THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST: THE PARABLE OF THE PEARL

Pearl of Great Price

Jesus compares the journey to heaven to a search for fine pearls conducted by a merchant, "The Father's kingdom is like a merchant who had a supply of merchandise and found a pearl. That merchant was prudent; he sold the merchandise and bought the single pearl for himself. So also with you, seek his treasure that is unfailing, that is enduring, where no moth comes to eat and no worm destroys." Matthew 13:45-46

What Christ refers to in this parable, is the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom means everything – God Himself and all that I could ever possibly hunger for as well. How about you, do you hunger for the kingdom? How Vulnerable is Your Life?

The expression of The Pearl has come to mean anything that is very valuable. Of course the difficulty about searching for Great Pearls is that they are merely found among many counterfeit pearls, and various pearls of less significant value. More than the “needle in the haystack” – it’s finding a pearl among pearls – even if all pearls are not alike.

It’s interesting that in my research on this topic of The Pearl, on more than one occasion, I came across the story of The Scarlet Letter. Have you read it? If you haven’t, you might want to get a copy or even rent the DVD.

Hester Prynne, in The Scarlet Letter, who gave birth to a daughter following an act of adultery that destroyed her honor, named the child Pearl, because she had given up all that she had in bearing the child. Don’t get excited yet; that is a whole new topic of discussion that we will get to at another time. I promise. For now, how about we look at two points of interest in the story.

Distinctiveness and Culture

The scarlet letter was Hester’s passport into territories where other women dared not to tread…even today. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers—stern and wild ones—and BUT had made her strong, but taught her much incorrectly.

After Hester is publicly shamed and forced by the people of Boston to wear a badge of humiliation […he who is without sin throw the first stone], [hmmm, my mind went right to that scripture] her unwillingness to leave the town may seem puzzling. She is not bodily imprisoned, and leaving the Massachusetts Bay Colony would have allowed her to remove the scarlet letter and resume a normal life. To my surprise, Hester reacts with dismay when one of the characters, Chillingworth, tells her that the town fathers are considering letting her remove the letter. Hester’s behavior is based on her desire to determine her own identity rather than to allow others to determine it for her. HALLELUJAH!

We are NOT who society labels us as. We are who God destined us to be! Further, we are not who society calls us, but who/what we answer to. To her (Hester), running away or removing the letter would be an acknowledgment of society’s power over her: she would be admitting that the letter is a mark of shame and something from which she desires to escape. Instead, Hester stays, refiguring the scarlet letter as a symbol of her own experiences and character. Her past sin is a part of which she is; to pretend that it never happened would mean denying a part of herself. Thus, Hester very determinedly integrates her sin into her life.

The parable of the ‘pearl of great price’ may even have a double meaning. Think for a moment on this thought; what if the Holy Spirit convicted us to question not about what we gave up, but about what God gave up, for us? What if it was Jesus searching and paying everything for us, rather than my searching for God? Now, I make no claim to being a pastor; a prophet; a preacher; or a theologian, I am just a servant of the Lord who is seeking the priceless pearl_The Kingdom of God. In doing so, I am obedient to my destiny of teaching scripture of stage as the Holy Spirit leads me.

The child, Pearl

Although Pearl is a complex character, her principal function within the novel is as a symbol. Originally intended to mark Hester as an adulterer, the “A” eventually comes to stand for “Able.” Scripture teaches What man intended for eternal shame, GOD “turned” it around for good? Hallelujah! Pearl is a type of living version of her mother’s scarlet letter. The novel wants us to see her as the physical consequence of sexual sin and the display of a transgression. Yet, even as a reminder of Hester’s “sin,” Pearl is more than a mere punishment to her mother: she is also a blessing. She represents not only “sin” but also the vital spirit and passion that engendered that sin. Thus, Pearl’s existence gives her mother reason to live, bolstering her spirits when she is tempted to give up. It is only after Dimmesdale is revealed to be Pearl’s father that Pearl can become fully “human.” Until then, she functions in a symbolic capacity as the reminder of an unsolved mystery.

The Apostles were merchants in search of fine pearls, and they gave up all they had. They did not think that the pearl was intangible or to be found just anywhere or with everyone’s definition of pearls in operation.

The simple fact is that they believed this pearl to be nothing other than the Kingdom of God, manifested in the life of the Church. For this they suffered the loss of all things and purchased the pearl with the price of their blood.

Wouldn’t you agree that if we were to focus less on society; the world; other people’s thoughts and opinions, and concern ourselves of what God thinks of us, we’d be a better people, a better world, a better nation, and a better church? I tend to think so. But it’s hard if we try to do it alone. Jesus said, “Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.

Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect”. The Puritans of Hester’s time were a society who lived by strict moral or religious codes, but just as He was then, and is today, a God who forgives, let’s hold to the wonder of it all _ that the One Pearl can be had by so many.