Treasures New and Old

Matthew 13:51-53

51 ‘Have you understood all this?’ They answered, ‘Yes.’ 52 And he said to them, ‘Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.’ 53 When Jesus had finished these parables, he left that place.

The passage opens with one of the funniest lines in the entire Bible. The disciples have twice in this chapter (Matthew 13) asked Jesus to explain what he meant by the parables he told. He has just told three in a row, without any explanations. And turning to the disciples asks them “Have you understood all this?” and they said, “yes”. What?! Of course, they didn’t understand. The whole point about parables is that parables are like slow-release tablets, they take time to understand. But the disciples claim to have understood. It is very funny. But before we laugh at them too much, we need to recognize we are often in the same spot. We say we understand, and only later realize we only had a surface understanding, as deeper and deeper truth is seen/recognized/revealed by the Holy Spirit.

Vs. 52 is a very important statement from Jesus. Those who speak about the kingdom of heaven are its scribes, and in their speaking about the kingdom they bring out both new and old. The patterns, practices, ways of living out the kingdom of heaven are new in each new time, but they are always consistent with what has gone before, That is, the new ways of the kingdom of heaven do not reject what has gone before, they do not completely reverse what has been said and done. But expressions of the kingdom of heaven in the new time are not a mere parroting of what has been before. New times mean new ways of speaking and acting, but ways of speaking and acting that are consistent what has been said before. In other words, to quote Jesus from Matthew 5:17-20, Jesus came not to abolish the law but to bring it to its deepest meaning. The teaching Jesus gives, the guidance the Holy Spirit offers, are consistent with what has come before in God’s speaking to God’s people. This truth should shape preaching, small group Bible study, and our personal devotional reading.

PRAYER:

O Lord, we rejoice that you have given us your word the Bible, that speaks to us of Jesus, and gives us your word. We rejoice in the way the Holy Spirit takes the Bible and makes it live for and in us. Teach us the beauty of living the ancient truths of the Bible in our new time. In Jesus’ name. Amen.