Lord of heaven and earth- can’t that mean “Lord of everything that is”, rather than necessarily being a contrast? I agree that heaven is a place of God’s mysteries, but I don’t think that’s necessarily apparent in 10.21.
I’m with T. Your take on “Divine Conspiracy” would be very valuable. Even if Willard ends up saying what you already think, he comes at it from a different angle, and his “angle” is what made me finally believe that God is *good*. I’ve lately realized that my “big theological re-think” of the last ten years has been about my search for a truly good God.
Dana

I don’t agree with your third observation. I don’t see it necessarily saying the “little flock” will enter heaven, only that our treasure and our hearts (metaphorical) are there, not that we will enter there. Couldn’t it just mean they are just “stored” there until the “new creation”?
I also wonder about what our treasure is. If our treasure is in heaven, which is where God is, then could Jesus be implying that our true treasure is God himself or our relationship to God?
Another thought. Could “heart” here be metaphor for “true selves”? If so, does it mean that we are (in a sence) already with God in heaven even while we are still physicaly here on earth, kept there until the “new creation”? Can anyone help me with this?

B Stanley,
Fair enough. I begin with this:
Jesus says that God will give them the kingdom in v. 32. If 32 is connected to 33, then we have to see how. Jesus says sell your mammon and you will then have something that is eternal instead of something that is simply temporal, but he does not devalue earthly living by this statement. A similar image comes next: make purses that do not wear out. Now he mentions heaven as connected to purse: an unwearing-out purse is the same as unfailing treasure. But heaven here is a place into which thieves cannot enter because it is a place protected.
It is a place; it is a safe place; the kingdom will be given to them.
Those are the two points I am trying to connect.