Again, the kingdom of Heaven is compared to a man, a merchant seeking excellent pearls; who finding one very precious pearl, going away has sold all things, as many as he had, and bought it. (Matthew 13:45-46)
Last time we looked at how the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. We saw that when we explore the Word to find truths and then use these to examine the quality of our thoughts and feelings, then the things that oppose the life of heaven are exposed for us to see. And so as the loves of being an independent and autonomous self are let go of, are sold, to be replaced with the heaven-sent loves that these truths embody, a new principle for life forms the kingdom of heaven within the mind. The parable that we are looking at here today has many similarities. Both have as their subject a man finding something precious and both carry the idea of having to sell all to acquire the one thing that we have found to be precious above everything else. These ideas of searching, of finding, of selling, and of acquiring, provide us with a basic pattern of the order and operation of the laws of spiritual life. First, of all, we must be in a search for higher things if we are to have any hope of finding real meaning for our lives based on what is eternal and lasting. Next, it is a spiritual law that the things which we find in this search will require something of us. It is not enough to know that there is treasure relating to spiritual life in the Word – we actually have to do something with this knowledge to make it our own. We have to sell what we have, that is, we have to give up our sense of ownership over our life through being willing to be led by the Lord through His Word. Then, and only then, can what is precious from an eternal perspective be given to us in the form of a new sense of self that founded on what is of the Word as the Lord.
There are also a few subtle differences between the two parables which are significant and which illustrate what’s involved in the shift from a state of finding treasure in a field to becoming a spiritual merchant. In the parable of the treasure hidden in the field we are dealing with something a little less defined and purposeful than what we find in the parable of the pearl of great price. For in the former we get a sense of surprise, of a man stumbling onto or discovering something whereas, in the latter we see a man engaged in a specific type of work and of one who knows exactly what he is searching for in his trading of pearls. We too, in our search for spiritual things, begin almost without really knowing what it is we are looking for. We seemingly stumble onto ideas and concepts that carry some kind of spiritual focus for us and are able to meet the needs that arise out of the specific states of life we are in. But as we progress, we grow more and more sensitive to what it is that will actually fulfil our inner longing and, more importantly, what it is we must do if the object of this deep longing is to be realised.
So we firstly learn how to work with the spiritual knowledge in our life that has been discovered in the field of the Word and as we do, we find that we are able to operate from principles that are grounded in our understanding of charity. But we become a merchant when we see that all that makes up our life and understanding of spiritual things is not really ours at all but belongs to the Lord. And that the pearls which we have thus far gathered can be used to acquire pearls of a higher quality and so of a greater value.
The Greek word for merchant is a compound word that literally means to be in-transition which spiritually points to the continual transitions which occur in our inner states of thought and life as our understanding of truth changes and develops. For part of the process and work in spiritual life involves coming to recognise those states within us that have a tendency towards emphasising truth at the expense of goodness or love. This can lead to becoming fixed or inflexible in what we regard to be true and is often characterised by a defensive attitude when confronted with ideas that are different to our own. This is why it’s important to realise that we are only ever in appearances of truth. That what we hold to today can and will change as we repeatedly look to apply what we understand to be true to our life. To be a good merchant then is to hold things lightly and to be watchful for states of struggle, when we see that our engagement with the Text is meeting an inner resistance, either as we read it or as we look to apply its truths in our daily activities and relationships with others.
We need to be ever aware that a merchant who becomes so emotionally attached to his goods that he is unable or unwilling to trade them, won’t be a very successful merchant. So when the Word shines its light into our life and shows us where we need to work on ourselves, we need to be prepared to sell all that we have. We must give up the ideas and rationalisations that we have used to justify our selfish behaviours and that we have used to affirm that the sense of self is an autonomous and independent being, essentially that it is to be the guiding authority in our life rather than what the Word teaches . Each time that we are able to let go and sell all that we have then the insights that the Word is then able to offer in its place will form a new way of seeing truths. This is how we acquire a new pearl which then becomes something that can support us in our spiritual journey. It also means that if we keep returning to the Word and working with it in this way then we will always have something to use, to trade, as a means of gaining even better quality pearls, that is, truths of a higher quality.
Now pearls, whilst not being precious stones, do have similar qualities. They are highly valued and they are also hard like stones and all stones in the Word correspond to truths or falsities depending on the context in which they are mentioned. We can get a sense of what kind of truths pearls correspond to from their use in the New Jerusalem or Holy City in the book of Revelation.
In Revelation 21:21 we read;
And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; respectively each one of the gates was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, as transparent glass.
The Holy City seen by John in his vision, descending from God out of heaven, is not a material city like those we find on earth. For it is John’s spiritual sight that has been opened which means that this vision is of spiritual and not natural things. The city is a symbol for inner realities and because it is seen to descend it represents the development of heavenly principles within the deeper levels of our minds, making their way down into its lower levels as the basis for life. By the city descending we have illustration of the progressive influence that these principles are able to exert over the lower reaches of our minds as we open ourselves up to the Lord’s Word. We need to remember that everything that descends from out of heaven must be related to inner things, so from our perspective, this city represents the heavenly organisation of those things in our minds that constitute the kingdom of heaven within us. Such things are heavenly affections and their truths; these kinds of things are provided for us through the Word. When the mind is organised in the pattern of heaven it becomes a spiritual city in which the Lord can dwell.
This descent of the city then is the descent of the kingdom or rule of heaven into life and our interest is in the gates into this city for they are constructed of pearl. The gates of a city are what a person first passes through in order to gain access to it. So pearl being connected with the gates here must mean that this substance is connected with what introduces a person into the kingdom of heaven – which are truths. Truths provide us with an understanding of what the kingdom of heaven is, and what is required of us if a new mind is to be formed within us which can house the things of heaven.
Notice that the gates of this city are made from a single pearl, this is because this pearl is the pearl of great price. So it is indicating that there is one truth that binds all others into a single great pearl and forms the entrance into heaven, or the interior sense of the Word. When this truth is found, when its value is truly realised, it makes all our self derived precious ideas, concepts, opinions and views become as dust. If it is found, its value is such that we would find ourselves giving up our petty self importance to ensure that its value is realised in our life. What is this pearl? It is the one teaching that sits at the heart of the new Church or new heavenly mind, for this is what a Church is, and it is that the Lord’s Human or the Word is Divine – even down to the letter itself. For the literal sense of the Word, with its apparent imperfections, can be recognised as Divine when it is seen to be what supports and contains the interior meaning. It is the Lord’s flesh and bones, or His Human in ultimates, and because it is such, the Lord is within it in all His fulness and glory.
However, the living acknowledgement of this truth for us is a gradual and continual cyclic process as the shifting of where our sense of self lies cannot be done in a moment. So we move in and out of trading pearls, learning new things, giving up old ways of seeing and finding more pearls. We are like a merchant, ever searching for the one great pearl and then when we find it, it make all others pale in comparison. In those states of acknowledgment of the Word as the presence of the Lord in our life we are willing to sell all that we have so that we might pass through the gate into the kingdom of heaven.
“Again, the kingdom of Heaven is compared to a man, a merchant seeking excellent pearls; who finding one very precious pearl, going away has sold all things, as many as he had, and bought it.”
Reference
I have …been told that not only the palaces and the homes but all the little things within and outside them correspond to the deeper qualities that [angels] receive from the Lord. In general terms, their houses correspond to the good that occupies them and the items within their houses to the various things that constitute that good. The items that are outside the homes refer to true things that derive from the good, and also to experiences of perception and recognition. Since these correspond to the good and true things they receive from the Lord, they correspond to their love and therefore to their wisdom and intelligence, because love is a matter of what is good, wisdom of what is both good and true, and intelligence of truth that stems from the good. This, they tell me, is the sort of thing angels perceive when they look at their houses; and this is why these sights delight and move their minds more than their eyes. So I could see why the Lord calls himself the temple that is in Jerusalem ( John 2:19, 21). I could also see why the New Jerusalem appeared as a city of pure gold, with gates of pearl and foundations of precious gems (Revelation 21): it is because a temple offers an image of the Lord’s divine human; the New Jerusalem refers to the church that was going to be founded; and the twelve gates are the truths that lead to what is good, and the foundations are the truths on which it is based. (Heaven and Hell 187)