Food for Thought: A Pearl of Great Price

Jesus often used a parable to illustrate a point.  These stories were meant to make it easier for the people to whom He was speaking to understand and remember the point he was trying to make.  Pastors today sometimes have differing opinions about what some of those stories really mean.  In Matthew 13:45-46 we read a story about a merchant who sold all that he had to buy a rare pearl for a very high price. 

Some religious scholars think that what Jesus was referring to is the kingdom of heaven, and that the story was meant to encourage Jesus’ followers to be willing to sacrifice all in order to gain the great prize of eternal life.  Others think the pearl is Jesus himself, and that the story is meant to encourage us to be willing to give up everything we have to claim Jesus as our personal savior.  In both cases, the goal is the same: to be willing to sacrifice everything to obtain eternal life through Jesus.

Still another interpretation suggests that believers are the pearl––that the great price was paid by Jesus when He died on the cross for our sins.  All of these explanations make sense, but the third one most closely fits the metaphor of the pearl.  Pearls are formed because an oyster either accidentally or purposefully (as is the case with cultured pearls) becomes infected with a grain of sand.  The sand causes pain for the oyster, and in defense, its body secretes nacre (mother of pearl), a substance that covers the offending object and forms a pearl.  In this version of the meaning of the parable, the offending irritant is our own sins, and Jesus covered our sins through his sacrifice and death.  He paid the ultimate price for the precious pearls that are us––His body of followers.

Larger pearls are more valuable because they take longer to form.  Also, the more perfectly round a pearl, the more valuable it is.  That is because they are more rare.  Finding perfect Christians is also rare, but that does not mean that God isn’t working to help each of us become more perfect.  He sometimes allows irritants in our lives to cause us to grow in character and strength––to become more mature and perfect “pearls”.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” JAMES 1:2-4