The Kingdom is not a pearl

In Matthew 13:45,46 Jesus tells the parable of the pearl of great value. In this parable there is a merchant who finds a pearl, but who is the merchant and what does the pearl represent?

Matthew 13:45,46 (NWT) “Again the Kingdom of the heavens is like a traveling merchant seeking fine pearls. 46 Upon finding one pearl of high value, he went away and promptly sold all the things he had and bought it.

Every time you hear this parable you get the explanation from the Watchtower that the pearl is the kingdom of God, so if you, the merchant, finds it, you should give up everything for it, your time, money, your entire life. (Meaning you give all that to the Watchtower organization of course.)

Insight on the scriptures - Parable: “The merchant seeking pearls (Mt 13:45, 46). Spoken by Jesus to his disciples. He likens the Kingdom of the heavens to a fine pearl of such value that a man sells all his possessions to acquire it.”

And this is probably how you understand it. And that demonstrates on the one hand the power of cognitive bias, and on the other hand the Watchtower organization’s inability to understand the Bible. Let me do a little magic trick… Read the Bible verse again…

Again the Kingdom of the heavens is like a traveling merchant

Wait, what? The kingdom of heavens is like what? Does it say a pearl? No, it says the kingdom of heavens is like a traveling merchant! It is the merchant in the parable who represents the kingdom. The pearl does not represent the kingdom! So how are we to understand this? Well, if the kingdom is a traveling merchant then obviously that merchant represents the king of the kingdom, Jesus. And he is out looking for pearls, so what does the pearl represent? The pearl of high value represents you. Jesus went out on a journey to find valuable pearls, and he found you. And you are so valuable that Jesus “went away and promptly sold all the things he had and bought it.” In other words, Jesus gave up everything he had, his life, to be able to buy you, the highly valuable pearl. Isn’t it amazing what you can learn if you just read what the Bible actually says without having someone changing the meaning and teaching you to believe something that isn’t there? Isn’t it amazing to find out that the point of this parable is not that you should give everything you have to the Watchtower organization, but that Jesus gave everything he had to save you? Doesn’t that just give you a feeling of freedom, gratitude and grace?