Kidogo's World

Gospel Nutshells

The Riddle of the Pearl

The kingdom of heaven
is like unto a merchant man seeking goodly pearls:
who when he had found one pearl of great price,
went and sold all that he had, and bought it.
-- Matthew 13:45, 46)

Riddle of the Pearl

This Gospel in a Nutshell
Has Everything to Do with Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter

Jean Wimbish

Foreword

There are many treasures buried in the Old Testament. Many of those treasures are the keys to understanding the New Testament -- and unlocking the riddles, which is what parables are. Why did Jesus speak to us in riddles? Could it be that He did it so that Satan would not catch on to the plan of rescue before it happened, yet we would be able to figure it out afterward?

But we speak of the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory!
-- I Corinthians 2:7,8

Most of the Jews of Jesus' day had the keys, because they knew the Scriptures by heart. Had they not been blinded by Satan they could have solved the riddles.

Most of us today do not know the Scriptures that well, so Satan doesn't have to work very hard to blind us to the meanings of the parables.

Buried deep in the Old Testament is a law that unlocks the parable frequently referred to as the Pearl of Great Price, revealing a glorious message. This parable has everything to do with the meaning of Christmas ... and of Good Friday ... and of Easter!

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The kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man seeking goodly pearls: who when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.
-- Matthew 13:45, 46)

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Who is the merchant?
What was "all that he had" that he sold?
What did he get for it?
What did he pay for the pearl?
Who is the pearl?

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I: Christ's Appearances on Earth

How Was the Incarnation Different?

To solve this riddle let us begin by asking some questions -- questions that have undoubtedly crossed the mind of some of us as we have contemplated the mysteries of God.

Question -- Knowing that God is all-powerful and loves us and wants us saved, Why couldn't He just wave His magic wand and save us? Or, since He is the Lawgiver, Why could he not simply do it by decree?

Before we can answer that question we need to consider the mystery of the Incarnation, and ask some other questions.

Question -- Why did Christ come to earth as a Man? Could He have come any other way?

In fact, He had appeared in many other ways. Throughout the Old Testament we have accounts of many appearances of the pre-incarnate Christ.

He it was Who walked in the Garden of Eden with Adam.

As the Angel of the Lord He appeared to Hagar and to Abraham.

Jacob called Him the "Angel which redeemed me."

He appeared as Prince of the Lord's host to Joshua, and as Angel of the Lord to Gideon.

In the wilderness He appeared as the Rock, the Pillar of Fire, and as the Cloud.

But His lowly birth in Bethlehem was

prophesied ...

Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
-- Isaiah 7:14

heralded ...

And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. And behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great and shall be called Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
-- Luke 1:30-33

announced ...

Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.
-- Luke 2: 10-13

celebrated ...

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God ...
-- Luke 2:13

venerated ....

... there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem, saying Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East and are come to worship him.
-- Matthew 2:1,2

and violently opposed!

Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under.
-- Matthew 2: 16, 18

This must have been an appearing unlike any other! The Creator of the universe humbled Himself and allowed His vast infinitude to be confined in the womb of a woman and was born a tiny Baby -- Jesus!

Why did He do that? What is the mystery of the Incarnation? What actually happened?




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II: The Incarnation

What is the mystery of the Incarnation?

St. Paul reveals the mystery in his letter to the Philippians ...

Although being essentially one with God and in the form of God, possessing the fulness of the attributes that make God God, did not think this equality with God was a thing to be grasped or retained; but stripped Himself (of all privileges and rightful dignity) so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave) in that He became like men and was born a human being -- Jesus.
--Philippians 2:6,7 Amp.

In other words ...

Christ stripped Himself of all the rights and authority of His deity and traded them for the attributes and limitations of our humanity. He did not cease to be God. A son is always the son of his father even though he might renounce his inheritance.

Then He was born of a woman -- as one of us. This passage makes clear that, as Jesus, He walked the earth not as God, but as Spirit-filled Man. The Creator of the universe had accepted the limitations of human flesh!

What did that mean to Jesus?

We will look at four more passages that confirm that Jesus walked the earth as a Spirit-filled Man -- not in His capacity as God. Three of these attest to its importance in Jesus' mind -- and there is no record of ministry until after the Spirit descended at His baptism.

1. ... for God cannot be tempted with evil, ...
-- James 1:13

But we have record that Jesus was tempted thrice in the wilderness.

2. The devil said to Him, "If you are the Son of God tell this stone to become bread."
Jesus answered him, "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone," ...
--Luke 4:3,4

Satan was tempting Him to assert His deity.
Jesus replied by asserting His humanity.

3. . . . he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do, also;
--John 14:12

If the works Jesus did were of His authority as God, He would not have said that. Mere believers would be unable to do them.

4. He frequently referred to Himself as "Son of Man" making a point of His humanity. The title was also given Him in prophecy.
--Daniel 7:13

There are other Scriptures as well, such as ...

I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
--Deuteronomy 18:18

For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.
--John 3:34

Other Scriptures attest to His being the only begotten Son of God, such as ...

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
-- John 3:16

Renouncing His rights of deity, He did not cease to be God. But He could be fully man only by accepting the limitations of human flesh. And thus, fully God and fully Man, He walked the earth as Spirit-filled Man; and apparently He took His humanity very seriously.

Why did He so limit Himself? What does it mean to us? Why did Jesus make such a point of it?




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III: Why Did He Do That?

Why did Christ trade His rights of deity
for our humanity with all its limitations?

Jesus, Himself, tells us why He came.

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the Prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.
--Matthew 5:17

He came to fulfill the law -- and He had to do it by law. Law is not the invention of lawyers. God is the author of law. And He never breaks His law. He even binds Himself to His own law.

The wages of sin is death.
--Romans 6:23

The day you eat of it you shall surely die.
--Gen. 2:17

God was telling Adam that the price of disobedience was death. (Death is not punishment, but mercy. If we were to live forever in disobedience, we would create hell on earth -- nor would we be able to abide heaven, which would be unutterably painful. As C. S. Lewis might say, even the grass would hurt our feet.) Adam died spiritually and began to die physically the day he disobeyed. He -- who was supposed to live forever -- lived less than a thousand years. More than 900 years may seem like a long time to us, but it is a far cry from forever.

And, as St. Paul tells us, we have all sinned.

There is none righteous; no, not one.
--Romans 3:10

God does not break His own laws. The price for our disobedience had to be paid. So what hope have we?

Jesus came to fulfill that law by paying the price for us.

But we are talking about law! How could Jesus' death satisfy that law for us? If you went to a prison and offered to take the place of someone on death row, would they let you do it? Wouldn't they say, "No, we have our man, and he must pay for his crime?"

So how could Jesus lawfully -- or effectively -- do that for us?

Because of another law, which we will look at next -- one of the many treasures buried in the Old Testament. Then we will be able to solve the riddle.




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IV: Another Law

How could Jesus' death satisfy that law for us?

Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey?
--Romans 6:16

Our God is a God of law, as well as of love. He is the author of law and binds Himself to His own laws. Let us go to Genesis to see what happened there that concerns us . . .

And God said Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion . . . over all the earth . . . .
-- Genesis 1:26

God is King over all the earth, but He delegated His authority to Adam. What happened when Adam obeyed Satan?

Adam, by his obedience to Satan, surrendered that dominion to Satan, and (here is the key) he also sold both himself and us -- you and me, who were in his loins -- into slavery to Satan. (Satan was referred to three times by Jesus as the prince of this world (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11), and the god of this world by Paul (2 Corinthians 4:4). When he tempted Jesus in the wilderness, he claimed that all the kingdoms of the world and all power had been delivered unto him and he could give them to whomever he would. (Luke 4:6) Had that claim been unfounded there would have been no temptation. Nor did Jesus dispute the claim.)

But there is one way -- and only one way -- provided by law to escape slavery. This ancient God-given law is a buried treasure found in Leviticus.

After he is sold [into slavery] he may be redeemed; one of his brethren may redeem him, either his uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him, or a near kinsman may redeem him.
--Leviticus 25:48,49 Amp.

Only a kinsman could validly assert his right to redeem a slave -- a right taking precedence over the right of the slave holder to keep him. But only a kinsman who was free himself would be able to pay the price.

As Son of Man, Jesus is our Kinsman -- with the lawful right to redeem, forcing Satan to release us. As the immaculate Son of God, the Lamb without blemish, He -- and only He -- was Himself free and able to pay the price. Death!

Did you ever wonder why Jesus, though He acknowledged His deity, made such a point of His humanity . . . quite often referred to Himself as Son of Man, and was given that title in prophecy? Now you know. Only God-become-Man could meet the conditions of the law to effect our redemption.

There is only one way provided by law to escape slavery to Satan:

The Law of the Kinsman Redeemer

Satan missed it -- even though Jesus continually flaunted it in his face with His insistence upon referring to Himself as Son of Man. During the temptation in the wilderness Jesus served notice on Satan by asserting His humanity in reply to the temptation to assert his deity. But Satan still missed it.

None of the princes of this world knew the plan of rescue, for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory! (I Corinthians 2:8)

Many others have also missed it, and this parable is frequently interpreted another way. But now we are able to solve the riddle. It has everything to do with the meaning of Christmas.




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V: The Gospel in a Nutshell

Who Are the Players?

The kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man seeking goodly pearls: who when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.
-- Matthew 13:45, 46

Who is the Merchant?

Christ is the merchant.

What did He sell?

All that He had: The attributes of His deity.
In exchange He received human life, with all its limitations --
and was born a child, Jesus.

What was the price of the pearl?

His life -- His very life -- was the great price
that had to be paid for the pearl He found.

Who is the Pearl?

YOU are the pearl!

You are bought with a price.
-- I Corinthians 6:20

But ... God raised Jesus from the dead.

Therefore (because He stooped so low), God has highly exalted Him and has freely bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father.
-- Philippians 2:9,10 Amp.

Adam sold us -- you and me -- into slavery to Satan.

Because we -- you and I -- are precious to Christ, He gave up all rights and authority of deity, to become the Man, Jesus, so He could buy us back. He paid the price by laying down His life in an agonizing death.

Because Jesus is our kinsman, Satan has no choice but to release us -- if we accept our redemption: If we believe that God raised Jesus from the dead and if we acknowledge Jesus, rather than Satan, as our Lord and Master.

. . . if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
-- Romans 10:9,10

Whether we accept His purchase and the abundant eternal life that He has planned for us, or choose slavery to Satan -- along with the end God has planned for him -- is our choice. There is no other choice.

The glorious message of this parable is the Good News: It is because we are precious to Him -- and because it was the only way He could get us back -- that the Creator of the universe humbled Himself to become a helpless Baby; and then, as Man, laid down His life to redeem us. Here is the Gospel -- Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter -- all rolled into a nutshell of only one sentence:

The kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man seeking goodly pearls: who when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. -- Matthew 13:45, 46




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For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
-- John 3:16




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But we speak of the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory! -- I Corinthians 2:7,8




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Copyright 1987 Jean Wimbish
used with permission

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On another page of Kidogo's World: a word that became a key.

Lord, open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold Wondrous Things out of Thy law. -- Psalm 119:18

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