabouts to his next of kin.
Notice that in this case, Jesus is not particularly concerned about the morality of finding someone else’s buried treasure. (Nor does that justify us taking what doesn’t belong to us either.)
After all, what would you do if you dug up something extremely valuable or found an exorbitant amount of money?
Wouldn’t such a find cause you to absolutely forget about everything else going on in your life? Wouldn’t this become your single-minded obsession?
As usual, Jesus takes themes right out of everyday life and turns them on their heads for deeper spiritual purposes.
And by God’s grace, aren’t you and I like that extremely fortunate and lucky guy who that treasure buried in a field?
After all, the Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:7 that “we have this treasure in jars of clay.” By God’s grace and mercy we have been led to the field and have found that buried treasure . . . Jesus Christ.
Many of you have understood the all surpassing value and worth of the Kingdom of Heaven at one time or another and have hidden it away in your hearts.
You have sold possessions, traded valuables, renounced relationships in order to take hold of this hidden treasure.
And yet tragically we would also have to confess that we have in the more recent days of our lives, began to seek out and hoard earthly treasures again, where moths and rust destroy.
Didn’t Jesus say earlier in Matthew 6:19-21 to store up or hoard treasures in heaven? Doesn’t the example of the rich young man who later in Matthew 19:16-24, warn us against hoarding earthly treasures at the sake of the heavenly ones found in following Jesus?
Like most parables, Jesus used earthly things and even desires as a hook to pull people out of themselves and into the truth.
The fact of the matter is that Jesus couldn’t have cared less about buried treasure in a field. He merely used that most ironic of stories to show that real treasure will not be found in fields, relationships, jobs, degrees, homes, children or anything else for that matter.
It will only be found in our single-minded focus and whole-hearted commitment to Jesus and his Kingdom in Heaven.
In the end, the treasure of this world will fail us just as it did my great uncle and Deb’s grandfather.
My great uncle’s house burned down along with all of his money and Deb’s grandfather died without ever having told a soul where all of those buried coffee cans were.
And even though his children spent many days and nights with shovels digging up the property, they never found one thin dime.
So by way of encouragement, as the hymn writer reminds us, “when you think of others with their lands and gold, think that Christ hath promised you his wealth untold.”
And in case you have forgotten or have any doubts this morning, Jesus is that treasure.
And what remains is for you and I to live deeply in that conviction, because Jesus said this is what the Kingdom of Heaven is like.
Let’s Pray
