Title: Parables of the KOH – Part 6 Script: Mt. 13:51-52
Type: Series/expos. Where: GNBC 3-3-24
Intro: Sometimes our training in a past job or career makes us uniquely qualified to serve in a subsequent career or profession. Some of you very old Good Newers can remember the name “Dr. Dan Graeff”. Dr. Graeff and his wife Elaine, were early members at the church back in the 1970’s. Dr. Graeff had his doctorate in pharmacology, a field in which he had already worked a few years. but wanted to go to medical school to become an MD. Told funny story how one time in pharmacy class, the professor actually asked him to teach a section. His studies in pharmacology informed his medical studies and medical studies helped him to gain new insights into pharmacology. Dr. Graeff’s experience not that unlike a group of people Jesus discussed in His final Kingdom parable in Mt. 13.
Prop: Let’s examine 3 aspects of this final parable in Mt. 13.
BG: 1. This is the final parable Jesus tells in Mt. 13 about the KOH. At first it may seem to be disconnected, however, actually wraps up the section nicely in an application.
2. The 1st 4 parables spoke in public. The following 3 in private to the disciples. Now, after asking if they have understood, He tells one more parable of understanding.
3. The “big idea” of the passage is: “Treasures of God’s Kingdom Truth includes both Old and New Rev.”
Prop: Let’s examine 3 aspects of Jesus’ last parable of the KOH in Mt. 13.
I. A Question is Asked v. 51
A. Jesus Asks a Question to Assess the Disciples’ Understanding.
1. Jesus asks the Disciples if they have understood His Parables.
a. As I previously said, 1st 4 parables to public audience. 2nd 3 to disciples in private. Christ had discussed the Advent, Growth, Opposition to, Value of, and Culmination of the KOH. It was a lot to take in! Now, like any good teacher, Jesus asks His students: “Do you understand?” Do you have any questions?
b. So, Christ is directly questioning their understanding of His teaching on the KOH. Simply stated, the KOH is the rule and reign of Christ over this world. It started with His first Advent and will find its culmination at His 2nd Advent. “Calvin said it is the task of the church to make the invisible kingdom visible. We do that by living in such a way that we bear witness to the reality of the kingship of Christ in our jobs, our families, our schools, and even our checkbooks, because God in Christ is King over every one of these spheres of life. The only way the kingdom of God is going to be manifest in this world before Christ comes is if we manifest it by the way we live as citizens of heaven and subjects of the King.” (Sproul, Ligionier, 9-13-21).
2. Again, as we wrap up this portion of Christ’s parabolic ministry, we must ask ourselves the purpose of Christ’s preaching in parables? Mt. 13:10-12 (Read) It has been given to know the mysteries of the KOH. “Mysteries” here is a word in connection with “initiated information”. All sorts of groups have initiation procedures/events. Fraternities and sororities, sports teams, HMB, clubs and civic groups. Masonic Lodge have all sorts of rituals and symbolism only the initiated know. (BTW – May I gently say this, if you or a loved one is involved in the Masonic it’s religious and worldviews are absolutely incompatible with Biblical Christianity and no Christian should participate in it.)
B. An Answer to Christ’s Question is Given.
1. The Disciples Reply to Christ’s Question with a Resounding: “Yes!”
a. The disciples reply “Yes”. It is obvious that they do understand to some degree. Illust: DA Carson has said: “This doesn’t mean the disciples fully understood everything Jesus had said. Nor, does Jesus think that they fully understood what He was asking, but rather, that they did “Get it”, generally speaking. Illust: Any of you who are or were teachers understand this completely. You ask the question of comprehension, and most answer affirmatively, although they comprehension is incomplete.
b. Illust: Reminds me of a college EE class. Young student’s mind is drifting, possibly scrolling on phone. Professors sees his lack of attention and asks: “So Jack, would you mind telling me and the class how, exactly electricity works? The young man, caught off guard didn’t event really hear the question, but tries to answer. “I am sorry professor, I had the answer on the tip of my tongue just a moment ago, but it has just escaped me.” Prof: “What a pity, what a pity, the only person in the entire world to understand exactly how electricity works and he has just forgotten!” (I personally believe, this is kind of how the disciples were answering in that moment.)
2. This reply demonstrates the Way we are to Relate to One another as Believers.
a. I believe the disciples affirmative answer highlights an important principle for us to understand and apply as Christians today. Notice, this is the only instance in the chapter where the disciples are explicitly stated to understand, and they say it themselves. It’s as wrong to say that Matthew’s account is portraying the disciples as having understood everything Jesus said as it would be to say they understood nothing of what Jesus said.
b. Every single believer is theologically speaking “In process”. We are growing. We are seeing new insights. We look at life differently at different stages of life while still attempting to faithfully apply the Scripture. Let me tell you younger brothers and sisters: Biblical truth often lies between extremes. My seminary President coined a phrase: “It’s easier to go to a consistent extreme, then to stay at the center of Biblical tension.” We all get so excited w/ a specific section of Scripture or theology or possibly an application of a specific passage. It’s easier to hunt that dog to the point of exhaustion than to attempt to see the entire counsel of God’s Word on a topic. Knowing that we are all in process, you and I need to be very careful how we judge other believers for what they may or may not think at a given moment in time.
C. Applic: “Do you understand?”, was the question Jesus asked His disciples. He still asks it of us today. The beauty of Christianity is a child can understand its main tenets in 15 minutes and a Ph.D. can spend years on but a few verses. This is the beauty of the KOH.
II. A Concluding Parable is Announced. V. 52
(We see 3 important elements in this parable.)
A. The first important element is the “Scribe”.
1. Scribe – grammateus – were regarded in the OT as expert instructors in the OT Law and doctrine. Scribes began as a noble group in the OT under the leadership of Ezra. Purpose was to preserve the law and apply its truths to daily living. Yet, over time, this noble task degenerated into a routine of preserving traditions and man-made interpretations. The result was the further burdening of the lives of the people. (Lk. 11:41-52)
2. In the 1st century, scribes and Pharisees were two largely distinct groups, though presumably some scribes were Pharisees. Scribes had knowledge of the law and could draft legal documents (contracts for marriage, divorce, loans, inheritance, mortgages, the sale of land, and the like). Every village had at least one scribe. Pharisees were members of a party that believed in resurrection &following legal traditions that were ascribed not to the Bible but to “the traditions of the fathers.”
3.These men had gotten so wrapped up in the past that they ignored the present. Instead of sharing the living truth from God’s Word, they merchandised dead doctrines and embalmed traditions that could not help the people.” (King and Kingdom, p. 7) All the while, missing the very fact and reality of the Messiah’s presence.
B. The 2nd important element is the new orientation of the Scribe.
1. The scribe has “become a disciple of the Kingdom of Heaven”
a. Notice there is an implied conversion that has taken place here. There is a new orientation. A new allegiance. A new outlook. The grammateus has become a matheteuo., a disciple or a learner. What is Jesus saying here? I believe He was saying that “the learned needed to learn anew.” “The teachers needed to be instructed in the knowledge of the KOH.”
b. I personally believe that Jesus is directly speaking here to the Scribes of His day. They were the OT scholars. They were the academic crème de la crème. If, they could by faith come to Christ and take that rich background of knowledge and apply the appropriate Kingdom interpretation, what a treasure trove of truths they would have for the people!
c. Illust: Let me see if I can illustrate this. Laura Barron. Husband, Andrew. Grew up Jewish. Came to Christ while an engineer with the US Space program. Coworker gave him Gideon NT. At first rejected. It’s not for us (Jews). Coworker insisted: “But it is!” Never read the NT. Placed faith in Christ. Now, because of his cultural and religious background, when coming to faith in Christ, he was able to see the connected insights in the WOG in say the Passover or OT Feasts or Temple services that me growing up as a Gentile were not a part of my life. Doesn’t mean that his ethnicity prequalified him for God’s grace or that mine disqualified me. Both had to be converted. Both had to come to faith in Christ alone. Both had to become disciples, but rather, cultural and life backgrounds gave each certain insights into the Scripture.
2. A subtle distinction is being made by the Savior.
a. In some ways a Scribe emphasized learning, whereas being a disciple emphasized living. When Jesus called His disciples He didn’t say: “Come study with Me.” However, He did bid them to “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” (Mt. 4:19). In Jn. 1:37-42 the disciples curiously ask Christ: “Rabbi, where are you staying?” Jesus doesn’t tell them to memorize Is. 53. Rather, He bids them to “Come and see.”
b. Christian, may I make a point of application here? Christianity is NOT simply about learning. Now, all of us need to be learning and growing in the WOG. However, we also need to be LIVING. I see a lot of Christians who are like a “dog on a bone” w/regard to one or two pet issues. Study this. Podcast that. I know a lot of Podcasts can be helpful, however, a lot of it can become tantalizing nonsense of minutia that is nothing more than grown men shamelessly gossiping like old ladies about other grown men. Live your life. Love your wife. Play with your kids. Put in a day’s work. Be involved in your church.
C. The 3rd Important element is the Comparison Jesus Makes of that Scribe who is now a Disciple.
1. Jesus says that the scribe who has become a disciple of the KOH is likened unto a “householder”.
a. There it is: “is like”. That is our sign that we have our eighth parable. Here it is again, that characteristic formula Jesus has used in this chapter. This is a somewhat strange comparison to the 21st century Western mind. Jesus likens scribes who have become disciples of the KOH (Converted) to a “householder”
b. “householder” – oikodespotes – masculine noun, master or head of the house. Literally, despot of the house. Let me see if I can illustrate this. We get thrown off on “despot”. IN Lk 12:32 Jesus says: ““Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.” (NIV) As Westerners we hear that and go “TILT!” like the old pin ball machines! Jesus is talking about flocks and sheep and kings and kingdoms. Doesn’t make sense. Does to the ME or Arab mind. A ME sheik is shepherd of his people, the father of his family, and the king of his nation. This is the concept of the “householder”.
2. What is the purpose of this Comparison?
a. IN the NT there are two words for “treasure”. Both are used in the SOM (Mt. 5-7). One carries the idea of that which is “laid up”. The other carries the idea of “that which is spent”. Here in this passage, Jesus uses the word that means “that which is laid or stored up”. The householder has extensive resources and he scatters them bountifully. He has had them heaped up, as in storage, but now, under a new impulse, he is lavishly casting them about.
b. So, what Jesus is saying here now takes crystal focus. The scribes of Jesus’ day had history and tradition and years of study in the OT. They were the grammateus who taught Israel and kept tradition. But now, with the coming of Christ and His Kingdom, those who would place their faith and trust in Christ and become His disciples would realize the bountiful treasurers they had in the WOG and its application in Christ and like the disciples, would lavish that truth on all who would listen.
D. Applic: When I was a little boy spent lot of time at grandparent’s house. They had exactly one box of toys for us to play with: 3 1930’s bb gloves, a bb bat, a partially broken frisbee. What did you do for fun? Played outside. BB, FB, BB. Tag. Play War. Fish. Shoot bb guns. One day, raining so hard. Had played Yatzee about 20 times. Bored. My grandfather came down from storage closet with an old and dusty cigar box. My brother and I satin rapt attention. Opened: Lead WW1 soldiers. Confederate Script. Metal jacks, Black and white slides from Asia late 1800’s! We were Indiana Jones before Harrison Ford ever was! Treasures of my grandfather’s childhood were treasures new for us!
III. An Application is to Be Made from the Parable.
A. The Application for the Scribe at the Time of Christ.
1. I think it is quite intentional that Matthew placed this collection of Kingdom parables smack in the middle of his Gospel. It marks a major turning point in the ministry of Jesus. Following the Jewish leadership’s widespread rejection of message, beginning here in chapter 13, Jesus begins to articulate the Gospel of the Kingdom thru parables. In doing so, He intentionally makes use of a device (parable) by which He could both conceal as well as reveal the mysteries of that Kingdom dependent upon the audience.
2. The kingdom scribe possessed some truths of the kingdom of heaven from the O.T. and after hearing and believing the message of Jesus, he possessed exponentially more. All knowledge from his pre-kingdom past was not discarded. Rather, it remained useful and necessary information. See 5:17-48. With this, Jesus taught there is linkage between the Old and New Testaments. The trained kingdom scribe is able to understand the mysteries of the kingdom (v. 11) and “is able to maintain a balance between the continuity and the discontinuity existing between the era inaugurated by Jesus and that of the past” (J. Crabtree, Hagner 33A:402).
B. The Application for us as Believers in the KOH today.
1. The Church is to continue its ministry of bringing forth things both new and old. Notice Jesus did not say to bring forth new things and old things. That’s not the point. That would be two different items. Rather, Jesus is saying two facts concerning the same thing. They are one in essence. The principle is old and the application is new. The root is old and the fblossom and the fruit are new. The old things are the eternal things the new things are the applications of those eternal truths to the passing phases of changing times. Things new and old. Both are necessary for growth and life. If we destroy the old there will be no new. If we find an absence of the new we shall soon discover that the life of the old has ceased. Illust: Go to any garden and see. If the root is dead there is no blossom or fruit. If the old is dead the new does not appear. (Illust – Perfect Example Why we encourage Seder Suppers.)
2. Everything that Jesus taught here in Mt. 13 is pertinent for us today. The parables exposes aspects of the Kingdom that are still in force today: receptivity and non receptivity(1st) ; the problems of perceived delay in justice and judgment (2&7th); the apparent insignificance of the KOH (3&4); the incalculable value of the KOH to those who do not possess it (5&6).In an increasingly secular day, when the advance of the Gospel sometimes seems to be bogged down or stagnant, when the kingdom seems to be a doubtful reality, and judgment an outmoded idea of the past, these parables retain their significance.
Conclusion: Fundamental truths that never change. Kingdom truths never change. Illust Ray Steadman story of a man who went to see an old music teacher. When he knocked on the door his old friend greeted him. Flippantly blurted, "Well good morning! What's the good news for today?" The old music teacher didn't say a word. He just went back into the room, picked up a little rubber hammer, and struck a tuning fork that was hanging there. As the note sounded throughout the room he said, "That is 'A'. Now, that was 'A' five thousand years ago and that will be 'A' five thousand years in the future. The soprano across the hall sings off-key. The piano downstairs is out of tune. The baritone upstairs flats his high notes. But," he said, striking the tuning fork again, "that is 'A', and that, my friend, is the good news for today!" And that is true, isn't it? There are fundamental things that never change. One of the satanic lies that is being foisted upon our searching, deeply-feeling generation is that there is that everything changes, nothing remains. That’s a lie! There are great things which never have changed and never will change. As long as the universe is here, and even beyond that time, as long as God exists, there are things that never will change -- things old. The KOH’s Advent arrived in the person of Christ. The KOH is perceived and received differently by different individuals and there are many obstacles to the individual receiving it. The KOH has had and will continue to have dynamic growth. The KOH has imperceptible value. The KOH will have a consummation marked by a final judgment. Are you in the Kingdom?
