With Sharee Thomas 

The twin parables of this Sunday’s gospel – the treasure in the field and the pearl of great value – reveal a paradoxical truth about the kingdom of Heaven. Throughout the gospels, Jesus presents the kingdom as ‘now but not yet’; as ‘present but future’. This paradox is captured in these twin parables. In both cases, the kingdom is likened to something of great value that is discovered but cannot be immediately grasped. In both parables, the finder must go away and sell everything so that they can eventually come to possess the treasure they have discovered.

By comparing this experience with the kingdom of Heaven, Jesus suggests that most of us can only ever catch glimpses of what it means to live in the kingdom. For most of us, only in the future reality of heaven will we ever fully come to understand the kingdom. However, those glimpses that we catch – those moments of inspiration and connection with God and with one another – are like the treasures of the parables. They are enough to inspire us to do what it takes to make sure that we will one day enter into that kingdom reality.

The third parable of this gospel passage reveals yet another truth about the kingdom. The dragnet thrown into the sea is like the message of Jesus – it is flung far and wide and does not discriminate about where it falls or on whom it falls. This parable rounds out the chapter that began with the parable of the sower and the image of casting the net is a neat parallel to the indiscriminate casting of seed. It is not up to the one who casts the net, the seed or the Word. Rather it is up to each individual to determine how they will respond to receiving the Word.

(Gospel Reflection by Greg Sunter)