Parable no. 5 (v. 44), the hidden treasure found in the field, is a metaphor for the people in the world in whom Christ establishes His kingdom. In order to possess them, He gave His own life. He hides this treasure, God's redeemed saints, in the world until He redeems or purchases the whole world when He will come again to liberate not only the believer within the world but the world itself (Rom. 8:19-26; Rev. 21).
Parable no. 6 (vv, 45-46) is similar to the fifth parable, with the pearl symbolizing the sinner. The pearl at its heart is a grain of hard and lifeless sand, even as the sinner is dead in his sins and trespasses.
But when the sand comes in touch with the living organism, the oyster, the sand becomes transformed into a pearl. As a result of this contact, it becomes a thing of exquisite beauty and precious indeed.
Thus, the precious pearls in the world are the sinners who, because of having become absorbed into the Spiritual Body of Jesus Christ, have become His kingdom (Rev. 1:6). For this to be accomplished, Jesus Christ had to sacrifice His own life, but He arose from the dead to be forever the living organism in whom we dwell.
The hair splitters out there might argue that the oyster is simply responding to an irritant by covering that irritating particle with the same type of exquisite Calcium Carbonate (i.e. mother of pearl) that said oyster uses to build its own shell, as these bivalves are DNA programmed to do.
A pearl is created in the mantle of a mollusk when an irritant particle is surrounded by layers of nacre. Although most bivalves can create pearls, oysters in the family Pteriidae and freshwater mussels in the families Unionidae and Margaritiferidae are the main source of commercially available pearls because the calcareous concretions produced by most other species have no lustre.
As a result of the oyster's biological immunological response, a pearl is formed. Also, the irritating particle is not necessarily a grain of sand, as oysters often simply push most grains of sand out of their shell.
True, the oyster is certainly not celebrating the presence of an irritant, but the point is that something of exquisite value is formed from something lacking value.
Furthermore, the fact is that an irritating particle (most naturally-occuring pearls are formed around a
tenacious parasite) is an appropriate metaphor for a
sinner. The
parasite's modus vivendi is an appropriate analogy for
evil caused spiritual death, even more so than the lifeless grain of sand. As the parasite is encased, it dies and a beautiful pearl replaces it.
In addition, the shell that protects the pearl as it is being formed is an excellent analogy for Christ's protection while we grow spiritually. Also, the fact that pearls are only produced by oysters in unpolluted, pristine water is analogous to spiritual protection beyond the shell itself.
Finally, the oyster, because it suffers to produce that pearl, is an appropriate symbol of Christ's suffering to redeem us from evil.
So, though all metaphors and analogies have their limits, the parables of the buried treasure and the pearl evidence the boundless love and compassion that Christ has for us in suffering for us and in caring for us while we grow spiritually (by hiding us to protect us from spiritual harm).
Continued tomorrow: