Jesus tells two short parables which reveal that repentance is required to enter the Kingdom of God; both are in Matthew 13: (1) The parable of the buried treasure – the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; overjoyed, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. (2) The parable of the pearl of great price – the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
Both parables talk about selling everything, but what is its real message? Are they telling us that in order to enter the Kingdom of God, we should sell all of our possessions and give the money to the poor, or is there another meaning? According to several Church Fathers, most notably Clement of Alexandria (c. 150 – 215 AD), he explained that, in the spiritual sense, “selling everything” means repentance and stripping away the passions of the soul. In doing so, we give up every worldly thing so that we can embrace the Kingdom of God – which is the mysterious treasure already within us. Selling everything is not so much about selling the material possessions that we own. The “possessions” that we need to get rid of are things like lust, pride, envy, dishonesty, selfishness, egotism, worldly cares, anger, greed, laziness, gluttony and despondency; i.e., anything that leads to spiritual death. All these things are the “possessions” which we ought to feel overjoyed in “selling.”
Several saints have written extensively about finding the Kingdom of God; e.g., St. Augustine of Hippo, St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila. In his masterpiece “Confessions,” St. Augustine details his search for God which took place within himself – he realized that God had always been present within himself, but he was too distracted by the outside world to find Him there.
For most of his young life, Augustine spent years trying to find the truth in different philosophies and religions, personal ambition and material pleasures; but he didn’t find it in any of these. Overwhelmed by a deep spiritual crisis, he wept under a fig tree. Then he heard a child’s voice chanting, “Tolle lege, tolle lege” which means “Take up and read, take up and read.” Taking this as a divine command, he opened a scroll of the Apostle Paul’s epistles, and he came upon the Letter to the Romans 13: 13-14, which says, “Let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and licentiousness, not in rivalry and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.” The text urged him to leave behind his previous way of life and to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” Augustine wrote that instantly, a light of certainty flooded his heart, and all darkness vanished.
St. Augustine’s breakthrough came when he realized that God is an immaterial, unchanging Spirit rather than a physical person or object in the universe. He finally found out that God was waiting to be found right inside of him. He famously wrote in his Confessions: “You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you.” His famous conclusion was: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”
Have you found the kingdom of God yet? How does one know that he has found the kingdom of God? Based on the experience of many saints, one knows that he has found the Kingdom of God if he has a profound inner transformation. The signs of living within God’s kingdom are highly practical and specific: (1) Living with inner peace instead of worries and anxieties. (2) Living with humility instead of pride. (3) Living with genuine love and compassion for others instead of outwardly conforming to rules and just being nice.