The Pearl
Monday, November 15, 2010 at 10:57AM Many of Jesus' parables speak of great sacrifice. One of them we refer to as the Pearl of Great price. A merchant sold everything he owned to get it. Interestingly, I have always seen the object of the story as being the Pearl. It isn’t. It’s the merchant. We are the pearl.
Matthew 13 “45 The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”
Why would an individual sell everything he had to buy one item that he had no intention of selling? Why would he give up his lifestyle to possess something that created such daily hardship for him? He sold everything for it. Anyone looking on would have concluded that the man standing in front of them was himself, poor. No one would have concluded that he was extremely wealthy.
It is also interesting to realize that the pearl did not have to conform to any standard. It already was valuable to the merchant. The sacrifice was made in order to obtain the pearl. It wasn’t to enable the pearl to gain the master. Many struggle to understand their inherent worth. Out worth is beyond measure for the one who gave everything to possess us.
Realizing that the merchant is Christ, and realizing that Christ is Creator, it is also important to recognize that he created humanity to be extremely valuable. The scars he still bears are evidence to the extent he is willing to go on our behalf.
“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” 2 Corinthians 8:9
“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Philippians 2:5-8, NASB.
Reader Comments (2)
I have often heard that we are the merchant and the pearl of great price is the kingdom of Christ. This never seemed to settle in my mind as I contemplated the parables on the kingdom of God. I think I first heard the idea of Jesus being the merchant and mankind being the pearl of great price from Francis Schaeffer. I wept . . . shaken by the realization once again, in a new picture story painted for me, by the love of God (the Father, in sending His Son into this broken corrupt place and the Son, in giving up everything). This interpretation just fits with scripture - e.g. Philippians 2.
I could never, though given all of eternity to try, comprehend a love that would consider me that pearl of great price. Even so, that is exactly what my Lord Jesus Christ did. Oh that I would love Him more. Oh that I could communicate this love to others! He died for all! All sin was paid for by Jesus sacrifice on the cross! There is no one and no sin He did not take care of. The Creator of all things, the King that rules the Universe and sustains it according to His will considered us His pearl of great price! Too much for my mortal soul to express - must have an eternity to do so!
The older I get, the more I realize how little I know. Yes it is an old expression, but the reality is, when I look at Scripture through the lens of what it actually says, and not what I've always been taught, I usually discover something new and refreshing. This parable is an example of that. A friend pointed out to me that the parable really wasn't about the pearl. It was about the merchant. Yet even in my Bible, it has the heading of a pearl of great price, rather than the merchant who sacrificed everything. So I am cautioned and am attempting to take fewer things for granted.