If you have to, sell everything you have to get into the kingdom. Don’t let your possessions prevent you.

The kingdom is so valuable that you must enter it at any cost to your pride and sin and drugs and old bad habits. Are you ready to give up your vices and sins to enter the kingdom?

You enter the kingdom by being born again (John 3:3). The Spirit will live in you to clean up and clean out your burdens and degraded lifestyle.

Before we begin the exegesis ……

Quick definition of a parable:

Literally, the word parable (parabolē in Greek) combines para– (pronounced pah-rah) and means “alongside” and bolē (pronounced boh-lay) which means “put” or even “throw”). Therefore, a parable puts two or more images or ideas alongside each other to produce a new truth. […] The Shorter Lexicon says that the Greek word parabolē can sometimes be translated as “symbol,” “type,” “figure,” and “illustration,” the latter term being virtually synonymous with parable.

For more information on what a parable is and its purposes, click on this link:

What Is a Parable?

The translation is mine. If you would like to see other translations, click here:

biblegateway.com.

If you don’t read Greek, ignore the left column.

I often quote scholars in print because I learn many things from them. They form a community of teachers I respect (1 Cor. 12:28), though I don’t agree with everything they write. But they do ensure I do not go astray. There is safety in numbers (for me at least).

Now let’s begin.

Parable of Priceless Pearl (Matt. 13:45-46)
45 Πάλιν ὁμοία ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν ἀνθρώπῳ ἐμπόρῳ ζητοῦντι καλοὺς μαργαρίτας· 46 εὑρὼν δὲ ἕνα πολύτιμον μαργαρίτην ἀπελθὼν πέπρακεν πάντα ὅσα εἶχεν καὶ ἠγόρασεν αὐτόν.	45 Again the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. 46 When he finds one pearl of great value, he went out and sold everything he had and purchased it.

Let’s take it verse by verse.

45:

“kingdom of heaven”: Matthew substitutes “heaven” (literally heavens or plural) nearly every time (except for 12:28; 19:24; 21:31, 43, where he uses kingdom of God). Why? Four possible reasons: (1) Maybe some extra-pious Jews preferred the circumlocution or the roundabout way of speaking, but this answer is not always the right one, for Matthew does use the phrase “kingdom of God” four times; (2) the phrase “kingdom of heaven” points to Christ’s post-resurrection authority; God’s sovereignty in heaven and earth (beginning with Jesus’s ministry) is now mediated through Jesus (28:18); (3) “kingdom of God” makes God the king (26:29) and leaves less room to ascribe the kingdom to Jesus (16:28; 25:31, 34, 40; 27:42), but the phrase “kingdom of heaven” leaves more room to say Jesus is the king Messiah. (4) It may be a stylistic variation that has no deeper reasoning behind it (France). In my view the third option shows the close connection to the doctrine of the Trinity; the Father and Son share authority, after the Father gives it to him during the Son’s incarnation. The kingdom of heaven is both the kingdom of the Father and the kingdom of the Messiah (Carson). And, since I like streamlined interpretations, the fourth one also appeals to me.

Now let’s go for a general consideration of the kingdom of heaven / God. As noted in other verses that mention the kingdom in this commentary, the kingdom is God’s power, authority, rule, reign and sovereignty. He exerts all those things over all the universe but more specifically over the lives of people. It is his invisible realm, and throughout the Gospels Jesus is explaining and demonstrating what it looks like before their very eyes and ears. It is gradually being manifested from the realm of faith to the visible realm, but it is not political in the human sense. It is a secret kingdom because it does not enter humanity with trumpets blaring and full power and glory. This grand display will happen when Jesus comes back. In his first coming, it woos people to surrender to it. We can enter God’s kingdom by being born again (John 3:3, 5), by repenting (Matt. 4:17; Mark 1:5), by having the faith of children (Matt. 18:4; Mark 10:14-15), by being transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the Son whom God loves (Col. 1:13), and by seeing their own poverty and need for the kingdom (Matt. 5:3; Luke 6:20; Jas. 2:5). The kingdom has already come in part at his First Coming, but not yet with full manifestation and glory and power until his Second Coming.

5 The Kingdom of God: Already Here, But Not Yet Fully

Bible Basics about the Kingdom of God

Questions and Answers about Kingdom of God

Basic Definition of Kingdom of God

1 Introducing the Kingdom of God (begin a ten-part series)

46:

This short parable has two possible interpretations.

(1) The pearl of high value is the kingdom of God. A wise merchant finds it and sells everything he has to acquire it. Are you willing to sell everything—give up your life and soul and self-will to sign up for God’s eternal kingdom and let him take over your life? This man is in search of wealth, while the agrarian stumbled across the treasure. The kingdom has a way of working in a variety of people and their goals.

(2) An alternative interpretation says that the kingdom of heaven is like the merchant, and he goes out and finds the pearl. Who is the merchant? Jesus. Who is the pearl? You. You are the one whom Jesus looks for.

The commentators I have read correctly choose the first interpretation. The kingdom—not you—is of priceless value. I prefer the standard one. The kingdom as Jesus presented it is so valuable that we give up everything for it.

This parable is a variation on these verses:

Treasures in heaven are eternal.

²¹ Jesus answered, “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.” (Matt. 19:21, NIV)

Next, don’t forfeit your soul to gain the whole world. Instead, forfeit the whole world to gain your soul in the kingdom of God

²³ Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. ²⁴ For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. ²⁵ What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? (Luke 9:23-25, NIV)

Where is your treasure? In yourself or in God?

³² “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. ³³ Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. ³⁴ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Luke 12:32-34, NIV)

“merchant”: it literally reads anthrōpos (pronounced ahn-throw-poss), which is often translated as “person” or “man,” depending on the context. See vv. 24-30 for more comments. I chose the more specific “merchant” because of the noun emporos, which means “merchant” or “wholesale dealer” (the Shorter Lexicon). So it could literally be translated as “merchant man” or “merchant person.” Lydia, a woman, was a dealer in purple clothes and dyes (Acts 16:14).

GrowApp for Matt. 13:45-46

How much did you give up to enter the kingdom, to say yes to Jesus?

SOURCES

At this link you will find the bibliography at the very bottom:

Matthew 13