A mighty Man of wealth travelled to earth, seeking to invest all that He possessed in what He could find to be the most valuable asset in the world. He could have chosen to invest in fine wines, a most lucrative business in the Middle East where He moved. In fact, on one occasion He turned water into wine; a wine of a vintage so exquisite that the connoisseurs declared it to be by far the best they had ever tasted. Yet He did what He did, not to profit Himself, but to benefit others.
He could have chosen to invest in the marine sector. With His intimate knowledge of where fish could be found He could have extracted tremendous wealth from the oceans of earth. On one occasion, after experienced fishermen had toiled all night and caught nothing, He guided them precisely to where they should cast their nets and such was the multitude of fishes they caught, they were unable to draw in their nets. And yet His advice to these men was that if they wanted to become truly rich, then they ought to leave their nets and follow Him.
He could have chosen to invest in precious metal. He knew where every vein of iron ore lay in the crust of earth; where every mine of gold and silver could be found. Indeed, on one occasion He told a man that he would find a piece of money in the mouth of a fish, but He did so to meet need and not out of greed. He was not interested in holding any foreign currency in His investment portfolio. One time He asked to be shown a penny and when it was presented to Him He said to render it unto Caesar.
The assets that others placed such value on were rendered worthless by this mighty Man of wealth. The only entity He found on earth that He was prepared to give all that He had to purchase was the very thing others traded in order to obtain the assets He deemed to be of no value. It was as black as coal, but was of greater worth than the accumulated value of all the coal mines, oil wells, and gas reserves of earth combined. In its natural state, it was unclean and filthy, but the Prospector saw the tremendous potential that most others failed to see.
The prince of the region, aware of their value also, traded with men, gave them his merchandise of wine and wealth, of silver and gold, in exchange for their souls. This deceiver recognized the threat the Wealthy Investor posed to his monopoly in the marketplace. He sought to entice the Prospector to exchange His wealth for the real estate of earth. He took Him to the summit of a high mountain and told Him that His estate could encompass as far as He could see. This Astute Investor, seeking for a long-term investment and aware that someday heaven and earth would pass away, declined his offer.
The only asset on earth that He desired to purchase to take back to His home in heaven was the souls of men, so He paid in full the tremendous price that was required to redeem them. Indeed, the only monetary transaction He was involved in on earth was when He was sold by the betrayer for 30 pieces of silver. The only stocks that He accepted were the stocks that the soldiers put on Him as they lashed His back. The only property on earth that bore His name on its title was the wooden cross which He carried to Calvary. The only time that metal passed through His hands was not in the commodity markets of earth but in the slave market of sin, as soldiers drove iron nails through His hands and nailed Him to a cross. The only bond that He held was the bond of love for sinners that bound Him to the tree, for there on the cross He paid in full the mighty price of redemption. He shed His blood. He gave His life. He gave all that He had, and because Jesus paid it all, we can say that we have been “redeemed, not with corruptible things such as silver and gold … but with the precious blood of Christ” (1Peter 1:18-19).
