44"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Imagine walking through a field, an open wilderness, and discovering a small cave. You look inside that cave and you see veins of gold running through the walls. In your excitement you rush outside of the cave, hide the entrance with tumbleweeds so no one else notices it, then go about purchasing that field. It will cost you almost everything you own in order to purchase that field. Others may think you are wasting your money on a useless field. But you know that what is in that cave is of much more value than what you are parting with. And besides that cave discovery, who knows what else may be hidden in that field, right? Parting with your possessions in order to purchase the field is easy, and can be done with joy, for the excitement of what is to come.
Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like this. I don't believe He meant that the kingdom of heaven is like the treasure found, but like the field with hidden treasure. The kingdom of heaven is an open field for all to see. Many will see it but not even notice the treasure hidden there. But we cannot even fathom the scope of the treasure hidden there. Even a small amount revealed to us is of such great value that we should desire it above all else. We may need to part with other things we thought we had treasured in order to posses the treasure of heaven, but it should be easy to do because of its great worth. In fact, we should be able to do it with joy.
One thing that bothered me in this parable is that the man hid the treasure again. If I think of the treasures of heaven, I would like the one who discovered it to share its secrets, so others can find it too. But I believe the treasures of heaven are for each of us to discover ourselves. They are hidden in our everyday lives. No, I don't think we are supposed to hide our discoveries about the kingdom of heaven, we should tell others of the treasures, but others cannot really feel the joy in the treasures until they discover the treasures themselves. No matter what we say or do, the treasures will be hidden till they go through their own discovery. But we can encourage them to search for the treasures themselves.
One thing that struck me as I read this story is that the man who found the treasure that was hidden in the field didn't simply steal it and walk away, but wanted to purchase the entire field. It would have been possible for the man to raid the field of the treasure he found and walk away with it, without ever having to part with his other possessions.
Sometimes I feel I am stubborn that way. I want my cake and eat it too. I want to have all the advantages and gifts God gives me without needing to part with the other things I treasure. In so doing, I am being as a thief who ran off with the treasure instead of trying to buy the field. But there is much more treasure hidden in that field. The kingdom of heaven has much more to offer me than the few treasures I see. I should want the whole field. And I should gladly part with everything I have in order to posses all that God has to offer.