We doubt not the parable points to Christ as the One who finds a treasure in His people, and for joy sells all that He has, that He may obtain possession of it; as, indeed, we read, "Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame" (Heb. 12:22Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)). "Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich." 2 Cor. 8:99For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9). Yes, as the parable says, He sold all that He had; and, as the passage from the epistle to the Hebrews proves, He kept in view the joy that was set before Him, which joy our parable also speaks of.
We must, indeed, look at who Christ was, and the position He had as Creator (all things were made by Him, and for Him), and as God from eternity; and then look at our Lord in His humiliation, His agony in the garden, and His shameful death—being made sin for us, and enduring the hiding of God's face—before we can even get a glimpse of what it cost Him to purchase the field in which lay hidden the treasure of His heart.
But there is another point in the parable. It says not only that the man purchased the treasure, but also that he bought the field in which the treasure was hid. Now, in the same chapter, our Lord, in explaining the parable of the sower, says, "The field is the world." Then our Lord bought the world—all mankind. And here lies an important truth. It is like a rich man going to a plantation of slaves, and after paying down a price for the whole of the slaves, he sends forth a proclamation, that whosoever will may be free. But, alas! the slaves like their plots of ground, and their earthly ties, and prefer to remain in slavery.
So our Lord bought, in His death, all mankind, and has sent forth His ministers to beg men to be reconciled to Him. But, alas! men prefer the chains of Satan, and the baits he skillfully lays for them.
This illustrates also the difference between "buying" and "redeeming." Many are now deluding their fellow men with the thought of universal salvation, whereas there is a wide difference between buying slaves and offering them liberty, and the actual bringing them out of slavery. We read of some—lost souls—who deny the Lord who bought them (2 Pet. 2:11But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. (2 Peter 2:1)), whereas, those who are redeemed are actually translated out of the kingdom of Satan, and "into the kingdom of God's dear Son" (Col. 1:1313Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: (Colossians 1:13)).
Such then is the parable of the hidden treasure. Christ is the purchaser; His saints are the treasure; all men are the field. It is called the hidden treasure, for none could have discovered that Christ had a treasure where all was sin and wickedness. The doctrine of the Church too had long been hidden; as we read, Paul made known "the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations" (Col. 1:2626Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: (Colossians 1:26)). Then all were to see "what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God" (Eph. 3:99And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: (Ephesians 3:9)). Christ had then endured the shameful death of the cross—having become poor, sold all that He had—but He will have the treasure with Him by-and-by—a glorious Church, without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing! To His name be all the glory!