The same basic point recurs in this parable. The difference between this parable and the last is that here the person who finds the treasure is looking for it whereas in the previous parable the discovery was accidental. In Jesus' day there were Jews who were looking for the kingdom and Messiah (11:3) and those who were not (e.g., the religious leaders who did not accompany the wise men to Bethlehem). For both types of people the ultimate price of complete discipleship was not too much to pay for participation in the kingdom. Jesus was not teaching that entrance into the kingdom depended on self-sacrifice; entrance depended on faith in Him. The amount and kind of one's inheritance in the kingdom, however, depended on complete commitment to Messiah (cf. 5:5; 8:18-22; 25:34).
Some view the pearl as well as the hidden treasure as references to Jesus.565Others believe they refer to the church.566I think they refer primarily to the kingdom. Several dispensational interpreters believe the treasure in the field or land represents Israel and that the pearl, taken from the sea, represents the Gentiles.567
"Like the treasure, the kingdom is the source of highest joy, and, as seen in the pearl, the kingdom should be deemed as the most precious possession."568
