Pints With Aquinas - The Parable of the Hidden Treasure | Bible Study w/ Aquinas

Episode Date: June 4, 2020

In this special episode of Pints with Aquinas, we'll take a look at what Thomas Aquinas has to say about the parable of the hidden treasure found in Matthew 13:44. GIVING Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mattfradd This show (and all the plans we have in store) wouldn't be possible without you. I can't thank those of you who support me enough. Seriously! Thanks for essentially being a co-producer coproducer of the show. LINKS Website: https://pintswithaquinas.com/ Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/matt-fradd FREE 21 Day Detox From Porn Course: https://www.strive21.com/  SOCIAL Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mattfradd Twitter: https://twitter.com/mattfradd Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pints_w_aquinas  MY BOOKS Does God Exist: https://amzn.to/2MaKf7V Marian Consecration With Aquinas: https://amzn.to/2Xf94pC  The Porn Myth: https://www.ignatius.com/The-Porn-Myth-P1985.aspx CONTACT Book me to speak: https://www.mattfradd.com/speakerrequestform

Hello everybody, my name is Matt Fradd. This is Pints with Aquinas and today I'm going to be, I guess, leading a Bible study with you. This is something I did last week and a lot of people said they really got a lot out of it, so I thought, well, let's do it again. And we're going to be drawing from the commentary on Matthew from St. Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas. This is one half of his commentary on Matthew, chapters 13 through 28. But in here, he has Latin, Greek, and English. And so it's a lot bigger than it would be if it was just in English, of course. So I guess, first of all, let me just say, as I said last week, people who turn on YouTube are usually in a different headspace. They're not in the mood for a Bible study, which is totally cool. I get it. I mean, there's a lot of times I go on YouTube and I'm not really in the mood for something serious. I'm in the mood for something stupid and entertaining. Hopefully this is neither of those things. I mean, it might

be entertaining, but in a different sort of way. So my goal isn't to try to capture your attention with a bunch of jump cuts and sound effects. Rather, it's an invitation for you to, along with me, read the Scriptures and to together, together to see what Thomas Aquinas has to say on those Scriptures. So I'm really glad you're here. Here's the verse we want to look at today. And I love this parable for a number of reasons. One is that it's literally two sentences.

That's pretty good. See if you can come up with a parable in two sentences. The other reason I like this is because it just, I don't know why, maybe I'm reading this in a way that I shouldn't be reading it, but it just seems funny, this parable. Okay, so we're reading from Matthew chapter 13 verse 44. Here's what we're going to do. I'm going to read it. I'm going to give you my dorky take on it. I want to talk to you about what the kingdom of God is, and then we'll see what Aquinas has to say on this parable. All right. So first of all, the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy, he goes and sells So here's why I like it. I remember growing up in South Australia. I had a good mate who lived on the outskirts of our very small town.

And behind him was this gigantic field. I remember it had this kind of like broken down house on it. And me and my friends would walk down there late at night, get into mischief, do things we probably shouldn't have been doing. It may have been a couple of hundred acres or something, I think. It was a very ugly field. Where I grew up in South Australia, it's a very dry place. So it wasn't lush and beautiful. It was kind of dead and filled with prickles and weeds, and it was brown and gross. So when I read this, here's what I think. I think, okay, imagine this, right? I go for a walk on this field one day, and I'm on my own. I'm just looking around,

thinking my thoughts. All of a sudden, I kick something in the ground and I look down and I see the edge of something poking out of the earth and I get curious. And so I squat down and I start to scrape away the dirt from around this thing. And it looks like the corner of a solid suitcase. And so I get really interested at this point and so for the next half hour i'm excavating this thing and it doesn't look like you know this thing has been touched in decades maybe you know and i pull it out and i find the way to unlock it and i open it up and let's say there is a million dollars in there. Wow. So then what do I do? All right, well, following the parable, here's what I do.

I go home and I start selling everything I own. And maybe I don't own much, you know, but maybe I got a little house. I sell that and I've got a car and I sell that and I sell my PlayStation 4. Not that I sell that, and I sell my PlayStation 4, not that I own one, but I sell my camera, and my Shure microphone, and my iPhone, I sell all of my books of Thomas Aquinas, well, why am I selling them? Well, because I need that bloody field in order to get the treasure, but I can't afford that field, because it's a couple of hundred thousand, or something like that, you know, and people are saying to me, Matt, what are you doing? And I'm like, I'm just selling. I'm making an investment. Okay. What are you investing in? Well, I'm buying a piece

of property. Oh, okay. Where? Oh, it's this field. And you can imagine my friends being like, okay, look, as somebody who cares about you, I'm telling you that this is a bad idea. It's very ugly. It's uninhabitable, or at least you can't grow anything on the bloody thing, even if you lived on it. And I say, no, no, it's okay. And I do it. And so I buy this field and then I own this treasure. And then who knows what I do with the treasure, you know, move to Hollywood. I don't know. That's why I love it because it's just, it seems to me to be kind of cheeky and fun. That's why I like it. So that's my interpretation. Aquinas is going to say something a lot cooler than that.

All right, so here's what I want to do first. Let's talk about the kingdom of God because we hear this phrase a lot, the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven. These are interchangeable. In Matthew's gospel, Jesus uses the phrase kingdom of heaven almost always. I think he uses kingdom of God as well, but it's predominantly kingdom of heaven. This phrase, kingdom of God, is used 122 times in the New Testament. And 99 of these are found in the Synoptic Gospels. And 90 of those 99 occurrences come from the mouth of Jesus. So this kingdom of heaven, this kingdom of God, is something that we hear a lot about, but we often, you know, we hear

something so often we don't actually stop to slow down to ask, well, what does it mean? Well, in Pope Benedict's book, Jesus of Nazareth, Volume 1, Pope Emeritus Benedict spends some time talking about what the kingdom of heaven, what the kingdom of God means. And he talks about three interpretations about the kingdom of God, which shed light on this, on the concept. I really want to just spend some time talking about the first, the Christological dimension. But just to point out that there are more than that. You could talk about the Christological dimension, you could talk about the mystical dimension, and you could talk about the ecclesiastical dimension. So the mystical dimension is the idea that the kingdom of God is within us, and it is to bear fruit by

the grace of God. The ecclesiastical dimension is the idea that the kingdom of God is found in the world through the church. And that found, you know, in the world, you know, through the church. And that right now, and we'll just use this, it's in a mixed state, the church, you know, and Aquinas will talk about this when we get to it. And, you know, you could think here about Matthew chapter 13, 30, where our blessed Lord says, tell the reapers, gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn. So the idea that the church,

it's not like it's all wheat and no weeds. It's in a mixed state. But I want to focus on this Christological dimension. And here we see, and I'm going to quote Pope Benedict. He says, the kingdom is not a thing. It is not a geographical dominion like worldly kingdoms. It is a person. It is he that is Christ.

On this interpretation, the kingdom of God is itself a veiled Christology. By the way in which he speaks of the kingdom of God, Jesus leads men to realize the overwhelming fact that in him, God himself is present among them, that he is God's presence. All right. So here's what we'll do. Let's read this one more time and then delve into Aquinas. Okay. The kingdom of heaven, come Holy Spirit. The kingdom of heaven is like the treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up.

Then in his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Okay, so what on earth is this treasure? Well, Aquinas is going to quote three early Christians, Chrysostom, Gregory, and Jerome. Chrysostom, or Chrysostom, depending on how you pronounce it, says, it is the evangelical teaching, but we have this treasure in earthen vessels, which is hidden in the field of the world, namely hidden from the eyes of the unclean. And as we read in Matthew chapter 11, you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent. So when I look at this, what I think of is the fact that, you know, people who proclaim the gospel are just men, you know, they're men who get sick, who go to the bathroom,

who sin, who are awkward maybe, or have parts about them that we don't like. And sometimes that can get in the way of what they're proclaiming. But if they're proclaiming the gospel faithfully, then what they're proclaiming is the treasure hidden in the field, which is them, the earthen vessels. Here's what Gregory says. According to Gregory, it names heavenly desire. The fear of the Lord is his treasure.

This is hidden in the field of spiritual discipline. So here, right, the field is the spiritual disciplines. The treasure is the fear of the Lord. Why does he say that? Because exteriorly, it seems contemptible, but interiorly, it has sweetness. And then he quotes Proverbs 24, it has sweetness. And then he quotes Proverbs 24, 27, Aquinas, and he says, diligently till your ground. You know, when I was 16 years old, before I had come to Christ, if you had have told me that within a few years, I would think that getting drunk was a sin, hooking up was a sin, right? Sex outside of marriage was a sin, sin, hooking up was a sin, right? Sex outside of marriage was a sin. That I ought to spend a lot more time praying, but I didn't pray at all when I was 16. So I had to start praying a lot that fasting would be a good thing. That I wouldn't be watching these terrible movies that up until now I had been watching. If you'd have told me like in a couple of years, like this is how your mindset

is going to shift. I am not sure how I would have taken that. I a couple of years, like this is how your mindset is going to shift. I am not sure how I would have taken that. I mean, that just sounded like misery. You know, I enjoyed getting drunk, right? I enjoyed like going to a party and making out with some girl. I enjoyed, you know, watching these terrible movies like American Pie, that was big when I was like 17 and that kind of trash, Friends and these sorts of things. Never prayed, you know. So the idea that you give all that up and you'll be a lot happier, there's no way I would have believed you. But in my own life, this is what happened. And goodness gracious, it wasn't a switch like that. And even now, of course, I struggle with sins and I'm continually trying to repent and trying to grow.

But what I find is that the closer I get to following our blessed Lord as I grow in prayer and choosing the ascetical disciplines like fasting and almsgiving and things like this, there is a joy that I never knew back in the day when I was like smoking pot, you know, with friends or whatever, you know. So what he says here is this treasure is the fear of the Lord, but it's found within this field of spiritual discipline, which exteriorly seems contemptible, but interiorly it has sweetness. And I don't know if there's anyone watching from my old high school, but when I came back from Rome when I was 17 years old and was a Christian, I was just one of those Christians, insufferably happy. I was just so happy. I just was so grateful that God existed. He had a plan for my life. It felt like my heart was beginning to defrost, that I hadn't really felt anything for years, but all of a sudden I began to feel things again. There was these different dimensions to life. It would be like if the entire world was in black and white and all of a sudden one day you woke up and it was in color and you're walking around with people who see everything in black and white. I mean, that's what my life was like. And that's maybe what you've experienced. That's what people

often experience when they come to Christ or they have a reversion or they grow deeper in their faith. Okay, here's what Jerome says. And I like this. It is the word of God. Now, first of all, when evangelicals talk about the word of God, they often mean just scripture. And of course, scripture is the word of God. But the scripture uses the term word of God in different senses. And sometimes it means the second person of the blessed Trinity, right? So in the beginning of John's gospel, the word became flesh and dwelt among us. And that's what Jerome's talking about here, the word of God being Jesus. So he's saying that this treasure is the word of God, or rather, I beg your pardon, he's saying that the field is the word of God, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, which he hid in the field of his body,

because he was hidden in the flesh. Imagine how difficult it would have been to believe that Jesus Christ was God if you were legit hanging out with him. I feel like 2,000 years removed, in some ways, it's easier to believe. But imagine if you were with Jesus and he's like, hey, just one sec, I'm going to head to the restroom and I'll be right back and we'll pick up where we left off. There's no way this is God. Like he's drinking wine. He like burps. He's like, I'm knackered.

I'm going for a nap. Knackered means tired in Australian. So he probably didn't say that, but that's my translation. It would be really difficult. Like you're on the boat and you're looking down at this bloke. He's snoring a little bit. You're like, okay, that's God. Okay.

Yeah. No, sure. Sure it is., that's God. Okay. Yeah. No, sure. Sure. Sure it is. Sure. Sure. That's God. Now, of course, when the storm rages and he stands up and he tells the, he tells the waves and the wind to be still, you're like, all right, maybe it is. But this idea that these riches are hidden within him, it reminds me of the Eucharist. You know, like some people saw the man, Jesus Christ, and could not believe that it was God. And in a way, you can't blame him because it doesn't seem like it's God, right?

His divinity was hidden. Similarly, some people see the host at Holy Mass and like, there's no way that's God. It makes sense. This is a hard thing to believe. But here we are. Okay. It makes sense. This is a hard thing to believe. But here we are. Okay.

So let's say that again. In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. That comes from Colossians 2.3. Which he hid in the field of his body because he was hidden in the flesh. There is no end of his treasures. Isaiah 2.7. First of all, Aquinas didn't have Google. He didn't have Bible Hub. He didn't have Logos Bible software.

He's just like reflecting upon Jesus being the field and the riches that he wants to give us being the treasure. And he's like, hey, that kind of reminds me of that verse from Isaiah. There is no end of his treasures, Isaiah 2, 7. That's a beautiful line though. Think about that. There are no ends to his treasures, Isaiah 2.7. That's a beautiful line though. Think about that. There are no ends to his treasures. So that would mean, suppose you've been walking with the Lord for a while and you've experienced his kindness and his beauty and his power.

And then you encounter somebody who's open to receiving Christ. And you might look at them and say, buckle up, buddy. You have no idea what is in store for you. Well, guess what? According to Aquinas, the same thing can be said to you, to me, and even to Thomas Aquinas himself. If there is no end to his treasures, then what this person now coming to Christ will get to experience is no less than what you have yet to experience since there is no end to his treasures. Who's excited? Okay, let's see.

And then here's, I think, Aquinas' interpretation. He says, For this reason, in another way, it is understood as sacred teaching which is hidden in the field of the church, And we could say a lot about this. You know, maybe you're a Protestant or maybe you're a Catholic or Orthodox. I mean, I think the same thing can be said to all of us, right? The ecclesial communion of which you might be a part of the church of which you belong. You might look around and you see scandal. I mean, I'm a Catholic. Do you have any idea the

amount of scandal that's been pushed in our face? You know, rightly so, because there's been a lot of tremendous scandal. It's been despicable, disgusting, you know, worthy of our rejection. You know, I mean, how could there possibly be a treasure within that thing? You know? And it's easy, isn't it, to just like point at church leadership. But I think it's a little more realistic to also point at yourself. I mean, have you met you? You are a mess.

You know, I'm a mess. Maybe I seem, I don't know, maybe I seem not a little bit together because this is what, like a 20 minute video, but ask my wife. I'm very difficult to live with. So it's not just the mess in the hierarchy or in church leadership. The mess is in ourselves. The idea that these treasures could come out of this church, right? The Catholic church. It's hard to fathom. Okay. All right. Let's jump down a little bit because he's going to say like, which the man having found hides. And here Aquinas is going to say, first of all, you find that treasure only through faith. So Aquinas says, it is found in all through faith, for it cannot be in anyone except through faith.

And he's going to argue that we want to hide this treasure, not out of envy, but out of caution. Let's see here. Because, he says, it bears fruit more and profits more since it blazes up more. For just as fire closed in heats more, so a word which is hidden bears more fruit. The word of the Lord has made in my heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was not being able to bear it, Jeremiah 20. And in the Psalms, we read, my heart grew hot within me, and in my meditation a fire shall flame out, Psalm 38.4. Similarly, it is what is hidden from vainglory, for if it smoked exteriorly, it would be subject to danger. For this reason, the Lord

said above, pray to your father in secret. Similarly, because in this way it is more safely guarded, for when it is in public, then he who steals it away finds it. He showed, and then he quotes Isaiah. And I'm just going to skip this bit. But why was it said, so, hang on. Oh, okay. So why is it said, so let your light shine before men? That comes from Matthew 5, 16. And maybe you've wondered that as well. I certainly have. Like, you know, in one place, you see, you know, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Pray to your Father in secret, and then let your light shine before men so they may glorify your Father in heaven. How do you reconcile these sorts of

verses? Why am I hiding this word that I've found? I like this here. Here's what Aquinas says. This is resolved by distinguishing between times, because when it is first found, it is good that it be hidden. But when a man has become strong, then it is good that it be made manifest. Wisdom that is

hid, and a treasure that is not seen. What profit is there in them both? Sirach 41.17 Gregory says that it should be open in effect, hidden in the heart. Hence he speaks thus, let the work be in public, however much the intention remains hidden. I've got to be honest with you, I don't think I'm like spiritually advanced enough to comprehend what this means. I'm not even sure I know what it means. In my own life, I've had different experiences of Christ in prayer. And when I've rushed to tell people about it,

it kind of did harm to me rather than allowing it to kind of ruminate and to stay within and to kind of, maybe it's like, I don't know, like this is what I take it to mean. And this probably isn't what Aquinas means that I don't really understand what he means, honestly. You can tell me below. Yeah, but just this idea, like, I don't know. If I get a word from Christ, sometimes the temptation is to tell people what I've been getting in prayer,

and sometimes that's probably out of pride. Sometimes that's out of desire to be found interesting, or to kind of brag about my prayer life, which is almost not always, you know, exciting. But the times that I've just went, yeah, this is a word between my beloved and me. Yeah, this is an intimate thing he shared with me. And I've kind of dwelt in that. That's when I've seen fruit bear, you know, or where I've seen it bear more fruit. It's almost like too intimate to share.

And if you just start sharing this intimate thing, maybe you show that you don't recognize it as intimate or valuable. I'm not sure. Again, please feel free to share with me below. I'd love to learn from you. Okay. We'll kind of wrap up with this point. And out of joy goes and sells all that he has.

This is the third part about the acquisition because he rejoices. They who dig for a treasure and they rejoice exceedingly when they have found the grave. Job 321. a treasure and they rejoice exceedingly when they have found the grave, Job 3.21. When by faith he finds it, out of joy goes and begins to progress and sells all that he has. That is, Aquinas interprets it to mean, despises all that he has. That he may have what is spiritual and buys that field. That is, either he seeks out good company or he buys the leisure which he does not have, namely spiritual peace. And count them but as dung. That's from Philippians 3, verse 8.

Sometimes it's translated, you know, I consider all things rubbish. It actually means like crap is what it means. And so Aquinas gives the proper translation there, or at least those who translated Aquinas into English, I suppose. Count them as dung that I may gain Christ. Now I'm tempted to see what the Latin is. I'm sure the Latin means that too. If a man should give all the substance of his house for love he will despise it as nothing song of songs chapter 8 verse 7 if a man should give all the

substance of his house for love he will despise it as nothing so that's what i love that that's what aquinas is saying here like again go back to that kind of little quaint analogy I gave in the beginning, right? This idea that, yeah, I find this field and I find a million dollars in this suitcase. All of a sudden, all of the things that were important to me, like my car and my PlayStation 4 and my phone and my whatever else, whatever. I don't care about it anymore. Sell it all. And so just this idea that as we come to Christ, we find in him a treasure that is beyond measure, right? Beyond the worth of what this world can give us. And so we give up the world for the sake of Christ. Anyway, I would love to hear from you below what you got out of this. I really would actually, I'm not just saying that, I do scroll

through the comments and read them and I kind of heart the ones that I found particularly interesting. So please let me know below what you found interesting and let me know what you got out of this verse. Thanks so much. Chat with you next time.