William Barclay's Big Blunder

  by Adam Harbinson

'I've found the pearl!' he roared, and he began to dance around the room -

and it all sounds so plausible, but it's phoney.

I came across a little book recently called 'The Daily Study Bible' by William Barclay, considered to be an outstanding New Testament scholar, a theologian of international distinction, and a revered teacher. In it he was writing about the pearl of greatest price; 'The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!' (Mt. 13:45, 46).

In his typically eloquent fashion, the eminent teacher went on to tell how highly pearls were valued in ancient days; 'They found pleasure in simply handling a pearl.they found joy in possessing and looking at them.' He even went on to tell his captivated readers that the main sources of pearls in those days were the shores of the Red Sea and far off Britain .

Then he gets into his brief sermon; 'The kingdom of heaven is compared to a pearl. To the ancient people, a pearl was the loveliest of all possessions; that means that the kingdom of heaven is the loveliest of all things' - bear with me here, this is good stuff.

Then the venerable preacher goes on; 'To be in the kingdom is to accept and do the will of God', and he delivers his punch line; 'The supreme beauty is the willing obedience that makes us friends of God.' Now, have you spotted the blunder yet? No, I don't mean his claim that our 'willing obedience makes us friends of God'; we all know it's the sacrifice of Jesus that makes us friends of God and that out of that friendship flows willing obedience. But no, there's an underlying, more menacing error.

Perhaps like me, you've heard many a sermon on the pearl of greatest price. I remember one particularly funny occasion when the preacher wondered if it had crossed the merchant's mind to consult his wife before selling everything in order to buy this pearl. Picture the scene; teatime, businessman rushes home; 'Forget the spuds dear, we're selling the cooker, and the TV, and the microwave. The car's got to go too, and how much money do you have in your purse?' Wife looks flabbergasted. 'I've found the pearl!' he roared with mounting excitement, and he began to dance around the room - and it all sounds so plausible, but it's phoney.

Why? Because the text said nothing about the kingdom of heaven being likened to a pearl - nothing. Let's read it again; 'The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant who found a pearl.' and yes, I believe we must have the audacity to challenge the great preacher man, for it seems to me that a central aspect of the text is being turned on its head here. Barclay's interpretation puts the onus on you and me to find the kingdom. The kingdom is like a pearl of great price, such that we must abandon everything we hold dear; we must get hold of this pearl! But Jesus was saying that it was the merchant who gave his very best so you and I could be citizens of his kingdom. It was the merchant who sold all that he had for you and me. You are the pearl!

Now, two things deeply disturb me. One; how can an eminent scholar miss such a basic principle? His chapter opens with a quotation from Matthew; 'The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant .' and yet only ten lines into the body of the text he says, 'The kingdom of heaven is like a pearl'?

Why? Perhaps because as a youth he read another book by an equally eminent teacher, Thomas Guthrie DD; 'The Parables' (published in 1866 by Strahan of London and New York,) in which Guthrie says much the same thing: 'Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever: and salvation, with its blood-bought and inestimable blessings, will ever remain that "one pearl of great price" which may be found by all; and which whosoever finds should sell all he has to buy.' (Page 191).

Barclay, presumably, went on to build an entire theology of the pearl of greatest price on Guthrie's interpretation, so that if or when he uncovered his error, it was easier to perpetuate a dubious theology than to say, 'Sorry folks! Got that one wrong.'

The other disturbing thing is that many will read this and probably not even bother to check it out, fundamental as it is. Thus they will choose to ignore a breathtaking truth; God loves you and me so much that he gave heaven's best so we could be with him.

The truth is, we are the pearl. Embrace that and you're free from the need to perform. Reject it and you're choosing the tedium of the religious treadmill. Deception, deliberate or otherwise, is at its most effective when it promotes a truth that is almost right.

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