Matthew 13: A Treasure of New and Old to Share

Introduction

"Have you understood all these things?" With this question from Jesus, Ben Bostina reaches the end of Matthew 13, in a series lasting several weeks on the parables of this chapter, studied verse by verse at the teaching service of Kensington Temple in London. After the mustard seed, the yeast, the hidden treasure, the pearl of great price and the net, he stops on a single verse, Matthew 13:52, which some commentaries almost skip over.

Until now, Jesus has been showing what the kingdom of God is like. Here, he changes his focus: he no longer describes the kingdom, he describes the role of the disciple. "Therefore every scribe who has been made a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a householder, who brings out of his treasure new and old things."

Ben Bostina draws four ideas from it: the kingdom must be understood and not only heard, it calls for a new kind of scribe, it gathers treasures both new and old, and these treasures are given to be shared, not to be stored away.

Outline of the Message

1. The Kingdom Must Be Understood, Not Just Heard

The question "Have you understood all these things?" seems superficial. But when you read the chapter in one sitting, you see that the theme of understanding runs through it from start to finish.
In verse 13, Jesus says that hearing, they do not hear and do not understand. In verses 14 and 15, Isaiah's prophecy describes hearing without understanding, and shows that understanding with the heart leads to turning back, and then to being healed.
In the parable of the sower, the seed that fell along the path represents the one who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it (verse 19). The good soil is the one who hears the word and understands it: he bears fruit, a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown (verse 23). The whole chapter follows these two paths.
The problem described in Isaiah 6:9-10 is not a lack of intelligence, education or information: it is a problem of the heart. Biblical understanding goes further than acquiring knowledge: it includes recognizing the truth, receiving it and responding to God.
This does not diminish the importance of intelligence. But someone could explain the parable of the sower from an agricultural point of view, or talk at length about the symbolism of wheat, without the lesson ever reaching their heart. "Without acknowledging God's right to judge us all, we have missed the point."
The kingdom is a gift: the disciples were given the knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom (verse 11). But we are responsible for how we respond. The disciples follow Jesus, question him, and take him aside to ask for the explanation of the parable of the weeds (verse 36). Understanding grows in relationship with him.
"To whoever has, more will be given" (verse 12) can seem unfair. God looks at what we have done with what he has already entrusted to us. Spiritual understanding is not a human achievement, nor an excuse for passivity: we depend on God's revelation, and we are responsible for studying carefully, asking, listening and obeying.
Matthew links understanding to fruit. The progression is clear: understand, bear fruit, then teach others and make disciples.

2. A Slightly Too Quick Answer

The disciples answer: "Yes." Ben Bostina admits this makes him smile. Throughout the rest of the Gospel, they often show that they have not understood: Jesus asks them whether they too are still without understanding (Matthew 15:16), they misread his warning about the yeast of the Pharisees before finally grasping it (Matthew 16:9-12), and the same happens in Matthew 17:13.
"Do you have memories that still make you wince today? Or is it just me?" The preacher imagines the disciples rereading these accounts and grimacing a little. "Yes, Jesus, we understood everything." Pure confidence.
The question is put to us today. After six or seven weeks on these parables, have we understood? And even more: have we let this truth change us, redefine us, shift our allegiance and broaden our understanding of the kingdom?
Jesus seems to take the disciples at their word, since he follows with a "therefore."

3. The Kingdom Calls for a New Kind of Scribe

The choice of word is surprising. Until now in Matthew, the scribes are religious leaders who oppose Jesus. Here, he uses the term positively.
In the first century, scribes were specialists in Scripture, especially the law of Moses: studying it, interpreting it, preserving it, teaching it, sometimes with judicial responsibilities.
The Old Testament model is Ezra, "a skilled scribe in the law of Moses." Ezra 7:10 sums up his mission: he had set his heart to study the law of the Lord, to practice it and to teach its statutes and ordinances in Israel. Three responsibilities, and the order matters: study, obey, then teach.
In Jesus' day, one step is missing: the scribes and Pharisees know the law but do not practice it. They know the Scriptures without recognizing the kingdom.
In chapter 2, when Herod asks where the Messiah is to be born, the scribes give the right answer from the prophet Micah: in Bethlehem. But this answer does not produce in them the expected fruit: going to look for the Messiah and worship him. It is magi from far away who do it. Knowing the Scriptures does not mean having let the Word transform your life.
The scribe of Matthew 13:52 has "been made a disciple." You are not born a disciple, you become one, through a deliberate and ongoing process: answering Jesus' call, receiving his teaching, submitting to his authority, letting him transform your life.
It is the same verb as in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20). The two texts answer each other: the scribe is trained for the kingdom, and the disciples are sent to make disciples; he receives the teaching of the kingdom, and they learn to observe everything Jesus commanded; he is equipped to bring out of his treasure, and they are sent to pass on this teaching, from generation to generation.
There is a "surprising rehabilitation" of the scribe here. Jesus does not reject the scribes' tradition, he transforms it. Studying and teaching the Scriptures remains necessary. What changes is the key to reading them: Jesus becomes the center, the lens through which everything else is understood.
Jesus did not come to abolish the law or the prophets, but to fulfill them (Matthew 5:17). He also says that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5:20), a text that Pastor Malcolm preached on a few weeks earlier. And the crowds notice that he teaches with authority, and not as their scribes do (Matthew 7:28-29).
The kingdom does not make the study of Scripture any less important. It makes it inseparable from the path of discipleship, lived with our eyes fixed on Jesus.

4. The Kingdom Gathers Treasures, New and Old

For Ben Bostina, this is probably the most important phrase of the verse theologically: the householder brings out of his treasure "new and old things."
The old is the revelation already given: for us, the Old Testament, the law, the prophets and the writings. The disciples, who were Jewish, had inherited all of it: the teachings, promises, covenants, laws and hopes of Israel.
They knew how God had created the world and what he wanted for humanity. They knew the blessing given to Abraham and his descendants, the covenant with Israel, the expectation of a king from David's line, the promises of restoration, redemption and judgment, and the coming reign of God over all nations. Daniel speaks of a son of man who receives dominion, glory and a kingdom, an everlasting dominion (Daniel 7:13-14).
These ideas were not introduced by Jesus. But their full scope had not yet been revealed. This is where the new comes in: the kingdom revealed and inaugurated by Jesus, in an unexpected way. Hence the expression "mysteries of the kingdom" (verse 11): something hidden until now is now unveiled.
People expected military power and triumphant rulers. Jesus speaks of a mustard seed that looks insignificant before becoming a great tree, of wheat growing among weeds, with no clear way to tell good from bad, when people were expecting the final judgment, and of a hidden treasure whose value is only measured once it is found. These parables explain the tension in which we still live, between the inauguration of the kingdom and its final fulfillment at Jesus' return.
The new fulfills the old, it does not replace it. Jesus does not reject the Old Testament: he brings it to its fulfillment through his own life.
Two mistakes lie in wait for the disciple. The first: clinging so tightly to established interpretations and familiar traditions that you no longer recognize what God wants to reveal in Christ. That was the trap of the scribes and Pharisees. The second: being so preoccupied with novelty that you neglect the earlier revelation on which the message of the kingdom rests. The scribe trained for the kingdom avoids both.

5. The Treasures of the Kingdom Are Given to Be Shared

The end of the verse shifts the focus: it is no longer about what the treasure is, but about what the householder does with it. This is the practical peak of Jesus' teaching.
The word translated "treasure" can refer to valuable objects, but also to the place where you keep your resources: a pantry, a garage, an attic. The image is less a chest full of gold and jewels than a householder drawing on his supplies as needed. He is ready, his resources are at hand.
In the same way, the believer must be well trained in the things of the kingdom and in the Scriptures, so as to know, depending on the situation, which resources to use.
The decisive action is bringing the treasure out. The master does not just own it, he puts it to use. The emphasis is not on accumulating knowledge, degrees or personal achievements, but on using them faithfully in the service of others.
The word "treasure" appears twice in the chapter. In verse 44, a man discovers a treasure hidden in a field and, in his joy, sells everything he has to buy that field; this passage was presented a few weeks earlier in the series. In verse 52, the householder brings out the treasure and shares it. Read together, these two texts form a beautiful progression: the treasure first represents the incomparable value of the kingdom, then the riches from which the scribe of the kingdom can draw.
The ultimate goal is the Great Commission. After three years with Jesus learning and receiving, the disciples are sent out to pass on what they have received, to bring out the new and the old, and to make disciples from generation to generation.

6. We Have Received in Order to Give

Ben Bostina sums up the parable in one sentence: "Those who have received the understanding of the kingdom are entrusted with the responsibility of making it accessible to others. We have received so that we can give."
We have all received this great gift. The question is what we are going to do with it: hide it, put it away, or bring it out to help others on their journey?
Jesus asked his disciples to consider what they had understood. What have we understood, and what are we going to do with all that God has so faithfully revealed to us?

Key Takeaways

The kingdom is not received only through the ears: it is understood with the heart, in a living relationship with Jesus, and this understanding bears fruit.
The scribe trained for the kingdom studies the Word, puts it into practice, then teaches it, in that order, with Jesus as the key to reading it.
You are not born a disciple, you become one, through a deliberate and ongoing path of submission to the authority of Jesus.
The new fulfills the old without replacing it: the disciple keeps the Old Testament and welcomes what God reveals in Christ.
The treasure of the kingdom is not meant to be stockpiled: we have received in order to give and to make disciples.

Personal Application

Having read the parables of Matthew 13, have you merely understood their meaning, or have you let this truth change your priorities and your allegiance?
In your relationship with the Word, which step is most lacking right now: studying it, practicing it or teaching it?
Which mistake are you leaning toward: attachment to familiar traditions, or the pull of novelty at the expense of the Old Testament?
What resources has God already stored in your "treasure," and who around you would need you to bring them out this week?
Whom could you accompany on their journey as a disciple, to pass on what you have received?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the parable of the scribe and the householder mean in Matthew 13:52?

For Ben Bostina, Jesus describes the role of the disciple: the one who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure new and old things. Those who have received the understanding of the kingdom have the responsibility of making it accessible to others.

Why does Jesus speak of a scribe in a positive way?

In the Gospel of Matthew, the scribes often oppose Jesus. Here, Jesus does not reject the scribes' tradition: he transforms it. Like Ezra, the scribe studies, practices and teaches the Word, but he is now a disciple, and Jesus becomes the key to reading all of Scripture.

What do the new things and the old things represent?

The old refers to the revelation already given to Israel in the Old Testament: the law, the prophets and the writings. The new is the kingdom revealed and inaugurated by Jesus, in an unexpected way. The new fulfills the old without replacing it: the disciple needs both.