At that time, Jesus said to the crowd: 44 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. A man finds it and hides it. Overjoyed, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

 

At that time, Jesus said to the crowd: 44 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. A man finds it and hides it. Overjoyed, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 The kingdom of heaven is like a buyer looking for precious pearls. 46 When he finds a pearl of great value, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that pearl."

— Word of Salvation. Reflection Jesus' teaching is contextualized. He never seeks to speak in an abstract way, distant from people's reality. He always uses people or elements of nature to explain salvific realities with simplicity, that is, the mysteries of God for our salvation. Our language is based on our context and the reality of our person. Hence, our learning cannot take place outside the scope of our symbolic universe. On the other hand, Jesus was not interested in showing himself to be full of knowledge, but in leading us to the knowledge of “things above.” Most importantly, His concern was that we understand the meaning of His Kingdom and the most perfect way to transmit it. In this sense, parables become the most eloquent means of transmitting knowledge, due to the very fact that they use people or realities close to us, from our daily lives. Where is the Kingdom? It is there, very close, somewhere that can be found. God revealed it, He made it present in history in a personal way. It does not concern only virtues, but a person himself, Jesus Christ Our Lord. This is what the parable of the treasure hidden in the field tells us. What could this treasure be? It could be the desire for Heaven (Saint Gregory: homiliae in Evangelia, 12)[1], it could be the understanding of the two Testaments (Saint Augustine: Quaestiones evangeliorum, 1,13)[2] and it could be the treasures of wisdom and knowledge or even the Word of God (Saint Jerome)[3]. The fact is that a man finds the treasure, rejoices over it, hides it and buys the field where the treasure is. It is worth noting that the joy of discovery turns into the ability to give up all possessions. He sells everything he has just to get the treasure. Of course, it is not enough to find it, but mainly to enter it. Here there is a reference to the events of the context in which, because of the constant wars, many hid treasures and often no longer had access to them. Another, in the future, found it and, certainly, was very happy with such an important find. Well, the joy of discovering the Kingdom is greater than the discovery of the most important treasure on the face of the earth. Following the same idea, Jesus tells the parable of the pearl. A merchant of precious pearls, a man who was already rich, also comes across the Kingdom of God, here symbolized by a pearl. Could this pearl be the preaching of the Gospel (St. John Chrysostom)?[4]The knowledge of the Savior and the mysteries of His passion and resurrection (St. Jerome)?[5]The sweetness of heavenly life (St. Gregory)?[6]Certainly all of this can be understood as a response to the parable. As for the merchant, he is also offered the Kingdom, the possibility of a new life, which comes from an encounter with Jesus, the PEARL par excellence. The merchant also sold everything he had, stripped himself completely of what he considered valuable, to keep only the pearl of incomparable value. He discovered the Kingdom and entered it. He had an encounter with Jesus Christ and remained with Him forever. In both this and the parable of the treasure, Jesus shows Himself to be the most important thing, the Kingdom desired by God and belonging to Him. A big and affectionate hug.