Matthew 13:51-52 51“Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.” 52And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple for the kingdom of heaven is like a man who is the master of a house who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
The disciples grew significantly in their understanding of Jesus and the kingdom because of Jesus’ teaching through parables. They could picture in their minds the images, scenes, and activities of these parables because they came from everyday life. Their faith in him was planted like the seeds in the different stories and was growing stronger because it was developing deep roots of new insight and understanding. They had a long ways to go still but were making good progress. The word for understood (synēkate) has the sense of comprehending and understanding something in a new way, moving from ignorance to new insight. The light had dawned in the disciples’ thinking about Jesus. Each of the five major teaching sections of Matthew offers us the opportunity to get to know Jesus and his mission better.
The last short parable speaks specifically to scribes but has wider implications. It is an invitation to those who were opposing Jesus. Many Jewish leaders, such as the scribes, did indeed become disciples. Scribes were serious students of Scripture and devoted themselves to understanding the truth. One potential problem with studying the Bible is letting it become humanistic and doing it without revelation of the truth. The scribes who became believers in Jesus brought with them their knowledge of Scripture and added to this the new revelation brought by Jesus. They had the best of both the old and the new. They had the potential of becoming great leaders in the kingdom of heaven. Their new understanding (verse 51) should be built on their old studies and learning.
Revelation through grace and human study with effort lead to deep roots that will nourish the plant of faith, producing a great harvest for God’s kingdom. A master of a household likes to show guests his greatest treasures. The greatest treasure we can have is Jesus. Jesus is the key to understanding the Old Testament and participating in the kingdom.
For older posts, click here.