Jesus continued to share other parables concerning the
Kingdom of heaven. He likened it first to a field with a hidden treasure, and
then a pearl of great price. It is so precious that one should be willing to get
rid of every other treasures in order to acquire this field of hidden treasure
or this pearl of great price. Jesus’ assertion in these two parables is this:
wonderful as all the experiences of life may be, religion or otherwise, there
is only one experience that’s worth having. It is none other than the
experience of the Kingdom of heaven, the one that He came to usher in. We will
know that this Kingdom contains a great treasure. It is also like a great pearl
like no other. Once we have discovered it, we want to possess it. Even if it
means trading all others in order to gain it.
The Kingdom is also like a dragnet that a fisherman
spreads over the sea. He drags in the school of fishers caught in his net toward
shore. There he spreads the net out with all the catch of different fishes. He
will then sort the catch on the shore. The good ones go into a container and the
bad ones will be thrown away. This parable again anticipates an end-time
judgement, when everyone will be assessed. Jesus’ emphasis is that the whole
world will be divided sharply, only into two categories. Those who with joy
gladly accept and experience the message of the Kingdom, and those who repel
and refuse it.
Jesus rounded up these verses with the account of a
householder. He brings out from his storeroom some new items and some old ones.
In this, Jesus is pointing to Himself. In Him we have the new items concerning
the treasures of the Kingdom with all its vision and promises. The old items
are the messages of old that contain the wisdom and the hope of Israel. In the
Gospel the two are brought together. The root of the message Jesus brought,
could be traced to the wisdom of the old found in Israel’s past. A scribe who
embraces the Kingdom of heaven knows how to share the new and true message
rightly, combining the new with the old.
What is our understanding of the Kingdom? Having known what it is all about, what must be our action? It is pointless if we have heard about the Kingdom, know all about it and yet remain passive. But it is also just as pointless, if we jump into action without first seeking to understand the message and the workings of the Kingdom. While the Gospel we preach is rooted in Israel’s past, it has the capacity to bear the new and fresh fruit of the Kingdom of heaven. We need to know and understand it well but we must also do all we know so that we will bear the righteous fruit of the Kingdom.
No comments:
Post a Comment