Continued:The Parables of the Kingdom

An exposition of The Gospel According to Matthew
by David L. Cooper, Th.M., Ph.D., Litt. D.
Installment thirteen

The parable of the pearl of great price


"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a merchant seeking goodly pearls: 46 and having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it" (13:45,46). The man, in the preceding parable, who purchased the field, is without doubt the goodly merchant of our present parable who sells everything that he has and purchases this one pearl of great price. Who gave up everything that he had? In considering this question our minds naturally go to the Son of God who, though He was rich, yet for our sakes became poor that we, through His poverty, might become rich. The pearl is in the world, the field. This is a most valuable pearl. The suggestion has been made, with great probability, that this pearl is none other than the church of Jesus Christ--the true church, consisting of born-again people. This is not the visible church, but the aggregate of genuinely born-again people. The Lord Jesus thus purchased this pearl of great price. It is His. He who withheld not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, will certainly give us all things that are necessary for our existence and spiritual development. (See Romans 8:32.)


The parable of the dragnet


In verses 47-50 our Lord compared the kingdom of heaven in the end of the age to a dragnet which was pulled ashore and in which were both clean and unclean things--fish and other unclean marine life. Then the good was separated from the bad, being gathered into vessels, and the bad was cast away. This is illustrative of the separation of the good from the bad at the end of the age.

"47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: 48 which, when it was filled, they drew up on the beach; and they sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but the bad they cast away. 49 So shall it be in the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the righteous, 50 and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth."


Every well-taught disciple


When Jesus had finished His parables of the kingdom, He compared the well-taught, truth-seeking disciple to the man who brings out of his treasures things both new and old. The man who stays in a rut, speaking only the things that we have heard from childhood, cannot be a disciple in the true sense of the term. Neither can the one who does not teach the fundamentals of the faith, but who constantly is bringing forth something new, fantastic and weird--something sensational. The true disciple proclaims the old, well-known, fundamental truths and at the same time he preaches these new things in the Word that have not been noted before and proclaims them along with the old things. God expects us to study the Word and to discover new truths and to proclaim them as well as the fundamental and well-known facts and principles.


Jesus' last visit to Nazareth


When our Lord had finished these parables, He crossed the Sea of Galilee, stilling the tempest while enroute. He reached the east side, healed the Garasene demoniac, then returned to the west side. At this time He healed the woman with an issue of blood and raised Jairus' daughter. Following this, He healed two blind men and a dumb demoniac. Having done this, He made a last visit to His home town of Nazareth. At this time He spoke in the synagogue and His friends and neighbors were amazed at His teaching and at His works. They could not understand how that one who had lived in their midst could do such things. On account of their unbelief, He did not many mighty works on this occasion (13:58). Thus He gave them their last chance to hear the words of life from Himself personally.