Matthew 13:51-52 Introduction After Jesus seven parables of the kingdom (the parables of the sower, the weeds, the mustard seed, the leaven, the hidden treasure, the pearl of great value, and the net), Jesus will conclude now with one more parable. But first he asks His disciples a question: I. Matthew 13:51a Have you understood all these things? Understood all what things? Well, the parables! The secrets of the kingdom! The things Jesus has been uttering, which had been hidden since the foundation of the world The wonderful revelation of the saving rule and reign of God through Jesus Christ the Messiah. Have you understood all these things? And now in obedience to Christ, we need to ask ourselves: Have we understood all these things? Not just: Have we comprehended these things with our brains?, but, Have we truly understood these things by faith? Remember what Jesus said: Matthew 13:13-15 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. For this people s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them. Have we understood these things? Not just: Have we gained a head knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom?, but, Are we orienting all of our living in light of these secrets of the kingdom? Matthew 13:23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty. Have we understood all these things? And how is it showing in our lives from day to day? Of course, this is the question that we need to ask ourselves after every single time that we have read the Word of God or heard it preached. II. Matthew 13:51b They said to him, Yes. The disciples are simply answering as honestly as they know how. For right now, they don t have any more questions. As one commentator says: Their answer implies that, as they themselves see it, their insight has been immeasurably deepened (Hendriksen). Of course, they won t come to a full understanding of these secrets of the kingdom until after the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, His ascension into heaven, and His sending forth of the Holy Spirit. But for right now, the disciples can honestly say that by faith they have understood. And this, then, leads Jesus to conclude with one more parable, and one final exhortation. 1
III. Matthew 13:52a And he said to them, Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his storeroom [of treasures] what is new and what is old. (cf. NIV & NASB) So what was a Scribe in Jesus day? Well, the scribes traced their beginnings all the way back to the days of Ezra, after the Babylonian captivity. Ezra 7:6, 11 Ezra was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses that the LORD, the God of Israel, had given a man learned in matters of the commandments of the LORD and his statutes for Israel. You could say that a scribe was a scholar and an authority on the law. Scribes were experts in the study and interpretation of the law of Moses (NBD). But a scribe was more than this. In the New Testament, scribes were also called very simply teachers of the law (Luke 5:17; cf. Acts 5:34) So a scribe was someone who because of his extensive study and learning was able to explain and teach the law to the people (cf. Neh. 8:6-8). Ezra really did set the standard for all true Scribes: Ezra 7:10 For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel. So we see that the scribe of Jesus day was concerned in every way with the Old Testament law of Moses, and ultimately with all of the Old Testament Scriptures the law and the prophets from Genesis to Malachi. But now Jesus speaks of a scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven! Do you see the apparent tension here? We have an expert in the Old Testament Scriptures who is now learning the new things of the kingdom that had been hidden since the foundation of the world. We have a teacher of the law of Moses who has now become a student at the feet of Jesus. So what will this mean for the scribe? Will he need to abandon his old field of study in favor of the new? Will he need to leave off studying and teaching the Old Testament Scriptures in favor of studying and teaching the new things of the kingdom? Jesus answers: IV. Matthew 13:52b Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his storeroom [of treasures] what is new and what is old. (cf. NIV & NASB) So the answer is no! This brand new reality of the kingdom does not displace or set aside the Old Testament Scriptures. At this point, I can imagine that we re all nodding our heads and thinking to ourselves: Yes, I know of course it doesn t But that s because were not yet comprehending just how new the kingdom is. That s because we haven t yet appreciated how huge, and vast, and gigantic is this change, this transition from the old to the new from the old age of the law to the new age of the kingdom, and the rule and reign of God in Jesus Christ. It s apocalyptic, and cataclysmic, and revolutionary, and earth-shattering. And when we really get this, any sane person could easily be tempted to ask: In light of the new, what in the world am I to do with the old? In most cases, it s a very natural and expected thing that when the new 2
comes, the old is set aside and replaced by the new. That s usually the point of something new! But the scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is expected to study and to teach both the new and the old both the New Testament secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven and the Old Testament Law and Prophets. But how does this work? How can this be? How can we still study and teach the old when the new has come and is here? Now maybe once again we re thinking to ourselves: This is such an obvious question with such an obvious answer But is it really? Because people have actually answered this question in several different ways. Some people keep the Old Testament by viewing it mainly as a collection of stories full of character sketches and moral examples. But while it s true that there are many examples for us to learn from both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament (1 Cor. 10:1-14; Heb. 11), this is very rarely the main point of the story. There was always a deeper agenda. And, of course, this kind of approach would still leave out huge portions of the Old Testament where there are no stories! Another way that people have retained the Old Testament is by showing how it has faithfully predicted the future and how there are still so many things that have yet to come to pass. So when the Old Testament is not giving us morals and character sketches, it s viewed mainly as a guide to future events. But while it s true that there are many predictions in the Old Testament, the prediction itself is never the main point for the prophets. Just like with the stories, so also with the predictions there was always a deeper agenda. And, of course, this kind of approach would also leave out huge sections of the prophets and the rest of the Old Testament where there are no predictions! Think about this: If we were really to think of the Old Testament as mainly a collection of story illustrations and examples or as a guide to future events, then there is no way that it would deserve a place in our storehouse of treasures alongside the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. So what does that leave us with? Should we include the Old Testament among the treasures in our storehouse because of the ceremonial laws and the temple worship of Israel? But wasn t it Jesus who said that the new wine must be poured into new wineskins and not old wineskins (Mat. 9:17)? Or what about the moral law and the Ten Commandments? But hasn t Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, already given us the new law of the kingdom (Mat. 5)? What place, then, does the Old Testament have in the householder s storeroom of treasures? What place do the Law and the Prophets have alongside the new and glorious realities of the kingdom of heaven? Once the newness of the kingdom has come, of what value is the old? Well, the answer is staring us right in the face. Let s review: In Jesus parable, who is the householder who brings out of his storeroom of treasures what is new and what is old? He is the scribe the expert in the Old Testament who now has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven! And it s because he is a disciple of the kingdom that he is now able to bring out the old treasures of the law and the prophets in a whole new kingdom light! It s as though we had a great hall filled with precious gems and treasures of every kind, and yet the full, breathtaking beauty of that treasure was hidden because of the dim, diffused light of an overcast day. But when the clouds break, and the sun comes out, and the beams of light shine through the windows, the treasures are finally revealed for what they really are in all of their true glory and splendor. And so it is with the Old Testament Law and Prophets (that s everything from Genesis to Malachi). When the light of the kingdom of heaven finally dawned in the rule and reign of Jesus Christ and especially His saving rule in the Church that light illuminated the entire Old Testament and unveiled the law and the Prophets in all of their true 3
glory and splendor. As long ago as the turn of the fifth century, Augustine put it like this: God, the inspirer and author of both testaments, wisely arranged that the New Testament be hidden in the Old and the Old be made manifest in the New (quoted in Bruner). And so it s as though the scribe, who for most of his life has been intimately familiar with the Old Testament Scriptures, has finally discovered them as if for the first time. The new has fulfilled and thereby renewed the old, [and so the old has therefore] become new (Bonnard; quoted in Carson). We rightly and fully understand the Old Testament only in the light of the kingdom of heaven only in the light of the good news of God s saving rule and reign through Jesus Christ, whom He has given as head of the Church. You may remember Jesus encounter with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus after His resurrection: Luke 24:25-27, 30-32 (cf. Acts 28:23) And [Jesus] said to them, O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things CONCERNING HIMSELF When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he OPENED to us the Scriptures? We must not abandon the old as much of the church is tempted to do! We must not belittle the old as though it were mainly a collection of moralistic stories or a guide to future events. Instead, we must carefully integrate and absorb the old into the new perspective of the kingdom of heaven which is both already here, and still to come (cf. France). As one commentator says: Reading the Hebrew Scriptures under Jesus lordship makes them come alive [for] they were made [all of them] for him (Bruner). Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his storeroom [of treasures] what is new and what is old. Another commentator writes: The new things are here mentioned before the old because [the old] receive light and favor from [the new] and are at length most sweetly harmonized together (Bengal; quoted in Bruner). Conclusion So what does this have to do with us? Well, first of all, we are reminded that we must not neglect the old! We must read and study the Old Testament, and hear the Old Testament preached just as we read and study the New Testament and hear the New Testament preached. This has a very practical significance for our Bible reading plans as well as for which church we choose to be a part of. But more than this, we are reminded that as we read and study the Old Testament, we must be careful to read and study it in the full light of the new perspective of the kingdom of heaven which is already here today in its fullness, and yet also still to come in its consummation. We must read and study the Old Testament always in light of the rule and reign of Jesus Christ and especially in light of his saving rule and reign in the Church. It is this light that will illuminate the entire Old Testament and unveil the law and the Prophets in all of their true glory and 4
splendor. Now you might be asking yourself: How do I do this? That sounds like a pretty big challenge. And you re right. It is. But the reward is more than worth it. As a very practical help toward this goal, I would highly recommend the Geneva Study Bible (1599). Because of the older English, it can be difficult to follow at first, but most people who give themselves a chance to adjust will find that they have no problem understanding. In fact, the older English can often bring an added sense of beauty, and power, and clarity. Though no study Bible is perfect, the Geneva Study Bible, more than any study Bible I have ever read, is truly God-exalting. And the Geneva Study Bible does a beautiful job of unveiling the true splendor of the Old Testament in light of the present reality of the kingdom (e.g. Isaiah 66). You can purchase this Bible in book form, or you can find it on the internet where the English has been somewhat updated. You can find the Bible and study notes, as well as an excellent short introduction to the Study Bible at this web address: www.reformedreader.org/gbn/en.htm But now we have to ask again: Why? What will all of this really matter? What difference will it make? Why is it so important for us to see the new and the old together and the old always in the light of the new? Well, let me ask you this: Why does a master of a house bring treasure out of his storeroom? Does he bring it out just to display and show off? Of course not! He brings it out in order to provide for the needs of his household. This is why Jesus asked His disciples: Have you understood all these things? Because if they did, then their job now was to bring these treasures out (both the new and the old together) for the benefit of the Church. They were to be the new scribes of the kingdom (cf. Mat. 23:34) who study, in order that they might teach and feed the Church. And this is exactly what Matthew has been doing. As he writes his Gospel for the Church, he quotes constantly from the Old Testament, always interpreting it in the light of the kingdom in light of the saving rule and reign of Jesus Christ. And what is the result? The result is a church that is strong in faith, excelling in love, growing in holiness, overflowing with joy, and passionate for the spread of Christ s kingdom at home and throughout all the earth. As Donald Carson puts it: The [entire Old Testament has found its] fulfillment in Jesus person, [in his] teaching, and [in his] kingdom; and the scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom now brings out of himself deep understanding of these things and their transformed perspective affecting all [of] life. (Carson) * May all of us, then, be scribes of the kingdom of heaven, equipped to bring out of our storehouse of treasures things that are new, and things that are old. It s towards this end that I am preaching through Matthew in order that we might be strong in faith, excelling in love, growing in holiness, overflowing with joy, and passionate for the spread of Christ s kingdom. * As we seek to understand the will of God in its fullness, we must draw out the meaning of the Old Testament Scriptures while always seeing how they are fulfilled and apply in the kingdom age (cf. Blomberg). 5
Read Matthew 13:52 (see III. above) Teaching our Children Q. What was a scribe in Jesus day? A. ~ A scribe was an expert in the Old Testament. A scribe was a teacher of the Law. ~ See Scriptures on page 2 Q. Jesus describes a scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven. Does this seem a little strange? Do you see a tension here? A. ~ We have an expert in the Old Testament Scriptures who is now learning the new things of the kingdom things that had been hidden since the foundation of the world. ~ (Remember that the kingdom is God s saving rule and reign through Jesus Christ) Q. Should the scribe stop studying and teaching the old since the new is already here? A. No! Jesus said that the master of the house brings out of his storehouse of treasures things that are new and things that are old! Q. Now that the newness of the kingdom has come, what is the value of the old (the law and the prophets)? Why in the world should we put the old things in the same storehouse with the new things? A. ~ Now that the newness of Jesus kingdom has come, we can see the old (the law and the prophets) in a whole new light a kingdom light! ~ Reflect on the quotes at the top of page 4 and also the Scripture on page 4 ~ The Old Testament was always pointing to Jesus and His kingdom. Now that Jesus has come and His kingdom is here, we can see the Old Testament in a brand new way in all of its true glory and splendor! Q. Why is it so important for us to have a true understanding of Jesus kingdom from both the new and from the old? A. ~ The master of the house brings the treasures out of his storeroom (both the new and the old) in order to provide for the needs of his household). In the same way ~ When we have a true understanding of Jesus kingdom, it will change our thinking and our perspective on all of life (discuss with your children). ~ We will be strong in faith, excelling in love, growing in holiness, overflowing with joy, and passionate for the spread of Christ s kingdom. ~ Read the Old Testament with your children always in the light of the New! 6