📖 Biblical Definition
The pearl of great price is a parable of Jesus describing the surpassing value of the kingdom of heaven: "The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it" (Matthew 13:45-46). The parable teaches that the kingdom is worth more than everything else combined. Some interpret the merchant as the sinner finding Christ; others see Christ as the merchant who gave everything to purchase His people. Both readings affirm the incomparable worth of the kingdom and the total commitment required to enter it.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
PEARL: A white, hard, smooth, shining body, found in certain shell-fish, much valued as a gem.
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PEARL, n. [L. perla.] A white, hard, smooth, shining body, usually of a roundish form, found in certain shell-fish, and esteemed as a jewel of great price. In Scripture, a pearl of great price denotes something of supreme and incomparable value.
📖 Key Scripture
• Matthew 13:45-46 — "Finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it."
• Matthew 13:44 — "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field."
• Philippians 3:8 — "I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
The pearl has been cheapened by a gospel that demands nothing and costs nothing.
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Modern Christianity offers the pearl of great price as a free addition to an already full life — "accept Jesus and add Him to your portfolio." But the merchant in the parable sold EVERYTHING. The pearl was not an accessory; it was a total exchange. The easy-believism gospel presents Christ as one treasure among many rather than the one treasure worth relinquishing everything else. Bonhoeffer identified this as "cheap grace" — grace without discipleship, the cross without the cost. The pearl of great price demands total surrender, and any gospel that offers it on lesser terms is selling costume jewelry.
Usage
• "The merchant sold everything for the pearl — not because the pearl was cheap, but because everything else was worthless by comparison."
• "A gospel that costs nothing offers a pearl worth nothing."