Parable of the House Owner

Parable of the House Owner

Matthew 13:52 (NIV)

52He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”

This parable is a discipleship lesson.  This is one of the parables from the middle of the Galilean ministry period.  It is also contained with this listing of Matthew’s Kingdom parables.

One of the overall messages of this short parable is that as we gain deeper understanding and discipleship we are to impart that knowledge to others.  We are to repeat the process and grow new disciples.  With this parable we can see Jesus laying the foundation for the coming Great Commission and the work that is to come.

This parable is the close to a series of parables in Matthew Chapter 13.  Those in this chapter are some of Jesus’ simplest, yet most profound parables in the Bible.  These are the parables of Matthew that illustrate the Kingdom of Heaven.  Jesus had asked the disciples in verse 51 if they understood the parables, and they responded that they do.  That is when Jesus offers this quick parable to close the teaching.

Jesus is Preparing New Scribes or Teachers

Every minister of the Gospel should be properly trained.  Remember that Jesus’ disciples had no formal training or teaching to rely upon.  For 3 years Jesus trained and mentored His disciples.  By doing this in this way through a variety of teaching methods, the disciples would be equipped not only to understand the Gospel, but also defend it, live it out, and teach it to others.

The traditional scribe restates only the old, stale message.  The scribe or disciple of the Kingdom of Heaven offers teaching that is fresh, but yet values the older knowledge and teaching. 

Scribes had a duty to share what they had learned and what they knew with others.  Jesus is explaining that the disciples (as these new scribes or teachers) have a responsibility to share what they know with others.

We can look to Ezra as an example of the scribe that Jesus is readying.

Ezra 7:10 (NIV)

For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel.

With this short parable Jesus is continuing to teach the disciples that they are going to be teaching others what He has shared with them.  Through His teaching they are learning how to take what they have known about the Law and add new understanding.  Jesus is readying a new type of scribe or teacher.

We are not to hold the knowledge of Jesus Christ to ourselves, we are to share it with others.  We have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to share the good news of Jesus Christ. Jesus is telling the disciples not to keep the treasure of the Gospel to themselves, but we are to teach it and bring it forth.

Jesus brought together the things of the Jewish Law (Old Testament, old) and His new vision and wisdom.  With and through Jesus Christ we learn new lessons from the past teachings.  As those preparing to serve in ministry it is important to be well versed in the truth and knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and be prepared and able to teach that.

We cannot give or teach what we do not live out.  God wants us to construct our “being” before our “doing.”  (Maxwell) Ezra shows us this example.  Ezra prepared for it, lived it, and taught it. We need to understand the old before we can convey a new message.  The old treasure is understanding the Law and the new treasure is understanding how to live in the Kingdom of Heaven and be able to teach it.

Important Power of Prayer

In my junior year of high school I worked at Scout Summer Camp as a Counselor in the Nature Lodge.  One of my responsibilities was facilitating an activity called the “Web of Life”.  You may be familiar with this activity and may have done it or a variation of it.  In it, each scout was given a card with something from nature written on it.  The idea is to toss the ball of string or yarn from person to person explaining the significance of the connection between your card and the card you through it to. 

For instance, if I had the card “bird” and threw the string to someone holding “grass” I would explain that the bird uses the grass to build a nest and without the grass, the bird might not have building materials.  Simple enough. The activity continues until each person is holding a segment of the string. The activity shows the delicate nature of the eco-system.  Sometimes we would throw a ball onto to web to illustrate the support given by the interconnections on the web.

The next part of the activity is to have people systematically start letting go of the string.  For instance, I might say that man covers the grass with blacktop to create a parking lot.  The people holding “bird” and “grass” would let go of the string.  As people start to let go the web breaks down and is unable to sustain the eco-system (represented by the ball).  The same activity has been used to show the importance of human relationships on teams for team building activities. That we each need relationships and that relationships need to be reciprocal.  That each person has a part to play in the relationship.  We cannot forget to build relationships.

The same image can be used for the importance of praying daily for one another.  As we build a prayer web by praying we support one another.  That’s why we have prayer chains in our churches.  As we pray in authority we can lift each other up.  We need to be holding our section of the string and each other up in prayer. 

Forgetting to pray for each other it is like letting go of a section of the string in our web.  The web begins to break down and the person needing prayer support is like the ball set upon the string and begins to fall through the weakened web.  When we fall we are vulnerable.  Pray always for one another.  Keep the web of life strong.  Let no one fall.

Ephesians 6:18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

Colossians 1:3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,

Philippians 1:4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy

Luke 18:1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.