This week we have been
looking at an event from history where Jesus told a fishing story that revealed
for us the timeless truth that the kingdom of heaven is going to be gathering for
an evaluation. We discovered that the timeless reality is that at the
end of God’s story here on earth, all of humanity will be gathered before Jesus.
And at that gathering, an evaluation will be made based on this question: Do I
know you? Are you a member of the kingdom of heaven?
For those who responded
to the message of Jesus and the kingdom of Heaven by believing, trusting, and
following Jesus as Lord and Leader, they will be gathered together to
participate as part of the kingdom of Heaven. However, for those who have
selfishly rebelled and rejected the relationship with God that they were
created for; for those who rebelled and rejected the message of Jesus and the
kingdom of heaven, they will be separated out from those who are members of the
kingdom of heaven and sent to a place where there is no return from, only
judgment and punishment. Today we see Jesus close His conversation with the
disciples with a question and a final parable in Matthew 13:51-52:
"Have you understood all these things?" They
said to Him, "Yes." 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 things new and old."
Matthew tells us that Jesus
asked the disciples “have you understood all these things?” In other words,
Jesus is asking “do you get what I have been talking to you about?” The
disciples responded to Jesus question with a simple answer- yes. Jesus then
responded to their answer by telling them another parable. In this parable,
Jesus explains that a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of the
household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old.
Jesus used this
parable to contrast His disciples with the scribes and Pharisees. In the gospel
of Matthew, we see the scribes and Pharisees revealed by Jesus as self-religious
people who misunderstood and misinterpreted the Bible and misled people about
who God was. They opposed Jesus and His message and targeted Him as being a
heretic.
Jesus point behind His
parable was that His disciples, unlike the scribes and Pharisees, were trained
to correctly interpret and teach what Jesus and the letters that make up the
Old Testament taught about the kingdom of heaven. Jesus point here is that if
the disciples have truly understood His teaching about the message of the
kingdom of heaven, then they are prepared to teach others the value of the
kingdom.
Jesus is explaining
that as the disciples, as the ones who understand the message of the kingdom of
heaven, are also responsible for revealing and proclaiming the message of the
kingdom of heaven, thus providing people the opportunity to understand and
embrace the message of Jesus and the kingdom of heaven. When Jesus uses the
phrase, treasures new and old, He is explaining that this message of the
kingdom of heaven, while new in the sense of being fully revealed by Jesus, is
old in the sense of having been revealed throughout the message of the Old
Testament as well.
And in the same way,
as followers of Jesus, we are responsible for understanding the message of
Jesus and the kingdom of heaven, and we are responsible to communicate the
treasure of the timeless message of the kingdom of heaven to those around us
who God has placed in our area of influence. So with that in mind, here is a
question to consider: How have you responded to the message of Jesus and the
kingdom of Heaven?
Have you responded to
the message of Jesus and the kingdom of Heaven by believing, trusting, and
following Jesus as Lord and Leader? Or have you responded to the message of
Jesus and the kingdom of heaven by rejecting the message? And if you are a
follower of Jesus, are you fulfilling the responsibility that you have been
given by Jesus to understand and communicate the treasure that is the kingdom
of heaven to those around you?
Because, as we have discovered, the kingdom of heaven is going to be
gathering for an evaluation…
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