The Pearl of Great Value

A CLOSER LOOK:

In Matthew 13:46 we see the heavenly King’s work in gaining the one pearl of great value. At the cross He sold all, whatever He had, and bought that pearl. Pearls are produced by oysters in the [sea]. When an oyster is wounded by a grain of sand, it secretes its life-juice around the grain of sand and makes it into a precious pearl. This depicts Christ as the living One coming into the death waters (the world filled with death), being wounded by us (the sinner), and secreting His life over us to make us precious pearls. 

Pearls are one of the materials in the New Jerusalem and thus are for the building of God’s expression. Since the pearl comes out of the sea, which signifies the world corrupted by Satan, it must refer to the church, which is mainly constituted with regenerated believers from the Gentile world, and which is of great value. The church which is the Body of Christ is the pearl of great value that the Lord desires to have.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. How can we become pearls?

2. In your experience, how does this parable affect your view of the Lord’s salvation and your view of the church?