NOTES for Mat 13:44-54
What, one wonders, does Jesus mean when He speaks of a "scribe trained for the Kingdom"? What treasury is He talking about? And how is what He says connected with the Savior's parables about the Kingdom, in which He compares it to a found treasure and to caught fish?
Indeed, the meaning, for example, of the parable of the found treasure is quite clear: when the matter concerns something truly valuable, one can sacrifice everything for its sake, selling all and buying what gives access to this value. A person who knows and understands what the Kingdom is is ready to give up everything in order to receive the possibility of standing on the path that leads to it. Of course, to buy the field does not yet mean to receive the treasure; the field is only the place where it can be found, just as the path into the Kingdom is not yet the Kingdom itself in all its fullness. Nevertheless, to stand on the path means to make the first and most important step, choosing the right direction. The "scribe," that is, the theologian, "trained for the Kingdom," as we can see, must above all be able to set priorities correctly: he need not renounce his knowledge or his tradition, but it is absolutely necessary to make all of it serve the solution of the main task - movement toward the Kingdom. He will probably have to give up something, but if one pearl is worth more than all the rest of the merchandise, the exchange makes sense.
But simply standing on the path that leads to the Kingdom is still not enough: judging by the parable of the many caught fish, many may find themselves on this path and even at the threshold of the Kingdom, because the net is cast as widely as possible. The history of the Kingdom is above all the history of its revelation in our transforming world, and therefore in one way or another everyone will learn about it and come into contact with it - at least once in life, at the end of time. But such contact in itself guarantees nothing: different fish get into the net, but being in the net does not yet mean getting into the cherished basket; the bad fish is thrown back into the sea.
As we can see, the path into the Kingdom is truly open to everyone, but entrance into it - and therefore salvation - is guaranteed to no one. Christ's coming became for us the guarantee only of the possibility of salvation, whose realization depends in many ways on our own choice and on our own resolve - not only when we are just entering this path, but also when we are already walking it.