The Parable of the House Owner
Matthew 13:51-53
The question, “Do you understand
all these things?” is strange as Jesus already said that they were permitted to
understand the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 13:11), that more
understanding would be given to them (13:12a), that they would have an
abundance of knowledge (13:12b), and that they were blessed with both spiritual
seeing and spiritual hearing (13:16), more than what the prophets themselves
had received (13:17). The ultimate result of their hearing and understanding
would be, according the parable of the sower and the seed, that they would
produce an ever-increasing bumper crop (13:23). So why did Jesus ask this
question at this point?
It appears that the parable of
the house owner concludes this particular parabolic collection, so the question
may relate to the new label Jesus was about to apply to His disciples, namely
that of “teachers of the law” who are also “disciples of the Kingdom of
Heaven”. The parables were all pointing forward to the task that would one day
be given to the followers of Jesus…making disciples of the nations, bringing
them into the new covenant under the absolute authority of the Triune God, but
also teaching them to obey all that had been commanded. Had they not grasped
“all these things”, they would not be ready to be co-builders of the kingdom.
It seems clear from later statements
of Jesus such as that in Matthew 15:16, “Don’t you understand yet?”, that the
disciples did not understand fully, and even to the very moment prior to the
ascension they did not see the global aspect of the kingdom perfectly (Acts
1:6), but as with every disciple making movement, this too was a process. We
must always remember that while our disciples might grasp matters at one point
that later they might appear to not have learned anything at all. If we are
pre-prepared to deal with the messiness and ups and downs of disciple making,
then the exasperation and disappointment will not be so great.
It is also interesting to note
that while Jesus referred to them as “teachers of the law”, the religious
leaders of the day saw them as “ordinary men with no special training in the
Scriptures” (Acts 4:13). As John Heyward famously stated in 1546, "There are none so blind as those who
will not see. The most deluded people are those who choose to ignore what they
already know.”
This only goes to
show that if we are taught by the Lord through His Word, we are teachers of
that Word and do not need any human being’s approval.
The Greek word
grammateus indicates some form of knowledge of the Old Testament…at least enough
to be able to train others. By combining this word with matheteutheis it seems Jesus was saying that if the disciples also understood
the principles of the kingdom they were becoming the official interpreters of
both the old and the new laws of God’s expanding jurisdiction. As such, the
followers of Jesus stand in stark contrast to those “who think themselves wise
and clever” as the things of the kingdom have been hidden from them and given
to “the childlike” (Matthew 11:25). The disciples are like homeowners with
treasure storerooms full of old spiritual treasures as well as “the new reality
of Jesus fulfilling that of the old covenant reality”[1].
The treasury referred to here in
this parable may hearken back to what Jesus said in Matthew 12:35, “A good
person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil
person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart.” This is in
keeping with the repeated contrast between good and evil throughout all the
parables in this collection. As such the disciples are homeowners of hearts
filled with good things, both old and new, and out of their abundance they are
enabled to hold both without contradiction. They would see the continuity in
the covenants and thus their teaching would be enhanced and enriched as
precious treasures.
As disciple makers, we too need
to be well versed in both the Old and New Testaments if we are to transfer the
whole council of God to our disciples. We are Kingdom Teachers who must both comprehend
ourselves and convey to others the reality of the New built upon the foundation
of the Old. Only then will we be well rounded in our understanding and able to
bring out things new and old for the enrichment of those who have ears to hear.
[1] Exegetical
Commentary on the New Testament: Matthew, Grant R. Osborne, Zondervan, Grand
Rapids, MI, 2010, 545.
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