The Parable of the Pearl of Great Value

MATTHEW 13:45-46

Jesus said, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it” (Matthew 13:45-46).

In Jesus’s time pearls were much more valuable than they are now.

Nowadays we have plastic pearls that you can get at Kmart, and they are hard to tell from real pearls.

You learned in school how real pearls are formed.

By pure chance a grain of sand gets caught in the body of an oyster, and the oyster’s body secretes a material called “nacre” around the grain of sand to protect its delicate body from the irritation of the pearl.

As layer after layer of nacre forms around the pearl, the pearl becomes larger and larger. The cross section of a natural pearl is like an onion, with layer after layer of this valuable material.

Sometimes this process takes years. I read that the largest pearl ever seen was found by a pearl diver in the Philippines. It weighed 14 pounds!

Nowadays people have learned how to induce oysters to make pearls by opening a live oyster and putting in a tiny piece of oyster shell in the body of the oyster. The oyster will then make a pearl around that tiny piece of oyster shell. This is difficult but it is a much easier way to make a pearl than the natural way that is left up to chance.

So these cultured pearls are not so expensive.

But in ancient times pearls were very valuable—like diamonds or rubies.

Pearl divers had to dive many times and bring up many oysters to find one pearl.

Pearl diving was very dangerous. Pearl divers suffered from the pressure of the water in their lungs and from being attacked by underwater creatures. Many pearl divers died in their quest for these valuable gems.

Jesus chose to tell a story about a merchant seeking precious pearls because pearls were so very precious.

Jesus’s parable consists of only one sentence. But we can use our imagination to fill in the details.

I can imagine an antique dealer who got into the business because he loves antiques.

Or a dealer in fine paintings who loves fine paintings.

Or a dealer in fine violins, who is really excited about violins.

Or a dealer in old, rare books, who has a passion for rare books.

This merchant was in the pearl business because he loved fine pearls.

He was always on the lookout for the finest pearl in the world.

Suddenly in his search he found a perfect pearl, a pearl of such a size, and perfect shape, and dazzling color, that it was a dream come true.

In his excitement, he sold his house, his furniture, and his whole stock of pearls, and whatever else he owned so that he could possess it.

I don’t know what he did with this wonderful pearl. Maybe he sold it to a great king and lived happily ever after on the proceeds of the sale.

This parable has two meanings for us.

I. First of all, the parable tells us how valuable we are to God..

A. God is the merchant in search of fine pearls.

The “pearls” God is in search of are you and me.

I found a prayer in an old book that goes like this:

“Why, Lord Jesus Christ, why dost thou so love men and women?

Why are they all thy treasures?

What a wonder is this,

that thou shouldst so esteem them as to die for them!”

It’s wonderful that the God of the universe loves people.

It’s wonderful that God made us—and made a beautiful world for us to live in.

It’s even more wonderful that when our human race fell in to sin and wandered far away from him, he brought us back to himself at the price of the blood of his own Son.

The merchant in the parable gave everything he had so that he could possess this wonderful pearl.

God gave everything, even the life of his Son, so that he could possess you and me—and bring us to his home in glory so that we could be his friends for ever and ever.

Some people think they are worthless.

But no one is worthless. We are each of infinite value to God.

Jesus died for every one of us, as if each of us were the only person in the world.

This is why the symbol of our faith is the cross. The cross represents the cost of our redemption—and the infinite love God has for each of us.

That is why in our churches we often celebrate the Lord’s Supper…or Communion…or the Mass…or whatever your church calls it. When we eat the bread and drink the wine we remember how much God loved us and what Jesus did for us. We remember how much we owe him.

B. Because men and women are so valuable to God, they should also be valuable to us.

If you and I love God as we ought to love him, we must also love other people as God loves them.

I will tell you the rest of the prayer I quoted at the beginning of my message. The whole prayer goes like this:

“Why, Lord Jesus, dost thou so love men and women?

Why are they all thy treasures?

What wonder is this, that thou shouldst so esteem them as to die for them!

Show me the reasons of thy love, that I may love them too

O thou, who art most glorious in goodness,

make me abundant in this goodness like unto thee,

that I may as deeply pity others’ misery and as ardently hope for their happiness as thou dost.

Let the same mind be in me that was in Christ Jesus.

I pray thee, teach me first thy love to me, and then unto mankind.

(Thomas Traherne, 1637-1674, in Centuries)

II. Now I will tell you the second meaning of the parable.

A. The merchant is also you and me.

We go through life searching—searching for happiness…

…for the meaning of life…

…for the satisfaction of knowing that our life has made a difference.

We keep searching—whether we know it or not—searching for God

Because God is the one who gives meaning to life.

God is the one who makes us a blessing to others.

And when we find God, it is like a dream come true.

B. And, like in the story Jesus told, it costs us something.

It costs to have Jesus—our “Pearl of Great Value.”

It costs us our pride, our sins, our self-sufficiency, our good opinion of ourself, our independence.

For some it costs much more.

A friend named Chris told me this story a few weeks ago.

Chris has a friend named Don, with whom he was studying the Bible.

As they studied the Bible, Don felt more and more drawn to God.

One day he said to Chris: “I’ve decided to stop doing drugs. But I’ve got this big stash to get rid of, so I’ve got to sell it.”

Chris said, “Selling it is worse than using it, you know.”

Don said, “I know, but that’s a lot of money.”

Chris said, “You need to throw it out, man. Just flush it down the toilet.”

Don said, “This God thing is scary. It’s like, committing yourself to your Creator is a huge decision, and I’m really afraid.”

Chris said, “The fact that you’re afraid shows me that you’re on the brink of following Jesus.

Don became agitated. He face became flushed, he opened and closed his eyes. Finally he said, “All right, I want to do it?”

“Do what?” asked Chris.

“Follow Jesus,” said Don.

Chris said, “That’s awesome!”

Don beamed and exclaimed, “I feel happy! I feel like a different person!”

Our stories aren’t probably so dramatic. But it’s the same idea. It’s a big decision to follow Jesus.

To follow Jesus is to become a different person.

It’s worth everything we have.

For Don it meant getting rid of his stash of drugs.

For you it might mean letting go of your grudge against someone…

It might mean praying for someone who hates you.

It’s a big decision to follow Jesus.

But Jesus is worth it all. He’s the Pearl of Great Value.

CONCLUSION

The parable of the Pearl of Great Value is the parable of God seeking us and us seeking God.

God is priceless for us—and we are priceless for him.

The King of Heaven is searching for us, and we are searching for the King of Heaven.

And a seeking Savior and a seeking sinner will surely find each other.

Has Jesus found you? Have you found him?

To find Jesus and to be found by him is the greatest thing in life.