Treasure Hidden

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." Matthew 13:44

Find an archaeologist with a sense of humor, a translator for the imperial Spanish, and a willing storyteller who hasn't yet made any money at writing, and you have the team to start a new treasure hunt. The archaeologist can put, oops, find a few old timbers out on a barren seashore somewhere, the translator would make up, I mean, stumble across a few likely documents of indeterminate age, and the writer can spin a story out of thin air to start the legend. In no time, with the speed of social media, that barren seashore will be scanned, detected, dug up, and combed carefully for the treasure of the El Toblerone, lost at sea in a storm off the coast with all hands in 1782 with the treasure of King Juan XIV on board. Of course a fantastical amount must be mentioned, a million won't do anymore, so start at $1.789 billion as though someone did a careful tally by the old manifest and your story of El Toblerone is off and running.

You should have stuck with your million because that 'b' word just got the attention of several governments. Today, it is probably not worth our time to attempt a treasure expedition for the fabled lost ships of the Spanish Main. Spain wants their treasure back, the nations where the gold and silver (and jewels!) were mined want their stuff too ('cuz imperial Spain stole it in the first place), the country or state where the timbers washed up will lay a claim to the treasure, and watch out for the purported or at least convenient heirs to those poor skeletons that unfortunately rotted away before the timbers. So who wins the treasure? The lawyers do, of course.

Alas, Jesus knew how to get our attention and the mere mention of treasure has us running in the wrong direction. The point of the story is that the kingdom of heaven is the treasure that is worth all that we have to give. The Lord Jesus is the man who found that treasure and gave His all to save it. And in that field is a treasure He died for: us. Yes, you and me were the treasure our Lord bought the Earth for with His life. While the world runs after gold and silver, our Lord purchased with His blood a flock of hapless sheep. Do you feel like a treasure this Monday morning? You should, the blood of the King of kings was given to redeem you from the Earth!

Hallelujah! Our Lord has found a treasure!

Bucky