What did Jesus want
to say with the two parables of the hidden treasure
and the precious pearl? More or less this: The
decisive hour of history has arrived. The Kingdom of
God has come on earth.
Specifically, it is about himself and his coming on
earth. The hidden treasure and the precious pearl
are nothing other than Jesus himself. It is as if,
with these words, Jesus wished to say: Salvation has
come to you freely, by God's initiative. Make a
decision, take advantage of the opportunity, do not
let it escape from you. It is the time to decide.
What comes to my mind is the day World War II ended.
In the city, partisans and allies opened the
storerooms with provisions left by the German army
when it retreated. In a flash, the news reached
villages in the country and all ran at top speed to
take all those wonderful things. Some arrived home
full of blankets, others with baskets of provisions.
I think that with these two parables Jesus wished to
create such an atmosphere. He wanted to say: Run
while you have time! There is a free treasure that
awaits you, a precious pearl. Do not lose the
opportunity.
Except that, in Jesus' case, what is at stake is
infinitely more serious. One's all is at stake. The
Kingdom is the only thing that can save us from the
highest risk of life, which is to lose the reason
why we are in this world.
We are in a society that lives on insurance. People
insure themselves against everything. In some
countries, it is a kind of mania. There is even
insurance against bad weather during vacations.
Among all, the most important and frequent insurance
is that of life.
However, lets reflect for a minute. Of what use is
this insurance and against what does it insure us?
Against death? Of course not. It ensures that, in
case of death, some one receives an indemnity.
The Kingdom of Heaven is also life insurance against
death. "Whoever believes in me, even though he die,
shall live," said Jesus. Thus we also understand the
radical need posed by such a "deal": to sell
everything and leave it all. In other words, to be
prepared, if necessary, for any sacrifice.
However, not to pay the price of the treasure or the
pearl, which, by definition, do not have a "price,"
but to be worthy of them.
In each of the parables there are, in fact, two
actors: an evident one, that goes, sells and buys;
and a hidden one, taken for granted. The author
taken for granted is the former proprietor who did
not realize that in his field there was a treasure
and sold it cheaply to the first bidder. It is the
man or woman who had the precious pearl, did not
realize its value, and gave it to the first merchant
passing by, perhaps for a collection of false
pearls.
How can we not see in this warning that is addressed
to those of us who sell our faith and Christian
heritage for nothing?
However, the parable does not say "a man sold
everything he had and started to look for a hidden
treasure." We know how such stories end: One loses
what one had and finds no treasure. These are
stories of dreamers, of visionaries.
No, man found a treasure and, because of this, sold
all he had to buy it. In a word, it is necessary to
have found the treasure to have the strength and joy
to sell everything.
Leaving the parable to one side, we must first find
Jesus, meet him in a personal, new and convincing
way. Discover him as friend and savior. Then it will
be child's play to sell everything.
It is something that will be "full of joy," as the
proprietor mentioned in the Gospel.
