Theology of Nuance; Struggling with God and Man and Overcoming

Mt 19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. 22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.23 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. 24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
Is he eternally lost?

Did he die in his sins?

Many folks will tell me that this fellow is lost.
Many folks will say that Jesus has condemned all rich people.
But, I differ fundamentally with the faulty hermeneutics used to put this stake through the souls of so many people.
Look again, at the the passage about the Rich young ruler. Verse 22 says that he went away sorrowful or “sad” because he had great wealth.

Is he sad because he’s rich?
This is not the typical response to having great wealth. Is it?

‘John Doe wins the multi-million dollar lotto, so he goes away sad because he has excessive wealth.’
You just don’t hear this.
My take on this passage is that, the rich man recognizes his deep Spiritual need. In-fact this exchange is the same in all of the synoptic gospel accounts. The man asks Jesus what “he” personally, must do to have eternal life. So, the fellow has a recognition of his need.

Consider this in the context of Mt 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The young ruler meets this criterion by simply asking the question of Jesus.

Look further, Mt 5:4. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” The young ruler meets this criterion by going away “sad”. He was not sad because he was rich, but rather, because he knew that there was “one thing” that was coming between himself and God.

Jesus has good news for people who are able to recognize such a sad personal state of affairs, “They will be comforted.”

Look at Mt 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” This young man appears to be getting a lot of good news (gospel) from Christ. The rich man clearly, has a deep hunger and thirst for righteousness, because after Jesus tells him a list of things, which he had followed “religiously” the young man didn’t celebrate and hoop-it-up, but instead he recognized he was still lacking something.

This issue could be expanded further by talking about the impossibility of any rich man’s salvation…on his own merits, versus any rich man’s salvation on God’s merits. But, I am hoping you are getting the idea by now, that this young man met Jesus’ stated criteria for being blessed in Mt 5.

Okay, if you still follow me on this. And if you too have felt “sad” that you have not achieved God’s level of excellence, then I am also hoping that you might recognize that your very deep and earnest desire for perfection is the exact same thing to Christ from Mt 5. If you didn’t care, then there would be a problem. But, that’s not the case. The only thing lacking for you, is the answer to yourself of some important questions:

1. Just How Powerful is this Jesus?
2. Is he really able to forgive anything?
3. Can he heal me, personally, for any & all faults?
4. Can He create, in me, a holy and sanctified soul? Despite my failings.

God bless,
DSM

My kids are currently obsessed with the animated movie Robots. If you are familiar with the story I will be brief with my summary.

The lead character, Rodney, grows up at his father’s knee, being encouraged to “follow your dream”. Through the ensuing story we learn that the father had not been so encouraged as a young robot, and therefore, he had compromised his skills and talents to utilitarian expediencies of supporting his wife and son.
The story is generally good and it is very encouraging to young kids.

However, the underlying point that must be taken for granted, is that people will have a clearly defined “dream” or “vision” for their service to their fellow ‘bots’, and by implication to the Creator.
This assumption is not true for most humans; maybe it is different for Robots.

Please consider the following.

When an engineer creates a machine or tool, the tool will reflect a clearly defined “design intent”, this physical appearance will reveal for what the tool is supposed to be used.
For example, an archeologist can easily discern designed intent for an unearthed cup, the same is true for a hand saw or a ladle or spoon.

But, how, specifically, does an individual human reflect the Creator’s design intent?
Any answers?

We are talking about a spiritual element of the Human creation, therefore, any attempts to look for the equivilent of a coffee mug’s handle or a saw blades teeth, simply won’t work.

Robots is a cute movie, but our physical lives as homo-sapiens does not so easily reveal God’s will or “vision/dream” function.
Therefore, the overarching role, which we are to play in God’s scheme, must always be subjectively discerned, so long as God refuses to reveal specific details to us directly, e.g. by speaking via burning bushes or by speaking from bright lights that surround us.

It is always the case that people look for signs of God’s plan for us, personally or individually. And it is from the various signs we see, that we will be shaken to the core periodically, because we attempt to apply our interpretation of events to God’s eternal plan.

So here is an all too common scenario…;

I have a “vision” of God’s purpose for me. My interpretation of “God’s Plan” for me is confirmed by subsequent anecdotal evidence. Yet the dream suddenly becomes a “nightmare” and God’s purpose, which had been so clearly perceived just moments before, now becomes apparent chaos, and leaves me attempting to make new order out of the fragmentation of my vision.

Humans are utterly blind to the Father’s specific and detailed plans for each individual self. I am walking blindly into the future. I sometimes bump into walls of chaos, pain and confusion; and sometimes I slip comfortably down corridors of peace, pleasure and tranquility. Yet, neither the chaos nor the tranquility reveals anything about my true and detailed mission as an individual.

Jesus Christ said that many details are only known by the Father (Mark 13:32). So all the conjecture about detailed “vision” of my purpose will only create faith struggles when a new ‘wall of chaos’ jumps out of my future and smacks me squarely in the middle of my“dream”.
The scriptures tell us the beginning of the story is “Here” and the end of the story is “There”, but only this one thing matters, between the “Here and There”; TRUST God the Father through the valley of the shadow of death. He will see you safely through to the other side, PERIOD

Good advice is good advice, but so far as I can tell my purpose is to get a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk and to glorify Jesus to whomever I meet along the way.

What I am attempting to say, is that I need not know the Father’s detailed and specific will for my life.

I have not read The Purpose Driven Life by Dr. Rick Warren, so I am not commenting on his view per se. But rather, I am saying that our “Purpose” is a simple one that does not require that we find some new and innovative way to discern the will of the Father, e.g. high powered tea leaves for divining God’s mind.

We can pick-up trash laying on the ground at the filling station, while we fill up our automobile, and in so doing bring high honor to Jesus. Its just that simple. Anytime we humble ourselves in service to someone else, we have fulfilled our Purpose.
Nothing here, in my opinion, requires more ‘how to’ books by T.D. Jakes, Joel Olstien, Dr. Joyce Meyers or ________ _____ (fill-in the blank).
Just study the life of Christ and His early disciples and then put into practice what you find, voilà you have fulfilled God’s vision and His will.

Knowledge has value.

However, being tempted by the desire to possess knowledge of God’s will & purpose is a trap for me.

I have already been snared by the devil’s scheme. This trap is the same pitfall that captured the hearts of Adam & Eve.

Remember that episode; the serpent tells us to partake of the fruit of knowledge and then we can be like God, by knowing His will.
Being aware of the Father’s detailed plans is irrelevant; it is enough for me to know that God has given His Word to me and for me.

So, in the here and now, I must trust.

It’s not so romantic to think that God’s will is for me to pick up garbage beside a gas pump.
I’d rather dream about having some grand and noble purpose that will set me in a spotlight of creative history, but that is simply not God’s way.

If I want to fulfill my mission and purpose I must set aside those carnal desires for greatness in “my vision”, and instead become humble like the Lord.

And by the way, this doesn’t mean that I have to like the Father’s plan either. Take note that Jesus Christ, the very Son of God and Creator, prayed “let this cup pass from me”, which necessarily implies, that even the Son of God didn’t like the Fathers plan.

My purpose is not discernable.

That is my conclusion of the matter.

God bless,

DSM

I am eager to provide this analysis, because it helps to solidify my understanding on these issues. To explain these things as you (Matt) have asked is a real blessing to me. I deeply appreciate the questions that you asked last fall. I keep these things in my mind and try to work through my understanding as I go about my day’s activities, and that is one reason it takes me some time to respond. I feel these things in my soul.
The Trinity issue is extremely important for disciples of Jesus to understand. I am afraid that too many believers in Jesus’ divinity, don’t understand what exactly, they believe. It is daunting to sit down with a Muslim, who is vehemently monotheistic, and explain how One God equates to a Father, Holy Spirit, and Son. The confusion for the Muslim is usually magnified by the power of three, in the disciple of Christ.

The nature of the three individuals of God, also explains another issue for which most Christians are uncomfortable in discussing.

The fact that God can forgive ANY sin is Amazing. It is Amazing Grace, to be precise.

Christ can transform men and women in miraculous ways.

Yet, Jesus tells us in Mark 3:28-29, “I assure you that any sin can be forgiven, including blasphemy; but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. It is an eternal sin.”

Let me say it…, Nuance & Paradox of God. I am advocating a Theology of Nuance.
God can forgive any sin and blasphemy except blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.
There are NO “hard and fast rules” with God.
Innocence is not determined by strictly following God’s Law and guilt is not determined by “technically” breaking God’s Law (Mt 5:27-30 & Mt 12:1-14). We are disciples of a God who demands a very loose Theology of Nuance.

I want to explain how my understanding of the individual character functions for the Trinity, will shed light on the Father’s inability to forgive blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Look below at the description for how the Father, Son and Holy Spirit function. I had this in the post of March 19, 2007.

1. The Father is executive. He is the planner. He sets the vision. His will be done. He administrates the purpose. He is the Captain of the ship. He is the General of the Army.
2. The Son is the labor. He is the active. He fulfills the vision. He completes the will of the executive. He is the XO for the Captain of Ship. He is the Cavalry and Infantry and Armor of the Army.
3. The Holy Spirit is the material supply chain. He produces & provides the power. He is the materiel supply line. He delivers the fuel to the Armor. He delivers ammunition to the Infantry. He provides counsel and support to the wounded. He is the Navy Corpsman & Army Combat Field Medic.

Now let me make a point from carnal brutality and violence of war. In war, Navy Corpsman & Army Combat Field Medics, will always have insignia on their helmets and arms, indicating their role and position in the battle. They are never supposed to be targeted by combat personnel, nor are they ever supposed to be exploited for combat purposes. It is an “unforgivable” sin to target non-combatant medical personnel. It is also an “unpardonable” sin to use them, hospitals, and ambulances for combat functions. This is in our human psyche. We feel it in our bones. It makes emotional sense, even while we cannot explain it rationally.
This is from God.
This is the design of our Creator.

The Holy Spirit is utterly defenseless in our spiritual battle with the demons and our adversary, Satan.
Just as when the Navy Corpsman steps onto the battle field where mortars are going off just a few meters away, he does not take up a rifle, because he has a nobler calling. So long as he is in an ambulance with a bright Red Cross, he is without protection. So long as he has a bright Red Cross on his helmet and arm band, he is acting as the symbolic equivalent God’s Holy Spirit.
When you take aim on the Army Combat Field Medic, you are shooting at the symbolic representation of He, who is the “Breath of Life” in the nostrils’ of “Adam”, i.e. Humankind. Genesis 2:7

• “And the Lord God formed a man’s body from the dust of the ground and breathed into it the breath of life. And the man became a living person.”

What do you have…, if you take aim at the very “breath of life”? Your heart is beyond repair.

God bless,
DSM

(Part Two)

The family, and how it is a symbol for the unity of God.
There is so very much in this thesis.
If…, this is true, it could help us to understand why the family is threatened by so many temptations.

Consider just a few things that the world can offer us to break the husband’s unity with his wife.

• workaholic/careers threaten it
• pornography threatens it
• blogging threatens it
• infidelity threatens it
• Sports and Recreation threatens it
• Alcohol and chemical dependency threatens it
• Motorcycles threaten it
• Hotrod cars threaten it
• Anything that we can imagine threatens the unity of the Wife and Husband

As a symbol, Satan might see the family as a physical representation of God’s nature.
Therefore, when Satan succeeds in breaking the unity of families, he might view this as a victory over his enemy, God.
It explains Jesus’ words against divorce in Matthew 19

• ·3 Some Pharisees came and tried to trap him with this question: “Should a man be allowed to divorce his wife for any reason?”
• ·4 “Haven’t you read the Scriptures?” Jesus replied. “They record that from the beginning ‘God made them male and female.’
• ·5 And he said, ‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’
• ·6 Since they are no longer two but one, let no one separate them, for God has joined them together.”

Note that Jesus does, in-fact, make use of the same language that is recorded in Deuteronomy 6 about Yahweh being One.

This passage in Deuteronomy is difficult for many Christians to understand or explain. But, in the context of a family, we may see a clearer picture of what the Lord intended by the statement found in this Old Testament passage. Look again, and compare/contrast the wording from the old 1901 American Standard Version to the King James Version.

• ·4Hear, O Israel: Jehovah our God is one Jehovah: ASV
• ·4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: KJV

ASV is a more accurate interpretation of the Hebrew text. The name “Jehovah” that is used by the American Standard Version is carried over from the original German translation, instead of spelling it phonetically.

Therefore, just as the spelled name “John” in Dutch or German is pronounced “Yon” and “William” is pronounced “Villhelm”, we see why Jehovah could alternately be pronounced “Yahweh”. With these differences understood, the ASV is far more accurate in showing that ‘Yahweh is one Yahweh’ or ‘Jehovah is one Jehovah’.

There are three individuals (Holy Spirit, Father, and Son) but only One Yahweh.
The Family of Yahweh may be the most simple way to understand & explain the nature of God.

As an analogy, we might consider personal examples of very strong, even “unified” families. If one is insulted then all are insulted. If you honor one family member then all are honored.

My wife often teaches a weekly Ladies Bible class, people will approach me at worship and tell me how “wonderful” and “inspiring” she is to them. This is an honor to me. I feel 10′ tall, when people tell me about Molly’s gift and the encouragement that she is to them. Molly is an extension of David, therefore I am being complimented, when I receive praise for my wife.

This is not so difficult for us to understand. How many mothers & fathers will beam with pride, as they see their son throw a game-winning touchdown pass or hear their daughter play a flawless piano recital.

We, as parents, know that when our daughters and sons are recognized for special honor, we ourselves are honored.

The underlying Unity between the wife-mother, husband-father, & son/daughter is present in the Trinity. When we accept God’s Holy Spirit, offered by Jesus Christ, we obtain the power to overcome the devil’s scheme to break up the unity of family.

We must accept our role in the symbol of Marriage & Family, however, because when we accept this mission, we have the unique position of fighting the devil on God’s terms, i.e. the terms of Holy Unity, instead of fighting him on his terms, i.e. self-gratification (a.k.a. pride).

*_____*

Back to the scenario that I laid out in my preceding post, concerning God’s creation plan and Satan’s diabolical scheme, it involves some supposition from scripture and from life experiences.

I may be wrong or right.

But, one key debate that I faced was not addressed in the comments to the post. The issue was about Satan’s creation timing. The common supposition is always that Satan was created at the same time that the physical universe was created. But, this cannot be supported by scripture. It is not mentioned, when the devil was created.

The typical texts from Isaiah or Ezekiel or Revelation do not state anything about Satan’s origination. But, since no one has mentioned these passages I won’t go into them now.

But, if I am wrong please show my error, by writing and posting.

Nevertheless, the creation described in Genesis 1 and 2 is a physical creation of the Cosmos. And we needn’t presume that all spiritual beings were created at the same time as the physical Cosmos.

Furthermore, I might point out that the use of the term “time” is utterly useless prior to the physical Cosmos, because time is inextricably linked with space and matter, which are not spiritual, but rather, are carnal.

I will pick-up again later. The time is late for a physical being such as I am.

(TO BE CONTINUED)

God Bless,

DSM

There have been some issues, about which I have written, in many small snigglet-sized thoughts, through many of my essays, but have never addressed directly.
The nature of the family is one such issue.

All human cultures have at their basic civil organization (a.k.a civilization), the family.

The “family” is, in my opinion, the government of humankind, in its most elemental form, and is designed to be so, by the Creator.
God has imbued the institution of “family” with His holy nature of union.

I am convinced that the family is a holy & symbolic representation of the relationship, which exists in Yahweh our God. You may recall that I have written about this in other essays in the past.

While many disciples are reticent to say this, my wife among them, I am comfortable in saying the Trinity represents all positions in a loving and functional family.
Holy Spirit, Father and Son, are symbolically represented by mom, dad, and child, respectively.

I hope to receive opposing opinions on this.
And to the opposing argument, I recognize that Holy Spirit is never referenced as “mother”.
I further recognize that Holy Spirit is always referenced by the use of the masculine pronoun, “he”.
However, I am not saying that God is anything physical.
“Religious” people who think it wise to rewrite the bible, and thus remove all gender from the scriptures, which references God, bemuse me.
However, to be fair, those who think that God is a physical man (”He”) also bewilder me.

I should be clear on what I am saying.

Jesus the Messiah was a physical man, but he is no longer a physical man. (If you have questions about this look at 1 Corinthians 15:35-58, specifically note verses 49 - 50; “49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. 50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.”)

If you are reading this, and you are reluctant to consider the notion that the “family” is a physical symbol, which represents the holy Spiritual relationship with and between the individuals who compose the Trinity of God, then imagine this scenario for a few minutes.

1. The almighty Creator, who is made up of three separate and distinct individuals, determines that “He” wants to share & participate in love (Agapē) with a created being.
2. However there are preexisting created beings, which are not invited to participate in this union between Creator and creation.
3. These preexisting created beings are spiritual, but are not participants inside the holy union of the Spiritual Creator.
4. As the Creator completes His plan for a new type of creation, which is not an exclusively spiritual nature, some of those beings, which were created before the new creation, become jealous about the interlopers, who are designed “in the image of the Creator” and for the purpose of union with the Creator.
5. The chief executive officer (CEO) of the created spiritual beings is given a responsibility for the new creation and the divine reflections, which inhabit it. This “prosecutor/constable” is also given the power to imbibe the physical creation, however this power is available only through the consent and will of the corporeal beings.
6. For an unknown price, a certain corporeal being agrees to grant the “constable” the use of its body and form, for the purpose of interacting directly with the divine copies.
7. The jealousy of the spiritual CEO comes to culmination, as the constable/prosecutor of the created spiritual realm actually encourages the divine images to forsake their betrothal with the Creator. The constable engages in an act of legal “entrapment”.
8. As the Man and Woman take the forbidden fruit, they fulfill the constables hope and dash the Creator’s great dream of a marriage between God and humanity, or more properly the Son of God and mankind.
9. The Almighty God & Host of Heaven, Yahweh, has been thwarted by an unholy alliance between a created spirit, Satan, and created corporeal, the Serpent.
10. All Humankind are dupes for the dope of the spiritual war that rages.
11. The dope of the spiritual war, is pride. And Adam and Eve took it in. They breathed these fowl emanations into their hearts and minds before the fruit ever touched their lips, even before the fruit was plucked from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They doubted the love (Agapē) that was promised by the Creator.
12. The Creator, however, knew everything before it ever happened. And, He had a plan for the renewal of the marriage vow between humanity and Himself. (THE CREATOR CANNOT BE THWARTED. Because, LOVE NEVER FAILS. ·

1 Corinthians 13:7,8: Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Love will last forever,…

(TO BE CONTINUED)

God bless,

DSM

Hey Matt! Here is the next installment on my belief.
This addresses Item C “Why do I believe that the Creator is the inspiration behind the scriptures?” (I will go back, at a later time, to Item B, Why I believe that Jesus is the Messiah and the actively creative power of the Creator.)

I do not call the Bible the “Word of God.” I may be unique among believers, concerning the use of this scriptural term.
But, as I have studied this, it appears to me that the Holy Spirit has revealed that the “Word” is Jesus. This will come out more in my answer to Item B.
I have struggled in the order of presentation of Items B & C, because they are tied together.
There are so many uses of the term “word”, that we may become confused about that, which we are discussing, i.e. the Lord’s words, God’s words, the Word of the Lord, the Word of Life, etc.
There are differences in the use of the singular rather than the plural. The words of God are not the same as the Word of God.
I hope this is making sense. Because I am attempting to hold to the semantics that I believe the Holy Spirit has used in the “words” of His prophets, apostles and disciples.

So, just as a beginning point I will outline briefly what I believe about “the Word”, and about the “words” of God.

• I believe that “the Word of God” is Jesus. John 1:1ff
• I believe that Jesus is “God’s Word”. 1John 2:14
• I believe that Jesus is “the Word of the Lord.” Genesis 15:1, 1Samuel 3:1-21 Look closely at verse 21.
• I believe that the “Word of Life” is, again, Jesus. 1John 1:1
• I believe that the words of God are found in the bible.
• I believe also, however, that the words of the devil are found in the bible. Matthew 4:3 is one such example of Satan’s words in the bible.
• I believe that the words of people are found in the bible. Exodus 3:11 (An interesting sidebar to this point, is that people either speak the words of the devil or the words of God. In the verse cited above, Moses speaks the words of Satan to Yahweh. Look at Matthew 16:22-23, to see how Jesus dealt with the words of Satan spoken by Peter. Human words may ultimately only serve two ends, they may serve God or they may serve self, where self is always the goal of the devil.)

This is the semantic difference, which I see in the scriptural use of the term “Word”. If someone has a different opinion about my distinctions, I am interested in reading them. However, until I am persuaded otherwise, this is how I will proceed in the subsequent response to belief in God’s Word and belief in the bible as inspired, respectively.

I believe that the recording and preservation of the bible is an action of inspiration by God’s Holy Spirit.
My conviction has been slowly developed, even while I was attempting to cast off my faith, as written in the first part of this series on my belief.

I have found that the bible is more than just allegorical, in its written text.
I hear many “believers” who are quite willing to consign the bible to the bookshelf, because of its antiquity.
They do this, by initially diminishing it as a collection of allegories. Thus, if it is only allegorical, then it holds no value.
In these cases, it becomes only a collection of symbols.
But, what can it symbolize? If it is not real at its root, then symbols of the illusory are of no value, for anything practical, except entertainment, if entertainment might be said to be “practical”.

Nevertheless, even if we are to accept the bible as only “a nice bit of antiquated literature,” we are still left with a very “good book”, worthy of our study.
The bible is chock full of ancient near eastern examples of early art, poetry, song, prose, proverbs, technical documentation, etc.

Surely, these many early expressions of the humanities are worthy of some respect from the world. But, oddly enough, this is not the case.
Thusly, our world seems intent on suppressing the bible, and this speaks volumes to me.

This is a simple curiosity that draws my attention.
It is, to me, the equivalent of saying don’t think about pink elephants.

Are you thinking about a fuchsia pachyderm?

These examples draw our attention. Humans are designed to seek answers to mysteries. And the bible is an enigma among human literature.

Our world doesn’t want it, ‘because its only an old book of out-of-touch allegories’.

However, our world digs deep to find an old moth eaten scrap of parchment that contains only 100 legible words from a Roman era copy of Homer’s “Iliad.”

Does this make sense to you?

Well, there is the enigma.

If you diminish the bible, by telling me that it is an ancient collection of fiction, or literary forms and allegorical chronicles, but that we should not trouble our students with this historical collection, I will be very intrigued about the apparent paradox.

To me, this treatment of the scriptures, by our world, speaks to the bible’s veracity.
This is one reason for my belief in the bible.
(To Be Continued)

God Bless,

DSM

This assumes, in my opinion, that “lines” exist, where none necessarily may be.
This very point shows up through the Scriptures, both OT and NT.
My blog is an attempt to reflect this and possibly to give some semblance of understanding to these nuances within God’s nature.
Hence, the title “Theology of Nuance.”

Example:
David is a man after God’s very heart.
But, David is not worthy of preparing the Temple for Him, because the blood of violence stains him.
Or:
Jehovah is a man of war: Jehovah is his name. Exodus 15:3
Yet, “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is begotten of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”
Or:
“Wherefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”

Tension, for sure…, but not only with grace & obedience, because we find nuance, subtlety, and even harmony between disparate philosophical concepts everywhere our God turns.

God bless,
DSM

I am again blessed to have been taught “the way of God more accurately.” Acts 18:26

In my essay on What is the Value of a Soul?, I made some errors in my understanding of the value of the Human Soul. The issue was brought to light by a friend who made the case that the bearer of each soul has been granted the freedom to determine his own soul’s worth, or lack thereof. I have considered his argument and searched the scriptures to determine if his contention is true. And, now I am conceding to his logic and scriptural contention that we do indeed choose our own value.

If you care to view the debate in its entirety, you may go to the link above and see the extended deliberations on the point, and final conclusion that I was in error with my exegesis of this passage, which I will give below.

There are times when I will disagree with conventional wisdom on a particular passage. My second essay posting on this blog was one such time. There, I wrote “A different interpretation of the Rich Young Ruler”, that exegesis was certainly at odds with most theologians and wide-ranging bible readers.
So, here too, I will attempt to show a different view of Jesus words.

• 45 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a pearl merchant on the lookout for choice pearls.
• 46 When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!

Our ability to understand these parables of Christ pivots on correctly identifying the metaphorical players in the illustrations. Jesus gives the critical information in this passage, but for some reason, we struggle to avoid the stated meaning, even when we know what Jesus has said. I will give you some examples of “conventional wisdom”, as they relate to the parable under review.
The first example is from Wikipedia.

• The Parable of the Pearl or the Pearl of Great Price is a parable told by Jesus in explaining the value of the Kingdom of Heaven, according to Matthew 13:45-46. Other uses of this title refer to this parable.
• In explaining the value of the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus relates the story of a trader who discovered an extremely valuable pearl. The trader sold all that he had to raise money to purchase the pearl; with the final result that he was wealthier than before. The implied analogy was that the Kingdom of Heaven was of such worth that his disciples should gladly be willing to give up their wealth and comfort to obtain it.

The above-emphasized portion of Wikipedia’s analysis is not correct. There are not the stated “implications” in this passage. It should, more accurately, be called an ‘inference’. The people who read the passage have the power to “infer”, which may or may not, be what the speaker implied. The speaker has the power to “imply,” which is what the reader should always attempt to ascertain, if we hope to understand the meaning the speaker hoped to convey.

The second example is found in both the above quoted section from Wikipedia as well as from my copy of the New International Version bible, which attempts to “help” people to categorize and sectionalize bible passages into “Themes”.
However, this causes problems when the people who are “helping” our understanding of the passages, actually miss or ignore the semantics of the words that are used. My copy is not unique, there are many bibles that are less overtly in error and there are other bibles, which are just plain daft.

• The heading for the parables, beginning in Matthew 13:44 and ending at verse 46, is “The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl.” Emphasis added.

The passages are not the same; therefore linking them in this way carries a false inference. The second parable is not, principally, about the pearls, but rather about the merchant who is seeking the pearls. This too moves the objective focus from who is being portrayed as the seeker. The Kingdom of Heaven is the active central character.
But these two parables, while being similar are very different at the same time.
Verse 44 is correctly called the parable of the Hidden Treasure, because Jesus says clearly “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a hidden treasure.” This metaphor is of the Kingdom of Heaven, and Jesus makes the comparison of “a hidden treasure.”
However, verse 45 Jesus makes the Kingdom of Heaven to be the opposite of what it is from verse 44.
What I mean is this; Jesus initially states that the Kingdom of Heaven is like “a hidden treasure” and we are the treasure seekers, but in the verses 45-46 parable, the roles are reversed the other way round.
Am I missing something? Look again at verses 45 & 46.
Jesus says, “the Kingdom of Heaven is like a pearl merchant” seeking the hidden treasure, i.e God almighty who is seeking the pearls of great value.

We become the treasure to God. This creates a profound difference in our understanding. God (the merchant) actively seeks fine or valuable souls. He is on the treasure hunt for worthy hearts.

And what does the merchant do when He finds one such worthy soul, He went away and sold everything he owned and bought the one worthy heart (pearl).

This is not so hard to understand, especially in the light of Jesus death on the cross. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”Jn3:16 This matches Jesus parables to perfection. We are seeking God when we believe Jesus, and we will give up everything in the physical realm, in order to be found in the Father’s full grace, i.e. Jesus Christ.

It is a most glorious “Theology of Nuance” that is contained in these two parables.

God is the merchant on the treasure hunt for trusting, believing hearts. They are like valuable pearls to our God. When He finds a single worthy/faithful heart, He is willing to give up all He has, which is of value. He gives His only begotten Son.

And thereby, with this bargain, from God the Father and His eager and willing Son Jesus Christ, we (the valuable pearls) are purchased back from the prince of the air’s domain of death.

These matters are important to understand, because our Lord and creator has revealed something deep and intrinsic about our Father and about ourselves. We must choose to be a worthy pearl for the bargain to be complete. If I am not a believing and faithful heart (pearl of great value), then the Father’s giving all for me will not close the deal. I must take a decision here and now while I live and breathe.
Am I worth the merchant giving up His one and only Son? If so, then I must believe:

1. That He is willing to do this.
2. That His Son is valuable enough to meet the purchase price.
3. That I, myself, am valuable enough to be desired by the merchant.

This is humbling and awe inspiring.
I am going to shine for the Merchant. I am going to be a pearl of great price.

Thank you Lord for seeing in me, what I could not see in myself.

God Bless,
DSM