Just as Israel is God’s treasure, so the church, the bride of Christ, is the ‘one pearl of great price’, lit. ‘one very precious pearl’. The merchantman, the Lord Jesus, came seeking it and, when He had found it, went and sold all that He had to acquire it. The church of God is Christ’s ‘purchased possession’, Eph. 1. 14; its purchase price, ‘his own blood’, Acts 20. 28.
The pearl is a particularly apposite figure of the church:
- Every pearl is a unity, complete in itself. It cannot be divided without destroying it. Likewise, ‘There is one body’, Eph. 4. 4.
- Pearl, unique amongst jewels, is the product of a living organism. An irritant grain of sand in the sensitive flesh of an oyster provokes inflammation and the formation in layers of mother of pearl. Out of pain, beauty is born. Just as Eve emerged from Adam’s wounded side, so the church is the product of the Saviour’s suffering and ‘sleep’. The tiny silicate grain becomes enveloped with a loveliness not its own. Likewise, we are clothed with the comeliness of Christ.
- It is formed in the deep. Oysters are scavengers of the oceans and estuaries. Sinners, likewise, are dredged from the mire and filth of sin and shame.
- A pearl develops slowly. So the church has been forming for almost twenty centuries.
- ‘Pearl’ is derived from a Sanskrit word meaning pure. A perfect pearl is absolutely spherical, pure white, lustrous, slightly transparent, but free from speck or blemish. When light shines upon it, it reflects the colours of the rainbow. So Christ’s bride will be ‘a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle … but.. without blemish’, Eph. 5. 27. This gem of lowly, murky origin is destined to adorn the Saviour’s crown. ‘We (vile sinners!) shall appear with Him in glory’. ‘Oh what love the Father bore us! Oh, how precious in thy sight!’ J. G. Deck.
The parables of the pearl and treasure teach us that the ‘kingdom of the heavens’ is dear to the Lord’s heart, necessitating His infinite sacrifice. We should copy His example. It was ‘while men slept’ that the enemy planted tares. Like Him, we too, should be marked by sacrifice, not sloth.
