THE PEARL OF GREAT VALUE

KEY SCRIPTURE: Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. ~ Matthew 13:45-46 (NIV)

I’ve heard this passage taught many times, teaching that we are like merchants searching desperately to find something of value in this life, and when we finally find the truth of the Gospel we are to give up all that we have in order to obtain eternal life in heaven. 

To a degree, I believe this to be true. Once we hear the Gospel and believe in the One He has sent (John 6:28-29) it changes our priorities. With the help of the Spirit in us we give up all that we have… our old destructive habits and behaviors… our condemning beliefs about our selves and others… our selfish desires and pursuits. But satan will do whatever he can to twist the truth just a bit, and tell us this means we must do everything we can to make sure we get into heaven, and if we’re lucky we’ll do enough to earn it… but probably not, because it is a pearl of great value and we probably don’t have what it takes.

Of course, he’s wrong.

As with most of the Word, there are many levels of meaning, especially in Jesus’ parables.  I once heard this taught completely differently, and I believe this is not only what Jesus meant, but really what satan does NOT want us to get. At all.

Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls…”  He didn’t say WE are like merchants. He said heaven is.  God was searching for fine pearls, and upon finding ONE of great price - YOU! - He gave up everything to purchase it. (John 3:16-17) You are the pearl of great price.

It’s really, REALLY hard for me and my tiny human brain to even remotely comprehend what Jesus gave up on the cross. I kind of get the human side… I get that He was only in His early 30’s when He willingly gave up His life. I get that He was brutally tortured. I get that after having most of the flesh scourged off His back He was physically nailed to a rough, splintered cross. I get that He hung there, slowly suffocating in agony while the ravens perched nearby waiting to feast on His remains. My brain can *almost* comprehend this horror.

However, I think this sacrifice was nothing… nothing compared to what He gave up in heaven. We truly have no idea what heaven is like… even in our wildest imaginations I don’t think we even come close to how magnificent it is, in every way. (Isaiah 55:8-9) But Jesus did know… (John 3:13) … and He came anyway. But… I think even this sacrifice pales in comparison to what He gave up to become a human being. If you think about it for a moment, it’s staggering.  The God of the universe, the One Who created EVERYTHING, willingly chose to give up everything He was as God and limit himself to the life of a human. Yes, Jesus was fully God AND fully human, (John 1:1) but He chose to show us how to live as a human in constant relationship with God. He chose to become vulnerable. He chose to leave His throne and put His life in the hands of frail, faulty humans, becoming a defenseless baby.

He gave up ALL that He had. 

For me.

For YOU. 

The pearl of great value.

This is probably the one thing satan really, REALLY wants us to miss. He never wants us to see our value to God. He never wants us to come remotely close to comprehending the depths of God’s love for us. So we’re fed lies for the majority of our lives. We’re taught to create a recording of these lies and play them over and over and over again in our head, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year… for a lifetime.  Lies. You’re unworthy… in fact, you’re worthless. You’re not valuable. You’re stupid. You’re fat. You’re ugly. You’re lazy. You’re not loved… in fact, you’re unlovable. Nobody REALLY loves you, especially a perfect and demanding God.  

LIES!!!  Jesus is the TRUTH, (John 14:6) and He will set you free from these lies. (John 8:32)  When you devalue yourself, thinking and treating yourself like you’re “nothing,” you’re basically saying everything Jesus did was for “nothing.” 

Jesus endured the cross for the sake of the JOY set before Him, (Hebrews 12:2) and that joy was knowing He would be able to spend eternity with you.  You, precious pearl, are so valuable to God that He gave up everything to have you, because you are worth everything to Him.  

SCRIPTURES

Matthew 13:45-46 ~ … the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. (NIV)

John 6:28-29 ~ Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (ESV)

John 3:16-17 ~ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (ESV)

Isaiah 55:8-9 ~ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways… as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (ESV)

John 3:13 ~ No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who descended from heaven—the Son of Man. (NASB) 

John 1:1 ~ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (NIV)

John 14:6 ~ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (NIV)

John 8:32 ~ And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. (NLT)

Hebrews 12:2 ~ For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (NIV)