“Jesus’ many kingdom parables refer to surprise. When the great pearl is found, everything must be sold to gain it. When the treasure is uncovered in the field, all is sold to gain the one thing of importance (Matt 13:44-45). Thus things must be lost for other things to be gained. Luke’s story of the prodigal [son] (Luke 15) illustrates the principle well. Technically the younger son is alive in the far country living with Gentiles—but in reality he is ‘dead’. He is only ‘alive’ when he recognizes what he has done, repents, and returns to the father he originally offended. [And the son is forgiven by the father, enthusiastically forgiven!] Christians too readily view these parables as metaphors for ‘eternal life’. The found pearl includes this but it is more: It is the discovery of the ‘kingdom’, which Jesus sees as something we may encounter even now.”
The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible: I-Ma. Volume 3. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2008.
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