Jesus of Nazareth: What He Wanted, Who He Was

A fourth position says that this does not really grasp the parable of the treasure in the field either. The day laborer acquires his discovery by cunning, not to say fraud. He leaves the owner of the field in the dark about what he has found. He is thus one of those “immoral heroes” in Jesus’ parables, and what Jesus truly wants to bring to light here is that everything depends on a decisive seizing of the moment, an engagement that goes for broke, that quickly, recklessly, and with complete goal-directedness risks everything on one throw of the dice. The reign of God needs crooks like that.⁶ There is even a fifth position that interprets the double parable to say that the real point is the overflowing joy with which the two finders sell everything. There, and nowhere else, lies the accent, and both parables must be interpreted in terms of just that.⁷

Thus two relatively brief and simple parables can create so much controversy! We have to object to the five types of interpretation so briefly sketched here that they do not take the narrative structure of parables seriously. Despite all their brevity and conciseness, they tell stories. And it is essential to a story that one be carried along by it and then possibly see the world and oneself in a different light—or that one for the first time catches a glimpse of what the reign of God could be about. But that means we cannot focus with Aristotelian logic on a single point in the narrative. The story does have its own internal direction, and it is by no means arbitrary. But to grasp it one has to surrender oneself to the whole story, follow it step by step, and continually discover new aspects of it.

Obviously the treasure and the pearl are of incomparable value. Obviously the occasion is unique and will never return. Obviously in such a situation one must act decisively and go for broke. Obviously one must give everything to achieve the reign of God; only those who lose their life will gain it. This dread paradox is also apparent in our double parable, just as it appears again and again throughout Jesus’ whole proclamation.

And yet, all that is embedded in and must be read in light of the unimaginable joy with which the two treasure finders act. “In joy he goes” cannot be missed. In that, the fifth position is correct. The joy and fascination of the find are so great that they shape the whole event. The day laborer does not hesitate for a second, nor does the merchant. They are captivated by the brilliance of the treasure and the shimmer of the pearl. They have been seized by a joy that exceeds all measure. This does not exclude the fact that (as we see in the action of the day laborer) they act cleverly.

Jesus is here speaking a crucial truth, and what is so marvelous is that he does not formulate it as a theory but tells it as a story. To be so moved by God’s cause that one gives everything for its sake is not something one can ultimately do out of a bare awareness of duty, a “thou shalt!” or certainly “you must!” That we freely will what God wills is evidently possible only when we behold bodily the beauty of God’s cause, so that we take joy in and even lust after what God wants to do in the world, and so that this desire for God and God’s cause is greater than all our human self-centeredness.⁸

The merchant holds to the light the pearl he has finally found, and the day laborer buries his hands in the silver coins. For Jesus, the reign of God is palpable and visible. It does not exist merely within people, and it is not hidden somewhere beyond history. Even now it can be seen, grasped, acquired, taken in exchange. That is precisely why it fascinates people and moves them to change their whole lives for the sake of the new, without in the process losing their freedom. The brilliance and joy of the reign of God are ultimately the gravity that moves us and that again and again causes the grace of God to win out in this world.

Jesus’ Fundamental Choice

It seems to me that the parables of the treasure and the pearl represent a key with whose help we can understand Jesus himself more profoundly. Every really good text anyone speaks or writes is autobiographical to some degree. The same is true of this double parable. Here Jesus has told something of his own story and the basic choice in his life—perhaps entirely unconsciously, but perhaps deliberately, though with reticence and the most profound tact.