The Pearl of Great Price is a simple parable about value. How much would you pay to have the gospel? It’s not for sale – mind you. God doesn’t put a price tag on his word or on the forgiveness that Jesus has won for us, but the paradox is that it is more valuable than anything else in the world. Jesus calls us to give up everything, to take up our cross and follow him.
For starters the parable of the Pearl of Great Price was told together with a similar parable, The Hidden Treasure. Allow me to retell them briefly. There is a man who finds a great treasure in a field. Immediately he hides the treasure and goes to purchase the field so that the treasure might be his. There is a temptation to run with the details of the parable, to question the motives of the man. That’s not the point. It isn’t important to the story whether or not the man should have told the original owner of the field. Details like that are not important. The point is that he found something hidden, valuable and then went to all extremes to secure the treasure. That is what the kingdom of God is like. Nothing is more important than the gospel.
Is the gospel really hidden? Aren’t Bibles ridiculously popular?! This article reminds us that not only is the Bible the best selling book of all time, its the best selling book of the year – EVERY YEAR! How is the gospel hidden? The Apostle Paul reminds us that no eye has seen, no ear has heard what God has prepared for those who love him. You won’t find the gospel on prime-time television. Netflix doesn’t have a new series on sin and grace. Yes, the gospel of Jesus is easily found on the pages of Scripture, but for so many, it remains hidden.
Want to hear more? Watch this week’s Bible study from our series Parabolic, the Pearl of Great Price.
Please click HERE for the Bible class slides.
Please click HERE for the other lessons from our series Parabolic – A Study of Divine Stories.