If you’re like most of us, you’ve probably been taught that the pearl of great price mentioned in Matthew 13:45 is Jesus Himself. (And certainly, Jesus is more than worthy of every high and noble name that our tongues could ever utter).
The Holy Spirit opened my eyes to the fuller and deeper meaning of this great passage…
In Matthew 13:45, where it says the merchant man went forth seeking a pearl, and when he found the pearl of great price, he sold all that he had to get the pearl; Jesus is the merchant man who came from heaven. He was a connoisseur—because merchant here has to do with connoisseur—or one who looked for the very best.
Who is the pearl of great price? It is every believer! You are a pearl…I am a pearl.
As John 3:16 so beautifully states it, Jesus thought we were the best; so, He came and purchased the whole world in order to get us—the best. He considered us the pearl of great price.
The pearl is a very unique gem. It is not like the ruby, emerald, diamond, or topaz. These are all formations of rock, but the pearl is a living stone. It is made out of a living organism.
Peter said that Jesus was the Living Stone that was “rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious.”
He further states that every Christian is a living stone too: “You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house…” I Peter 2:5 (NKJ).
That’s what we are. We’re pearls! We’re precious in the sight of God, and He sent Jesus to this world to purchase the pearl of great price with His own blood on Calvary’s Cross.
You see, unlike the other precious stones, pearls come forth out of suffering. Down in the depths of the sea, there on the ocean floor, an oyster gets a grain of sand inside. It becomes a severe irritant to the oyster, so the oyster starts covering that irritant with layer after layer of a substance called nacre. After a long period of suffering, the finished product is the pearl.
We became pearls in like manner.
God sent Jesus Who took the irritant of our sin and covered us with layer after layer of righteousness. And just as pearls are made in the depths of the seas, so we were in the depths of sin. But He came to where we are, sought us out, and took us.
Now, pearls are so precious that they are used in the crowns of kings. We are too. God took us and put us into the highest place He could put us. He seated us in high places with Christ Jesus. How valuable those pearls are. They cost Jesus everything.