The Kingdom of Heaven: Hidden Treasure

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.—Matthew 13:44

Let’s break this simple parable down. Keep in mind that anytime one sees the kingdom of heaven in Scripture, the kingdom is referring not to physical realm or territory, but rather to reign and dominion. In this case, the kingdom of heaven is likened to a treasure hidden in a field.

The treasure speaks to the preciousness of kingdom of heaven. The wisdom, the knowledge, the power, and the person that is represented by the kingdom of heaven are of incalculable value. This treasure is EVERYTHING! And we will see that the man who found it, felt exactly that way about it.

The fact that it’s hidden is in keeping with the structure of parables themselves. Matthew has just written earlier in his account that Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables. When pressed by his disciples why this was so, he said, “This is why I speak to them in parables:

‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.’ In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’”

What is he saying here? It seems to me he is telling his disciples, that the crowds in general have no genuine interest in spiritual things. They are likely present for the sheer spectacle, the promise of a movement that could stand in opposition to the Romans, or any number of other such reasons. Jesus is telling his disciples that he will not casually reveal the mysteries of the Kingdom to those not worthy of it. It is reminiscent of Jesus’ response to the Syrophoenician woman later in chapter 15. The woman’s request for help for her daughter to release her from demon-possession invited this response: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel…It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.” But she was “forcefully laying hold of the kingdom.” She replied, “Yes, Lord but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” She believed with all her heart, and it was to such a one as this that Jesus was looking to reveal the kingdom.

But what of our man who found the treasure in the field? Well, it says that he hid that treasure again, but that he subsequently went and sold all he had to obtain that field. Here is where many an interpreter reads too concretely and draws wrong conclusions. Is Jesus saying that the kingdom of heaven can be bought? Is he saying that we can obtain the treasure surreptitiously by swindling the “owner” of the field? Not at all. The point he is making here is that anyone who wants the kingdom must be willing to give up EVERYTHING for its sake. The parable says that the man, in his joy, sold ALL that he had. This is the cost of discipleship. In Luke he presents this in such stark terms as “hating” the members of our family, proverbially carrying our cross, and winds up saying, “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” When the rich young ruler wants to know what he must do to inherit eternal life, Jesus touches on his most sensitive point. “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” The young man went away sad. He did not recognize the treasure that was staring him right in the face. Our man in the field, on the other hand, had joy. He recognized the treasure for what it was, and he realized that nothing he had compared to it. This was the mindset of the Apostle Paul when he wrote of the kingdom of heaven

“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ…”

Once you have had a vision of the kingdom of heaven, you will realize that to give up anything for its sake is no loss. It is simply giving up everything you have in order to get the one thing worth having. And in that you can take great joy.

Who Do You Say That I Am?

This is the pivotal question that Jesus asked his disciples. While praying with them around the villages in the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked them first, “Who do the crowds say I am?” His disciples replied variously with John the Baptist, Elijah, or some other prophet returned of old.
What do the crowds say today? Most will admit that He was a historical figure, that he lived in Judea during the early part of the 1st century AD. Some will further admit that he was a religious leader who led a Jewish reform movement. Still many will admit that he was at the very least a great teacher, someone akin to Siddhartha Gautama. A smaller group, Muslims for example, will declare him even to be a prophet. But the most radical claim held by anyone is that Jesus was in fact the Messiah, the Son of God, and not only that but God incarnate.

Well, which view is correct?

At this point Jesus asks the pointed question, “But what about you? Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter responds, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Does Jesus rebuke him for responding like this? On the contrary, He accepts it wholeheartedly. And that’s the rub for anyone who believes otherwise, isn’t it? Assuming one accepts the authenticity of the account at the outset, one can’t very well continue to believe that He was merely a great teacher or prophet. Anyone today claiming equality with God would be variously declared insane, criminal, or blasphemous. No matter how good and reasonable his teachings might be, he would be almost universally eschewed.

But this doesn’t happen with Jesus. Why?

Put simply, many have rejected the Bible as a reliable witness to who Jesus is and what He said. For the Muslim this is understandable, as he has a different text making different claims as to His identity. But that aside, most people have developed an image of Jesus from Sunday School, popular culture, and any number of other venues. This pop culture Jesus is pretty shallow. He’s a nice guy who walks around the countryside engaging in nonviolent resistance and uttering convenient platitudes like, “Judge not, lest ye be judged.” Any further details are hazy, and thus, it becomes quite easy to believe whatevery suits the fancy.

But there isn’t any other reliable witness.

If any of us has a chance at knowing anything about Jesus, the Bible is it. He has a few brief mentions in other historical documents, but the New Testament is the best attested to by far from the period. So what happens when pop culture Jesus meets the real Jesus? It’s a rude awakening—this isn’t the same guy at all. He still has all those attributes which we’ve always associated with Him. He’s gentle, loving, merciful, peaceful, and so on. But then there are times He comes across terribly judgmental, overbearing, disrespectful toward his parents and siblings, and disrespectful toward people making requests of Him. He at times can be a man of extreme and unsettling passions. He claims to be the Son of God. He uses the very name of God to refer to Himself. And maybe most odious in today’s environment, He claims to be the only way to God (John 14:6-7).

So what are we left with? We can reject the Bible as a reliable witness altogether, leaving us with really nothing of significance worth saying about Him. We can play the game of picking and choosing from the Bible what we like and don’t like. But that is intellectually dishonest. Or we can accept that Jesus really said these things. If He really said these things, He is either the Son of God, a liar, or a deranged individual. But make no mistake. There is no room for Him just being a good teacher or a prophet. The Scripture makes no provision for it, and without this witness one is hard-pressed to draw any conclusions.

So what about you? Who do you say He is?

Matthew 16:13-17, Mark 8:27-29, Luke 9:18-20

No small roles, only small actors

I was talking to my friend Sasha over Facebook the other day. She was lobbying for the main role in my sometime-to-be-written blockbuster movie script, but I had to break the unfortunate news to her that it required a male. So I offered her a bit part as a lady who gets killed early on. She fired back with a Russian saying, “There are no small roles, only small actors.” (Не бывает маленьких ролей, бывают маленькие актеры)

How true and profound this is.

I consider myself an ambitious person, so I’m not always eager to play the role “assigned” to me or even the one for which I’m best suited. There’s a fine line to walk between being content and being complacent. Expanding our horizons and the pursuit of excellence are non-negotiable. Not too long ago a verse from the book of Proverbs caught my eye. In the 29th verse of chapter 22, Solomon urged his son on to excellence when he wrote, “Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.” I like the sound of that.

But at some point the die is cast, and maybe our role in a particular situation isn’t what we sought or wanted. Unfortunately, I’ve stood before a lot of obscure men in my day. No matter. Whatever that role happens to be, play it to the fullest. As the Apostle Paul wrote in I Corinthians 12:22-26, you may find that your role isn’t so small as you’d believed it to be.

On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

Play your part, whatever it is, and play it “as unto the Lord.” Because while we may be standing before obscure men down here, there is a King who always sees what we do.

New Year's Resolution

Three posts in one year (2006) and none last year. Not too shabby. However, I look to improve upon that in the coming year, which is good, because I actually feel like writing nowadays.

By Faith Abel Offers a Better Sacrifice

The first person we are introduced to in the “Hall of Faith” is Abel. For those who don’t know his story, it is given in the 4th chapter of the book of Genesis. He is the second son of Adam and Eve, and his name means [according to the footnotes of the Schofield Reference Bible] exhalation or that which ascends. He has an older brother named Cain. It says that in the course of time, that Abel and his brother Cain brought offerings to the LORD. Cain was a farmer by trade, and Abel kept flocks. As such, Cain brings some of the fruits of his labor as an offering, and Abel brings the fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock for the same. In what may seem strange to a lot of people, it says the LORD looked with favor on Abel’s offering, but he was displeased with what Cain brought. It is apparent at this time that God still communicated in a very direct fashion with people, because Cain was immediately aware of God’s response to his offering. Cain became very angry, and it says, “his face was downcast.”
The LORD then speaks with Cain about his attitude, warns him, and exhorts him to “do what is right.” Instead Cain continues to harbor his resentment of his brother, whose offering God had found acceptable. Ultimately it led to Cain rising up against his brother out in the field and killing him.
And that is the extent of what we are told of Abel in the Scriptures. The few other mentions of him are all in connection with this particular story. So what does Hebrews 11:4 mean when it says, “By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead?”
First, it might be useful to discuss what is meant by a “better sacrifice.” Why was God pleased with Abel’s offering but not with Cain’s? Surely they were both sacrifices for each man, and surely it represented the best of what they produced. Is God just heartless? We are not told directly in the context of the story why He was displeased, but from the rest of Scripture, we can confidently surmise that it was the nature of the offering itself that provides the answer. Assuming the purpose of the offering was for the atonement of sin, Cain’s offering lacked the vital characteristic of what God finds acceptable in such a sacrifice: no innocent blood was shed. For the sins of his own parents, God shed the blood of animals to make coverings for them. In other atonement offerings down through the Scriptures, innocent blood was required. The Passover provides a good example. As a final judgment upon the Egyptian people because of the Pharoah’s hard heart, God required the blood of all the firstborn of the land. In order to avoid this judgment, all (Egyptians and Hebrews alike) had to sacrifice a lamb and place the blood on the doorposts and lentils. This blood “covering” would signal the LORD’s death angel to “pass over” that home. In the same way, Hebrew priests would later make annual sacrifices for the atonement of the people. As described in Leviticus 16, the High Priest would go in before the LORD (he appeared in a cloud over the atonement cover) and sprinkle the blood of the sacrifices with his fingers on the cover and before it. The next chapter states it unequivocally in verse 11; “it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.” The sacrifice of Jesus himself on the cross is in keeping with this very pattern. Note the following verses:
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”—II Corinthians 5:21
“In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”—Hebrews 9:22
“Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest [Jesus] had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.”—Hebrews 10:11-12
So what is the point? The point is Abel’s sacrifice is better because it is in keeping with God’s requirements for such things, and because it accurately depicts Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice for all of humanity.
Where does faith enter in? Faith enters in through Abel’s willingness to abide by God’s design. I’m sure what Cain offered was some of the choicest things that he was able to produce. But the Scriptures declare that to obey is better than sacrifice (I Samuel 15:22). Abel obeyed, and Cain did not—even when given another chance by the LORD. Furthermore, Abel’s offering illustrates another principle of faith. It says that he gave of the firstborn of his flock. Everything we have belongs to the LORD and comes from Him. As such, we should give to Him of the first fruits of that with which He has blessed us, not what’s left over. However, our natural inclination is to wait and see if we have anything left at the end, and then maybe we will give it. This illustrates the lack of faith many of us have in the LORD’s ability to supply all our needs.
Because of his faith, Abel was commended as a righteous man by our Savior in Matthew 23:35 and Luke 11:51, because his life stood in contrast to those upon whom Jesus was pronouncing judgment. He was also commended in I John 3:12.
His story and the words of those who commended him now speak to us today, as it states at the end of the verse, because we have them preserved in Scripture. So remember, it is Abel’s faith which brought him to offer a sacrifice to God, to do it God’s way, and to give Him the best of what he had. For Abel this had serious consequences, but consider the alternative. I John 3:12 describes the faithless Cain as belonging to “the evil one.” This is the unfortunate truth of the situation for those who have not placed their faith in God. Examine yourself. Are you in the faith?

What is Faith?

It took me a while to come up with the subject of my first real blog, but after a conversation with a friend of mine the other day, an idea for a whole series of postings emerged. As my friend and I talked about various things related to Christianity, she asked a simple question: What is faith? It made me realize that we as Christians a lot of times speak a "different" language than those around us, but we just assume that they understand what we mean.
So let's begin at the beginning. The only definition of faith that matters is the one that God himself supplies in the Scriptures. Turning to the book of Hebrews and chapter 11, we find what is commonly referred to as the Faith Hall of Fame. In the very first verse we read, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
Faith is all about trust and action based on that trust. We have confidence that despite the fact that we may not visibly perceive His movements, God will do what He said He will do. Because of that, we act accordingly.
It is not blind, because it recognizes what He has done in the past.
It is absolutely essential. In verse 6, the writer to the Hebrews says, "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."
It makes hope possible. In verse 13 it states, "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." It says that these all died without having received the promise, and yet they were persuaded of it.
To me it boils down to letting go. I am able to relinquish control and allow God to work, because I believe Him when he says, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)
For the foreseeable future, I plan to take Hebrews 11 and go story by story and discover what faith meant in the lives of these believers who God took the time to honor before us.

This is just the beginning...

I've considered doing my own blog for sometime, but I've always been too lazy until now. I'm looking forward to expressing some of my opinions and engaging in dialog and debate with anyone who would like to. We're going to talk about everything here: politics, religion, sports--you name it.