God’s Treasure

Jesus told a parable: “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).  

Jesus interprets his own parable. He says that the buried treasure represents the kingdom of God. The treasure is Christ establishing his kingdom in our hearts where he rules over that kingdom by his Word and Sacraments.

Though the story Jesus told had a setting that was familiar to his audience, it isn’t so familiar to us.

We might find it rather strange that a man is strolling through a field one day and stumbles upon a half-buried treasure. But here is the cultural background we are missing. In Jesus’ day, it was a common practice for a wealthy person to divide his wealth into thirds. One third he would keep in cash for carrying on business transactions. Another third he would invest in precious stones and jewels, which he could easily take with him if he ever had to flee from an advancing enemy army. The final third he would bury in the ground somewhere, hoping to dig it up and reclaim it when he was able to come back home.

Of course, such a person didn’t always come home, and his buried treasure’s location might not be known to anyone else. Evidently, the man in this story happened to find such a treasure while he was walking through a field. He very likely wasn’t even looking for it. When he came upon it, however, he recognized its value. He was filled with joy! Without hesitation, he sold all his possessions so that he could buy the field and the treasure it contained.

You see, they adhered to the same kind of binding laws that we do today – “finders keepers, losers weepers.”

Jesus is teaching us in this parable that being a member of his kingdom is such a treasure that it is worth giving up everything we have to keep it.

But artist, Edward Riojas, has a different way of looking at this parable.

Instead of reading the parable where you are the man and Jesus is the treasure, reverse it. Imagine that Jesus is the man. But he’s not in a field, but a cemetery strewn with stones. Christ sells all he has – his life – and buys the cemetery to claim his hidden treasure – you.
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“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed (purchased) from your empty way of life, but with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18).

The treasure box is a coffin – for we use a “coffer” for our valuable objects and a “coffin” for our valued deceased family members. The coffin also carries with it the idea that we were born dead in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). We did not contribute anything to our salvation. We were in a box we could not escape. But Christ found us. He dug us up. Because, although we are worthless creatures with nothing good within us, still Christ found us valuable.

For Christ is very unlike us. He does not treasure gold or silver. He is not distracted by all that is glittery and shiny. (Squirrel!) Instead, those that are valuable to Christ are those cast off by society – the sinful, the lost, the prostitutes, the murderers, the crippled, the rotting, the oppressed and depressed, the persecuted and the forgotten.

And finding us, He was not content to leave us there – dead in our sin and unbelief. He purchased us with all that he had – his perfect life, his innocent sufferings, and his redeeming death. With single-minded devotion and steadfast purpose, with a heart full of love and hands pierced by hate, Jesus bought his treasure.

And now you belong to him.

We are not the doers – doing is the work of Christ. We are not the finders, but we are the found. We were lost and now we are found. We were owned by the devil. Now we are purchased by Christ. We were dead. Now we are alive forevermore.

Jesus Christ is our greatest treasure because we are Christ’s greatest treasures.

PS. The artist signed his name in an interesting way on this picture. First, can you find it? Secondly, can you guess the symbolism he is portraying with this signature?

Check out more of the unique, Christian artwork of Edward Riojas on Facebook.