"...one pearl of great value" (Matt. 13:46).
Years ago I did the funeral for a woman named Margaret. I used the Parable of the Pearl for the reason that the Greek word for "pearl" is "margaret."
You too are Margaret, the pearl of great value.
A beautiful explanation of this parable says that the merchant is Christ, and you are the very precious pearl. Consider two parts of the parable:
Of great value. (The only other time this adjective is used in the New Testament is in John 12:3 to describe the ointment applied by Mary to the feet of Jesus.) Good, true self-esteem or worth begins by knowing that you are of great value to God. He made you uniquely. He loves you as though the only one. You are as a very precious pearl to Him!
Bought. This is the Christ word. Paul, in two places, says, "You were bought with a price" (1 Cor. 6:20 and 7:23), as though commenting on this parable. The price was the life and blood of Christ! How marvelous the words in the Small Catechism: "[Christ] has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, that I may be His own." His own very precious pearl.
The only thing as precious as you is the blood of Christ. He was able to use it therefore to redeem you!
