Matthew 13:52
Tuesday, 28 October 2025
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.” Matthew 13:52
“And He said to them, ‘Through this, every scribe, having been discipled in the ‘kingdom the heavens,’ he is like a man, a house-master, who – he ejects from his treasure newbies and oldies’” (CG).
In the previous verse, Jesus asked His disciples if they understood everything that He had told them as He conveyed to them the parables. They responded that they had. Based on their response, Matthew next records, “And He said to them, ‘Through this, every scribe...’”
The word scribe here is being contrasted to the scribes of the law, who Jesus has already interacted with and who will eventually become some of His most pronounced opponents. Jesus is not equating those He refers to as being scribes like them at all. They had the law, but they studied the law as a means to an end.
The scribes Jesus is referring to are scribes who are, as He says, “having been discipled in the ‘kingdom the heavens.’”
Jesus has set a firm and fixed wall between the law and the kingdom of the heavens. He has mentioned this kingdom in this chapter in verses 11, 18, 24, 31, 33, 37, 41, 43, 44, 45, and 47. In them, He never mentions the law as a vehicle for obtaining righteousness. Rather, His words in verse 11 had already begun to demonstrate and explain the barrier between the two.
If one uses the law as a means to an end, he will never be able to understand what God is doing in the redemptive process in order to restore man to Himself. Think of it! A person studying the law as a means of getting right with God will never understand God, who sees man as treasure hidden in a field, nor a pearl worth selling heaven’s riches in order to obtain that pearl.
Rather, what does Paul say the purpose of using the law is? He explained it to Timothy –
“But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, 9 knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, 10 for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, 11 according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.” 1 Timothy 1:8-11
Jesus says a person who looks at the law, or any other part of God’s word, when looking for Jesus (the one who gave up all of heaven’s riches to obtain His treasure), “he is like a man, a house-master.”
Jesus says a scribe of the kingdom of the heavens is like a house-master. Before reading His further explanation, one must ask, “A house-master of what?” What is a scribe’s purpose? He is to evaluate Scripture and interpret it. But Scripture, even in the books of Moses, is filled with obscure stories that do not specially point to conduct in life, but life as it has been conducted.
The scribes of the law used the law, including all of these stories, for the purpose of self-exaltation, be it personal righteousness or the exaltation of the national character of Israel. And this, despite the fact that both are revealed to be lacking throughout all of the historical writings.
Rather, there is almost a complete rejection of the Lord on every turn of the page, while the Lord patiently corrects and guides Israel, keeping them as a people in accord with His word. Jesus says that a scribe of the kingdom is like a house-master “who – he ejects from his treasure newbies and oldies.’”
What is this treasure Jesus refers to? The answer to that must be in understanding what a scribe does with Scripture. As noted above, it is to evaluate and interpret it. If a scribe of the law has missed the mark by looking at Scripture as a means of righteousness as well as personal and national exaltation, then what is he to look for? Well, what did Jesus reveal in His parables?
The answer is that He revealed the contrast between those who hear and obey, those who are a part of what God plants and then grows into a giant entity, those who remain in a fallen world but who fix their eyes on the Lord, those who bear what is good, those who God finds of the highest value in the world, and those for whom He came, having given up everything in order to obtain them as His personal and prized possession.
Everything about His parables refers to Him or those who put Him first, bearing fruit of righteousness based on Him, not on self. Therefore, to pull out treasure from His word, newbies and oldies, we are to look for Him. Those writings that existed point to Him. Those writings that were yet to be written explain Him.
When reading a story, such as Joshua taking Israel across the Jordan, it is to be taken as literal history, but it is to be evaluated based on the work of Jesus. If this is so, then it – by default – must have a future application. Jesus would not arrive on the scene for almost 1400 years. But if we are to find Jesus in the story, then it means that the story has been given as a typological and pictorial representation of something He does or the results of what He has done.
This is pulling out of the treasure, the body of Scripture, newbies and oldies. Finding Jesus in Scripture is akin to rightly understanding the kingdom of the heavens.
Life application: If you want to understand Scripture properly, evaluate it through the lens of Jesus. When you read the story of David and Goliath, consider that God has given that story to reveal Jesus, meaning Him, what He has done, or how that will be realized in the people He has come to save. Everything about Scripture tells us about God in Christ.
Therefore, anytime you evaluate Scripture as a tool for self-exaltation, self-aggrandizement, or personal gain, you have failed to properly evaluate what God intends for you to see. This is why those who insert or reinsert the law as a means of righteousness are so abhorrent to God.
It is why those who look to explain Scripture as a tool of divination (such as rapture date setting or finding codes about the future) will never bear good fruit, and why those who teach a prosperity gospel deceive both those they teach and themselves.
Jesus! Jesus is the key to rightly understanding this precious word.
Lord God, forgive us for always trying to make our time in Your word about ourselves. We read it and conclude that we are the center of what You are trying to tell us. Help us to set ourselves aside and to search for Jesus. In doing this, only then can we understand everything else that this precious word conveys to us. Amen.
