17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (year A)

(Mt 13:44–52)

Matthew 13:44 The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field; a man finds it and hides it; then, filled with joy, he goes and sells all he has and buys that field. 

Matthew 13:45 The Kingdom of Heaven is also like a merchant in search of fine pearls;

Matthew 13:46 having found a pearl of great value, he goes and sells all he has and buys it.

The merchant is not merely a man who stumbles upon a treasure by chance. The merchant is an expert in treasures and values; he is a connoisseur. He is someone in search of precious goods; someone, therefore, who has already made a choice in life. When these merchants, constantly on the lookout for precious pearls, find one of great value, they decide to sell everything to acquire this new pearl.

Historically, these appear to be Jewish Christians. They are already experts on God and his world; they have already entered into covenants; they already possess the manifestation of God’s will in the Torah; they are people constantly seeking perfection in the Law. And it is precisely in this attitude of ‘seekers’ (Greek: zētounti) – as Matthew calls them – that they find the pearl of absolute value. For them, the Kingdom of God is not a discovery in the strict sense, but a re-understanding and a re-examination of their faith, which opens them up to new realities. They are shaped by the Mosaic faith and perceive this newness as a sort of evolution of their faith.

Here there is none of the joyful enthusiasm of one who has found the treasure and, driven by excitement, does not hesitate for a moment to dispose of his possessions in order to take possession of what is, for him, the supreme good (v. 44).  Here, on the contrary, there is indeed a selling, but a cautious one, filtered through personal interests. In this sense, the verbs Matthew uses to describe the sale of possessions for the purchase of the treasure and the pearl are significant. In the first instance (v. 44), the verb ‘pōléō’ is used, meaning to sell, to put up for sale, or to offer for sale; it characterises the act of selling by someone who wishes to part with an asset but is not seeking to profit from it; it is a straightforward sale of one’s own property, from which to obtain fresh money to be used immediately. In the second instance (vv. 45–46), the verb ‘pipráskō’ is used, which also means to sell, but refers to a professional-style sale involving negotiation, haggling and bargaining, and seeking one’s own gain. Here, the whole process is rendered more rational, more calculated and more difficult.

The parable, however, urges this group of people to cast aside their Mosaic-based resistance. Matthew uses here the imperfect indicative of the verb ‘echō’ (‘eichen’ = had; he sells everything he had) to indicate the continuing possession of an asset from the past (the Mosaic Law), which he no longer possesses. It is on this interplay between having had something before and no longer having it that the call to leave the past behind is based, for what they have found (Christ) is a pearl of great value, which places it above all the other pearls they already possessed (‘eichen’ = had).

The first parable (v. 44) speaks of grace: one comes across it without seeking it; one is sought out by God. The second (vv. 45–46) speaks of the active search one undertakes in one’s life; when one has sensed something, one seeks. And those who seek find.

This choice, however, requires the greatest of freedoms: the freedom to sacrifice everything for the supreme good that has been found. Those who lack this freedom will never be able to buy the precious pearl they have found. Without this freedom, one will live for the petty things of this present life, but these do not bring true joy. True joy is eternal joy, which comes from God. Without this supreme freedom from everything, from everyone, and even from ourselves, we will never be able to buy the precious pearl. To possess the kingdom of God, one needs a willingness to seek, discernment, freedom, and detachment from the things of this world.

The treasure is a quest. In the human heart lies the desire for the eternal, for God, for truth, for salvation, for redemption. The search does not stop at the first thing found. It is carried out with wise and intelligent discernment. One distinguishes pearl from pearl, a precious pearl from a more precious one, and the most precious of all. Within man lies the capacity for wise and holy discernment. Without this capacity, which is always a gift from God, one could never distinguish good from evil, good from better, or better from the very best.

Man can seek the best. If he can, he must. If he must, he is free to do so. If he does not, he is accountable before God. Man is capable of God, of eternity, of beauty, of truth, of holiness. Man is capable of transcending himself. He can transcend because the Lord places before him the pearl of inestimable value. He can rise above because the pearl exists and can always be found.

The parable of the pearl highlights the incomparable beauty of the kingdom. The prolonged search for pearls alludes to the commitment required to attain the kingdom – as, for example, the disciples of John the Baptist, or Nicodemus, or Joseph of Arimathea, etc., did. The parable of the hidden treasure, on the other hand, refers to the sudden conversion of some sinner, unexpectedly struck by the proclamation of the Gospel. 

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation – an exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers – Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ, True God and True Man, in the Mystery of the Trinity

Jesus’ Prophetic Discourse (Matthew 24–25)

All Generations Will Call Me Blessed

 Catholics and Protestants Compared – In Defence of the Faith

 The Church and Israel According to St Paul – Romans 9–11

(Available on Amazon)