1. We have been studying the Gospel of Matthew and have been in chapter 13 for a few weeks now. This chapter deals with the parables of the kingdom of heaven, and today we will look at the fifth parable, the parable of the hidden treasure.
2. Scofield’s notes are very helpful here. He explains that a popular (e.g. taught by many Bible teachers such as Matthew Henry) interpretation of the parable, "which makes the buyer of the field to be a sinner who is seeking Christ, has no warrant in the parable itself…At every point the interpretation breaks down" (p. 1017).
3. One commentator writes: "In both parables (he is including the parable of the pearl of great price) the discoverers immediately recognize the great value of their find and are willing to surrender everything to possess it…These parables stress the value of salvation, not the means of salvation" (Arthur Robertson).
4. If our Lord was teaching here that salvation comes through earnest diligence and total surrender to Christ, then why did He send the multitude away? (Matt.13:36). It would be like a preacher on Sunday morning telling all of the visitors and unsaved people to go home, and then explaining the way of salvation to his members!
5. Our Lord taught this parable to "his disciples" (13:36). He was not setting forth the way of salvation as we shall see in a few minutes.
6. This parable makes no sense if the hidden treasure represents Christ. The treasure is "hid in a field" (13:44). In what sense is Christ hid in a field?
7. If this interpretation is true, why would a sinner who has found Christ, go back and hide Him again as this man does? When a sinner finds Christ he is supposed to go out and tell others the good news.

I. WHAT IS THE TREASURE?

1. The key to the parable is to determine what the treasure was that was "hid in a field" (13:44).
2. Unfortunately, many Bible teachers and preachers disagree over this. Even Spurgeon, one of the greatest preachers of all time, seems to have misunderstood this parable. First, he said that the treasure was "the riches of the Gospel," and then in the very next sentence he said the treasure was the church.
3. Then he concluded by saying, "The special application of the parable we leave to the reader." But while there may indeed be many applications, there can only be one correct interpretation, and neither of Spurgeon’s seems correct.
4. The treasure is the nation Israel, and apparently it has been hidden so well that even great expositors like Matthew Henry and Spurgeon could not find it (cf. Ex.19:3-5). Notice, "for all the earth (the field) is mine" (Ex.19:5).
5. Now some might say, "Yes, but doesn’t Peter take Ex.19:5,6 and apply it to the church?" Yes, Peter applies it to the church. However, while there may be many applications, there can only be one correct interpretation (cf. I Peter 2:9).
6. The church has never been hid in the world (the field). And the treasure cannot be Christ, for Christ is not hidden in the world.
7. The treasure must be Israel, because Israel is God’s "peculiar treasure" (Ps.135:4). Many have failed to recognize this because they have been taught that God is finished with Israel, but this is not what the Bible teaches (Rom.11:1,2).

II. WHO IS THE MAN IN THE FIELD?

1. We know the man cannot be a sinner. How can a sinner go and "selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field"? To say that this is a picture of a lost sinner finding Christ is absurd. "In my hand, no price I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling."
2. To properly interpret the Bible, we must look at the context. And we begin by first looking at the immediate context. From the first two parables, we have seen that the man is the Lord Jesus Christ (13:24,37).
3. And we see that it is "his field" (13:24); i.e., the world (13:38).
4. Therefore, the interpretation which has the seeking sinner "buying the field" (13:44) has to be wrong. How can a sinner purchase the world? The richest man in the world could not do that.
5. A.W. Pink identifies Israel as the hidden treasure, and says: "Where are they to be found? Working in the brick-kilns of Egypt, a company of slaves. What was there to denote that they were God’s peculiar treasure? Nothing, indeed: the treasure was ‘hidden.’ That is where the parable begins, and that is where their history as a nation began – buried, as it were, amid the rubbish of Egypt."
6. Then, after many years, Christ Jesus became a man and entered the world (the field) at Bethlehem. "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not" (John 1:11).
7. But we see here in the parable that no sooner is the treasure discovered than it is hidden again (13:44). By the time our Lord taught this parable, He had already hidden the treasure but the Jews did not realize it. When the Jewish leaders blasphemed the Holy Spirit, our Lord judged them (Matt.12:31,32,37,43-45; Luke 19:41-44).

III. HOW DOES HE BUY THAT FIELD?

1. It was on the cross at Calvary that our Lord "bought" the field. He paid the price – He "selleth all that He hath, and buyeth that field" (13:44; cf. I Peter 1:18,19).
2. He bought the whole field (13:44, the world, 13:38).
3. This does not mean that the whole world will be saved, but it means Christ died for the sins of the whole world (cf. I John 2:2).
4. This world belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ by right of creation (John 1:1-3,10). And this world belongs to Him by right of purchase (John 1:29).
5. Israel is hidden now, a little country half-way around the world, overshadowed by her enemies. But when Christ comes back to earth, the Bible says, "Israel shall blossom and bud…" (Isa.27:6).
6. With the exception of those of us who know the Bible, no one recognizes Israel as a treasure. There is a controversy these days over whether or not Jerusalem should be recognized as the capital of Israel.
7. A look at the Bible should end this controversy (Matt.5:34,35; Ps.2:6; 122:6). The pope has recently come out against Jewish control of Jerusalem. As usual, he is siding with the PLO terrorists.
8. When we see these things in the news, we must recognize that Jesus is coming soon (cf. Zech.12:1-3).
9. People refer to the "lost tribes of Israel," but they are not lost (God knows where they are), they are just hidden in the field.
10. They were not hidden when the NT was written (James 1:1). And soon they will no longer be hid (cf. Rev.7:1-8).

CONCLUSION:

1. The fifth and sixth parables are similar. In the parable of the hidden treasure, the man buys the field; and in the next parable he buys the pearl of great price (13:45,46).
2. The man represents our Lord who bought us with His precious blood. Perhaps there is one here today who has not believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, and who has not received pardon from sin.
3. As I have said, this world belongs to our Lord by right of creation, and by right of purchase. He "buyeth that field" (the world, 13:44, 38).
4. Some day soon, a book (a scroll) with seven seals will be handed to our Lord (Rev.5:1-7). This book is the title deed to planet earth, and includes the prophecy of impending judgments, described vividly for us in the book of Revelation.
5. The first four seals represent the four horsemen of the Apocalypse: the antichrist, war, famine, and death (Rev.6:1-8).
6. No one can say with any certainty how much time we have left. Several times in these parables our Lord refers to "the end of the world" (13:39,40,49,50). We need to be ready.