"Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found, and hid. In his joy, he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field."

(Matthew 13:44)

Secret Treasure

Some time ago, I asked the Holy Spirit to teach me something new about the words of Jesus, for he always said such wise things. Immediately, 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, I saw a field of golden wheat waving in the breeze. As I was looking at it, 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 'withholding', 'not telling anyone'."

I got excited and took my Bible. I found the parable of the treasure field, and Markku and I started to look into the Greek New Testament. We discovered that the word, usually translated as 'hide' or even 'bury in the ground', can quite well be translated as '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 precisely what Jesus did: on the cross, he gave his life for all mankind — the entire field — to receive and save those who believe in Him.

- Johanna Sarento