Saturday, October 1, 2011
Matthew 13:52 Then He said to them, "Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old."
TO WHAT SHALL I COMPARE THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN?
In this last parable of Matthew 13, after having taught us the true nature of the kingdom, Christ encourages those who understand not to get bogged down in a mere repetition of the old things but to find new ways of expressing the same truths. This can certainly be true in the case of a pastor. Some men may graduate from seminary and consider that they have well learned God's word. Then they might well spend the rest of their lives merely repeating the same phrases and illustrations which they had learned so long ago. The same may be true of members who learn one phrase and keep repeating it like a parrot without reference to context or situation, and without understanding.
The Lord instead counsels three things:
1 - "every scribe instructed in the kingdom of heaven" -- first comes good scriptural grounding in the things of God and the truths concerning the kingdom. It is not the message that is "new" but only how it is expressed;
2 - "brings things new" -- we should not get caught up in the old, and stuck on the same phrases, but learn to express God's eternal truth in new ways, and according to new circumstances;
3 - "and old" -- thus even as we learn new ways of speaking God's truth, we never despise the old and consider it left over debris from a dead era. But instead we treasure it as we do the new and make good use of both.
First we learn what sinners we are. Second we are astounded to find that God has declared us His children anyway. Third we grow in our ability to share this with all men, even making use of some of our own parables to describe the wonderful love of God.
