NOTES for Mat 13:54-58

The rejection of a prophet in his own country is evidently a typical situation: even Jesus Himself faced it during His earthly ministry. The reasons for it are described quite transparently in the Gospel account: paradoxically, in his own country a servant of God is known too well for people to recognize him as a servant of God.

Of course, if Jesus had been officially recognized, the attitude toward Him in His own country would have been different: as usually happens in such cases, people would have been proud of Him and regarded Him as a local celebrity. But the point is that they had to discern the Man of God in Jesus for themselves, without prompts or directions “from above.” Such recognition would have brought no public benefit to Jesus' hometown or the surrounding areas.

In such a situation, other factors come into play, factors connected not with public opinion but with the characteristics of fallen human nature. A fallen person is generally extremely reluctant to acknowledge another as better than himself, especially when such an acknowledgment brings him no benefit. It is not merely that this acknowledgment entails certain practical consequences—for example, privileges of one kind or another due to the better person; in Jesus' case, in particular, there was nothing of the sort. The point is the psychological and spiritual discomfort that such an acknowledgment causes a fallen person. For then he would also have to admit that there is an alternative in the world to the way of life so familiar to fallen human nature. And although this alternative seems to be “not of this world,” here before their very eyes stands the One who became its living embodiment. What can be said to that? Nothing, perhaps, except to refuse to take Him seriously.

And how can one do that? The easiest way is to brush Him aside, fail to notice the obvious, and disbelieve. Memory and reason then come to the rescue: what kind of prophet could He be, much less the Messiah? We have known Him since childhood; He is no Messiah and no prophet. We know all His relatives; He is one of us through and through—what kind of Messiah could He possibly be? It is laughable even to say it... And beneath all this one hears: come now, He is not different at all, He is just like us. Let Him tell others about the Kingdom, show miracles to others, present Himself to others as either a prophet or the Messiah; He cannot fool us, for we know Him through and through.

And the most terrible thing about this position is not even that those who hold it are unprepared to see the Messiah in the Messiah. The most terrible thing is that they will never see the Kingdom either, for it too is different. Not of this world.

The situation in which a prophet is rejected in his native place is, as we can see, typical: even Jesus Himself found Himself in it during His earthly ministry. And the reasons for it are described quite transparently in the Gospel story: in the native place of a servant of God, paradoxically, people know him too well to recognize in him a servant of God.

Of course, if Jesus had been officially recognized, the attitude toward Him in His native place would have been different. As usually happens in such cases, they would have been proud of Him and considered Him a local celebrity. But the whole point is that they had to see in Jesus a Man of God for themselves, without hints or instructions "from above." There would have been no social benefit for Jesus' hometown and the territories around it from such recognition.

In such a situation, other factors come into play, factors connected no longer with public opinion but with the features of fallen human nature. Fallen humanity is generally very reluctant to acknowledge another as better than oneself, especially when such acknowledgment brings no benefit. And the issue here is not only that this acknowledgment entails certain practical consequences, for example privileges of one kind or another due to the better person. In the case of Jesus in particular, there was nothing of the kind. The issue is the psychological and spiritual discomfort that such acknowledgment produces for fallen humanity. For then one has to acknowledge that in the world there is an alternative to the way of life so familiar to fallen human nature. And although the alternative seems to be "not of this world," here before their eyes is the One who has become its living embodiment. What can one say then? Only refuse to take Him seriously.

And how does one refuse? The easiest way is to wave it away, fail to notice the obvious, and not believe. Then memory and reason come to the rescue: what kind of prophet is He, let alone Messiah? We know Him well, from childhood. He is no Messiah and no prophet, and we know all His relatives too. He is one of us through and through, so what kind of Messiah could He be? It is laughable even to say it... And underneath all this one hears: come on, He is not different at all; He is the same as we are. Let Him tell others about the Kingdom, show others miracles, present Himself to others as a prophet or as the Messiah, but He will not fool us. We know Him inside and out.

And the most frightening thing in such a position is not even that those who stand on it are not ready to see the Messiah in the Messiah. The most frightening thing in it is that they will never see the Kingdom either, for it too is different. Not of this world.

The example from fishing practice given by Jesus is simple and could not have caused difficulty in understanding the parable for listeners, many of whom were fishermen themselves, accustomed to sorting the catch. It is no wonder that the listeners unanimously confirm that they have understood what He is talking about. But after the parable there followed, at first glance unrelated to it, a mention of a scribe trained for the Kingdom of Heaven. Let us try, however, to see what connects these sayings.

First of all, let us think: where does the master bring the new and the old out of the treasury? And why? A treasury is a storehouse where valuables are kept in reserve. But there they can not only be preserved, but also gather dust without moving and without bringing benefit. Meanwhile, the Lord wants the gifts received from Him to find constant application, to act, and not merely to be reverently protected. Both the old wisdom of the Old Testament, tested by centuries, and what the Lord revealed in the New Testament era that had just begun and had not yet become familiar, must become our life. It was often hard for scribes who had memorized priceless texts to assimilate what came from Christ. But because of this He does not reject learning itself; He offers the scribes the chance to embody in life what they preserve. And not only to scribes, but to all of us, the Lord gives such an opportunity. For He does not want us to end up among the discarded fish.

Meanwhile, the earthly life familiar to us continues, and the one rejected is Jesus Himself. It is characteristic that His countrymen do not deny that He has wisdom and powers, but the fact that they are possessed by a neighbor living among them proves decisive. Indeed, dubious arrivals from exotic lands often gather more supporters than someone who lives nearby. Well, this often says that we do not understand what is right under our nose.

In the very absence of miracles because of the unbelief of His countrymen one sees not weakness, but delicacy, an unwillingness to impose Himself by force. Even toward those who reject Him, Christ continues to act with respect.

In the parable of the treasure hidden in a field, what is most striking is that the Kingdom of Heaven is acquired not at the cost of some incredible efforts, not through self-sacrifice and heroic struggle, but in great joy over unexpected wealth. Selling everything this man had seems to him like a very profitable deal, since his wealth was apparently not great if it could buy him only a patch of land.

Here, as in several other parables, the point turns on the incomparability of the Kingdom and what we possess without God. Certainly, for the sake of the Kingdom one has to give something up; but if one remembers, and not only remembers but also comes to know by faith and experience, that the price of the field and the value of the treasure are simply incomparable, then such a "sacrifice" will not be a sacrifice, but the most "profitable contract" of our life.

Is the Kingdom of Heaven worth everything we have? For example, the man in the parable goes and joyfully sells all he has and buys the field with the treasure. For him it is clear that treasures are buried in a perfectly ordinary plot of land, and so he gladly makes this deal: everything in exchange for everything.

The trouble is that for us, as for many of Jesus' listeners, the value of the Kingdom is not obvious. We would gladly sacrifice everything we have for a worthy cause - but where is the guarantee that it is worthy?

Our task is to find the treasure as well: to learn in practice that a treasure is buried in a poor vacant lot, one worth more than everything we can have. That is, to touch by experience what is more beautiful than all the other meanings of our life - and this is not easy. In any case, to find such a treasure one must search... or at least want to find it.

Today's Gospel reading brings together three parables about the Kingdom of Heaven from a whole series gathered by the evangelist Matthew in chapter 13. Two of them are very similar to each other; the third is noticeably different: they look at the Kingdom of Heaven from two different sides.

The parables of the treasure in the field and the pearl approach the Kingdom of Heaven as the greatest treasure a person can find. For the sake of this treasure, one can give up everything else: its value fully justifies that. For a person, this is the heart of the doubt: what if what I leave behind for the sake of this pearl turns out to be more costly and more valuable? Only Christ can know this with certainty, and therefore we have to trust Him. And the parable of the net tells us about the result of the choice. Once you trust that the Kingdom of Heaven is the greatest possible value, you receive the chance not to be thrown out when the catch is sorted.

And then, in Christ's words, there appears "a scribe instructed in the Kingdom." The point is that the parables of the treasure and the pearl have another important aspect. The treasure does not simply go to someone lucky, but to the one who persistently seeks it. That is why the Lord, and the evangelist after Him, does not limit Himself to the single parable of the treasure. If it stood alone, it could be understood as a parable about luck. But the merchant in the second parable purposefully seeks fine pearls, and nothing else interests him. He is the one like the scribe who does not simply wait for "manna from above," but spends his whole life seeking the Kingdom of Heaven.

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.