Treasured Possessions and Treasure-Seekers: Matthew 13:44-58

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2K0XzC8pFw

Treasure worth everything

If you want to turn with me to Matthew chapter 13, verse 44. ​Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field—so valuable that when a man finds it, he goes and sells everything he has (and he does it with joy) so he can buy the field.​Then Jesus says the kingdom is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and when he finds one pearl of great value, he sells everything and buys it.

That’s the heart of the message: seeing the kingdom should reorder our priorities. You can’t just see it and admire it—you respond to it. You start living like a citizen of that kingdom, treasuring that kingdom above everything else.

And notice this: this isn’t begrudging sacrifice. This isn’t “fine, I guess I have to.” This is joy. This is excitement. This is finally finding the thing you didn’t even realize you were missing.

God reveals it first

Here’s the problem: nobody naturally wakes up and says, “I’d love to sell everything and follow Jesus today.”

The only way you and I ever let go of the old life to receive the new life is if God reveals the treasure to us first.

Paul says the “natural person” doesn’t accept the things of the Spirit of God and isn’t able to understand them because they’re spiritually discerned. Jesus says it even more directly: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” ​That means people don’t stumble into the kingdom because they’re the smartest or the quickest—they come because God uncovered the treasure in the dirt and let them see what it really is.

And once God reveals it, then we respond.

Philippians says, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,” and then immediately tells you why: “for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” Here’s the line that needs to stick: you can’t work out what God hasn’t worked in.​

The kingdom is not something you get through grit or genius. It’s a gift.

Bought with a price

And the biggest reason this message hits so deep is because Jesus isn’t telling us to do something God hasn’t already done.

God revealed His kingdom to the world by coming to us in Christ—God wrapped in human flesh—giving His life. (This is where the “treasure” flips back on us.)

Scripture says, “You were bought at a price.” ​So your worth isn’t “I worked really hard,” or “I knew the most,” or “I went to church the most”—your worth is the price God already paid.​

That’s why this changes everything: you were not the one who climbed up to God—God came down to you.

Treasure and warning

Jesus doesn’t stop with the treasure and the pearl.

He also gives a warning through another kingdom parable: the kingdom is like a dragnet gathering fish of every kind, and at the end of the age the good are gathered and the bad are thrown away. Jesus says the angels will separate the wicked from the righteous and there will be “wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

That warning isn’t aimed at people who “didn’t do enough religious stuff.” It’s aimed at people who refused the treasure—people who saw the kingdom and rejected it, or never wanted it in the first place.

Then Jesus looks at His disciples and asks if they understood, and when they say yes, He tells them that a scribe trained for the kingdom is like a homeowner who brings out treasures new and old. ​In other words, once you’ve seen the treasure, you don’t just hold it—you carry it, you share it, and you help others see it too.​

And even when Jesus goes back to His hometown and they take offense at Him, He keeps moving forward—Matthew says He didn’t do many miracles there because of their unbelief.​He didn’t quit. He didn’t stop pursuing. He endured rejection and kept going.

What it looks like Monday

So what does “reordering your life” actually look like?

Sometimes it looks like realizing your job isn’t just a paycheck—it’s a mission field. It’s waking up and saying, “Every conversation, every encounter, every small moment—I’m going to treasure God back with my words and my actions.”

It’s not bullhorn Christianity. It’s purpose Christianity.

A grocery store trip can become a value-filled moment. A shift at work can become ministry. A normal day can become holy ground—because the treasure has changed what you’re living for.