Some time ago I asked the Holy Spirit to teach me something new about the words of Jesus, for he always said so wise things. Straight after that, a familiar Bible passage came to my mind: The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found, and hid.

Suddenly there was a picture before the eyes of my soul. A golden field of wheat was waving in the breeze. As I was looking at the field I felt the Holy Spirit saying: "The treasure is in the field itself, in the crop. The treasure is not hidden or buried in the ground, as it is often thought of. The treasure of the field is the good wheat which grows together with the darnel weeds. The word 'hide' in the paragraph means to withhold, to not tell anyone."

I got excited and took my Bible. I found the parable of the treasure field, and Markku and I started to look at the original New Testament text. We discovered that the Greek word which is usually translated 'hide' or even 'bury in the ground' can well be translated 'withhold' or 'conceal'.

So, in the parable, the man saw the good crop in the field and decided not to tell anyone about it, for he considered it so precious. Then he went and sold everything he had, and purchased the whole field. And that's exactly what Jesus did: on the cross he gave his life for all mankind — the whole field — to receive and save those who believe in Him.

- Johanna Sarento