51 “Have you understood all these things?” They *said to Him, “Yes.” 52 And Jesus said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure new things and old.”
Matthew 13:51-52 (NASB)
Parable pause
Jesus is done with parables for now but has one last question for his disciples and a teaching – with an analogy, that is really one final parable! He first makes sure His disciples understand the truths that He has been teaching with parables and explaining to the disciples directly. They confidently say, “Yes”. But oftentimes, as with us, there’s a big chasm between the mind and the heart! We understand (or think we do) but we don’t act and apply.
The believing teacher
There are different views of v52. To me, Jesus is saying that there must have been (or will be) a religious leader (or more) who took what Jesus said to heart and believed. What a wonderful teacher this person becomes. They have all the knowledge of the Old Testament as a foundation to which they add Jesus’ teaching and later, the Holy Spirit’s.
All these apostles (save Judas Iscariot) and especially the NT authors are included. The most prominent one that comes to mind is…Paul. Paul was brought up as a Pharisee and was very zealous for the Jewish faith, knowing the OT teachings with excellence. He was converted on the Damascus road and became the most influential of the apostles and wrote most of the NT!
This summary table may be helpful in reviewing all the parables just shared, including todays.
| The Lessons of Jesus’ Kingdom Parables in Matthew 13 | |
| Soils | God’s Word will be sown and predictable results will follow culminating in the earthly kingdom. |
| Tares | There will be counterfeit believers in the inter-advent period whom God will judge eventually. |
| Mustard seed | The messianic kingdom will grow from a small beginning to become a large entity. |
| Leaven | The present form of the messianic kingdom will become increasingly influential. |
| Treasure | Any price is worth paying for participation in the messianic kingdom. |
| Pearl | Those seeking the messianic kingdom will find it worth any sacrifice. |
| Dragnet | The messianic kingdom will include universal harvesting followed by judgment. |
| Householder | Revelation about the messianic kingdom involves new teaching as well as old. |
RЯeflection
- Jesus is asking us as well, “Do you understand my teaching?” If so, what do we do with it? Do we keep it to ourselves? Do we talk about it just with other followers of Christ? How about taking it to those who haven’t heard?
