The Lord Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it” (Matthew 13:45–46).

The ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ is a term the Bible sometimes uses for the Kingdom of God on earth. It is called the ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ because it’s the Kingdom of the God of Heaven (Daniel 2:44).

Why did Jesus compare the Kingdom of Heaven, in this parable, to a pearl of great value?

Certainly, being a follower of Christ is a great privilege and offers amazing benefits for those who believe in him and the Father. It offers immortality when he returns: “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (v. 43).

The apostle Paul said, “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:30–31).

On that day, the faithful will enter into the Kingdom (Matthew 25:34).

How to Get the Pearl

Paul in his letters says a great deal about how Christians should follow Christ and obey his commandments. For example, Romans 8 is a chapter full of guidance for those who have embarked on the  new life in Christ:

‘There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God’ (vs. 1–8).

There is a glorious future awaiting those who are granted a place in the Kingdom of God.

Paul continues, ‘I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us’ (v. 18). In this verse, he is looking forward to the time when there is going to be a regeneration and restoration of the whole world, when Christ returns. We learn that at that time God’s glory will fill the whole earth (Habakkuk 2:14, Isaiah 6:3, 66:12,19, Psalm 72:19). There will be world peace, and no more war (Isaiah 2:4); nature will be changed, animals that were once predators will be in harmony with the creatures they preyed upon (Isaiah 65:25). This is the great prospect for the faithful to look for in their lives—on that day the Lord God will restore His creation back to how it was in the beginning
(Genesis 1–2).

Not an Easy Life

In the meantime, we are told life in Christ will not be easy. Paul said, ‘Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God’ (Acts 14:22). The record in Acts shows us the difficulties that beset him as he preached the Gospel. He describes some of them in 2 Corinthians 11:16–33. Many followers of Christ have suffered and still do suffer for their faith. This suffering is described as chastening, to teach patience and obedience (Proverbs 19:18, Hebrews 12:6–7).

Jesus himself told his disciples he was not bringing peace, but trouble: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:34–39).

The Hope of the Faithful

The hope of all Christ’s faithful followers is to be granted eternal life and become inhabitants of the Kingdom of God. And despite the trials and tribulations their faith might bring upon them, they must hold their faith to the end: ‘Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful’ (Hebrews 10:23). In so doing they will be like their master Jesus Christ, ‘who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God’ (12:2).

Jesus, by his death on the cross, opened our way to reconciliation with the Lord God, so that He can become our Heavenly Father. ‘For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility’ (Ephesians 2:14–16).

Indeed the forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life in the Kingdom of God, is the great privilege the Lord Jesus has bestowed upon those who look for his appearing from heaven, to establish the Kingdom upon Earth again (Matthew 26:26–29, Acts 1:6–11). This is the pearl of great value for all who seek the Kingdom of God.

GRAHAME A COOPER