THE HIDDEN TREASURE

The Hidden Treasure
Once, there was an old man who had four sons. All four of them were very lazy.

One day, the old man fell sick and was counting his last days in bed. He worried a lot about his sons’ future as the young men hesitated a lot to work. The sons believed that luck would favour them.

The old man’s health deteriorated every day and he decided to talk to his sons about their future. However, his sons did not listen to him.

Finally, the old man decided to play a trick to let his sons realize the importance of work. He called all his sons and let them sit near him on his bed. He said that he had a treasure box with gold coins and expensive gems for them and wanted to share the treasure equally among the four of them.

The young men were very happy and asked where his father had placed the treasure. The old man replied, “I cannot exactly remember the place where I have hidden the treasure. However, the treasure box is buried in our land. I’m really not sure about the place where I have hidden the treasure box.”

Even though the lazy young sons were happy, they were sad that the old man had forgotten the place where the treasure was hidden. After a few days, the old man died. The sons decided to dig the land to find the treasure box.

They worked very hard and dug their land. They could not find any treasure box in the land. Finally, they decided to dig a spot in their land that was a bit different from the rest of the area. The sons believed that the treasure was buried in that spot. They dug the specific spot deeply, but got nothing but water.

A passerby who noticed the land and the water flowing from the spot talked to the sons about farming. Upon his advice, the four sons sowed vegetable seeds, and planted greens and flowering plants in their land. Since the land was very fertile with abundant water, within a few weeks, it became a fertile garden with nutritious vegetables and greens. The four sons sold the vegetables at a good price and earned a good amount of money.

Then they realized that it was hard work that was referred to as ‘Treasure Box’ by their father. Gradually, the four sons overcame their laziness, worked hard, earned more money and lived happily.

Hard Work Always Pays.

The brief parable of the hidden treasure is as follows:

"Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found, and hid. In his joy, he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field."

— Matthew 13:44, World English Bible

The setting here presupposes that someone has buried a treasure and later died. The current owner of the field is unaware of its existence. The finder, perhaps a farm labourer, is entitled to it, but is unable to conveniently extract it unless he buys the field.[1] For a peasant, such a discovery of treasure represented the "ultimate dream

Interpretation

This parable is generally interpreted as illustrating the great value of the Kingdom of Heaven, and thus has a similar theme to the parable of the pearl. John Nolland comments that the good fortune reflected in the "finding" reflects a "special privilege,"[1] and a source of joy, but also reflects a challenge,[1] just as the man in the parable gives up all that he has, in order to lay claim to the greater treasure he has found.

John Calvin writes of this parable:

The first two of these parables are intended to instruct believers to prefer the Kingdom of heaven to the whole world, and therefore to deny themselves and all the desires of the flesh, that nothing may prevent them from obtaining so valuable a possession. We are greatly in need of such a warning; for we are so captivated by the allurements of the world, that eternal life fades from our view; and in consequence of our carnality, the spiritual graces of God are far from being held by us in the estimation which they deserve.[3]

The hidden nature of the treasure may indicate that the Kingdom of Heaven "is not yet revealed to everyone."[4]

However, other interpretations of the parable exist, in which the treasure represents Israel or the Church.[5]In St. Thomas Aquinas' Catena Aurea, he compiles the comments of some of the Church Fathers on this passage,[6] who point out that like the treasure hidden in the field, the Gospel comes without cost, and is open to all - but to truly possess heavenly riches, one must be willing to give up the world to buy it. The Fathers also identify that the field in which the treasure is hidden is the discipline of Heavenly learning:

[...] this, when a man finds, he hides, in order that he may preserve it; for zeal and affections heavenward it is not enough the we protect from evil spirits, if we do not protect from human praises. For in this present life we are in the war which leads to our country, and evil spirits as robbers beset us in our journey. Those therefore who carry their treasure openly, they seek to plunder in the way. When I say this; I do not mean that our neighbors should not see our works, but that in what we do, we should not seek praise from without. The kingdom of heaven is therefore compared to things of earth, that the mind may rise from things familiar to things unknown, and may learn to love the unknown by that which it knows is loved when known It follows, And for joy thereof he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field. He it is that sells all he, has and buys the field, who, renouncing fleshly delights tramples upon all his worldly desires in his anxiety for the heavenly discipline.

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