Matthew is writing his gospel between 80 and 90 ad. His listeners would not have known Jesus in the flesh. Jesus had been crucified 50 years before this. The parables of recent weeks have all been taken from Chapter 13 of Matthew’s gospel. There are 8 parables and two explanations in Chapter 13. In Matthew’s gospel, there are 28 chapters, so these parables form the central fulcrum or turning point. It is a great turning point in another sense too: it is the point at which Jesus turns from the Jews and turns to his disciples. In the scriptures, parables, or riddles, are reserved for outsiders. To the insider or to the disciple, he will speak plainly. In fact in this particular chapter, the disciples have already noticed the distinction and they ask him: “Why do you speak to them (the Jewish leaders) in parables?” He answers, “Because to you is granted to understand the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. But to them it is not granted. They look without seeing; they listen without hearing or understanding.” In condemnation he quotes chapter 6 of the Book of Isaiah. Actually one of his disciples makes this precise point: “Master, now you speak plainly; you no longer speak in parables.”

After chapter 13, the Jesus presented in Matthews gospel gives up on the Jews, or at least the Pharisaic leaders. They didn’t recognise the pearl he was offering for what it was; though he pointed to the treasure hidden in the field, they walked away and left it buried there. As far as Matthew is concerned, God has already given his judgement on Israel. Matthew is writing 10 years after the destruction of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem by the Roman authorities. From Matthew’s point of view, this signified the wrath of God, the judgement of God on the nation of Israel. But Matthew is not anti-Semitic or anti-Jewish in our later understanding of that phenomenon. Matthew reflects the relationship that existed in his day between the Pharisaic Judaism and the young Church. The relationship was one of great animosity and mutual hostility. The leaders of this group are radically closed to the message of Jesus. But as far as Matthew is concerned, the Jews in general may still be evangelised and he continues to address the gospel to them. It is their leaders who are hopelessly closed to the message of Jesus. They walked by the hidden treasure.

All groups and organisations like to come up with a saying or a phrase that will sum up and express their aims and objects in life. For example, the phrase `you are what you eat' sums up the philosophy of the more rigorous dieticians abroad in today's world. The phrase aims to propagate a lifestyle rather than to convey reality. The scriptures are full of phrases and sayings that function on a similar level. Another part of Matthew’s gospel makes explicit the connection between treasure and lifestyle. `Where your treasure is, there too will your heart be.' This sums up neatly the formative influence that values can -or rather should- have on our lives. Put in vegetarian terms, we are what we value. Lifestyles can be literally transformed by a change in one's value system, buy the discovery of the treasure. I suppose this is seen most clearly when a couple become parents for the first time. They have discovered a treasure that will turn their world and their lifestyle upside down. They are changed irrevocably by the new reality. Nothing will ever look quite as it did before: dangerous driving, prospects of global warming, environmental pollution now attain a newfound focus. On the one hand, the focus becomes longer. The future, bounded before by their own expected life-span, now embraces the life-span of this new child. Not just a way of thinking but a whole life-style has to be altered in the face of this newfound treasure. Matthew expected his community to react in a similar fashion to the discovery of the gospel seed. Christianity demands a similar transformation in the lives of its followers. We are constantly invited to scan the field again in search of the hidden treasure, called upon to re-examine our values and to readjust our lifestyles accordingly. There will always be a gap between the ideal and the reality. The forgiveness of God is the bridge between them.

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