“Jesus said to them, ‘Have you understood all these things?’ They said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord.’ 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 13:51-52.
Jesus had just given His disciples seven parables which dealt with the mystery of the kingdom of heaven, two of which terminate at the end of the age after the tribulation.
The end of the age does not mean the end of the world. It means the end of this age under the rule of sinful men, and the beginning of the millennial reign of Christ on earth, one thousand years, and then the end.
The first two parables of the sower, and the wheat and the tares were briefly covered in “Things New and Old, Part 1”, posted on 7-24-23.
The third parable is the mustard seed, which a man sowed in his field. Again the field belonged to the man, who sowed the seed, and again, it is Christ who owns the field (the entire earth) and it is He who sows the seed.
This tiny seed produces a bush which can grow to the size of a small tree in one season. However, it appears that this particular seed became a huge tree that the birds of the air could nest in. Many folks think that it is the tree that becomes a grotesque monstrosity, but there is nothing wrong with the tree.
It is the birds who defile the tree just as they snatched away what was sown in the heart of the first listener in the parable of the sower, so these wicked people defile Christ’s church. This is what the Apostle Peter meant when he wrote the following.
“And many will follow their [false teachers] destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.” 2 Peter 2:2.
People look at a crooked greedy church and revile Jesus’ church because of these false prophets and false teachers who know nothing of Christ.
The fourth parable:
“The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.” Matthew 13:33.
The leaven is taken by some to be a good thing, speaking of the leaven being the gospel which permeates the whole world.
However leaven throughout Scripture refers to evil, not what is good. The Old Testament law prohibits leaven being put into the meal offerings offered to God, and many places in the New Testament, leaven has the meaning of evil doctrine. To decipher something in the word of God it is a good rule to let Scripture interpret Scripture.
“Then Jesus said to them, ‘Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.’” Matthew 16:6.
“How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? – but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Matthew 16:11-12.
The doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees was one of error; especially since they had based many of their rules and laws on the writings of the Talmud (Scripture interpreted by men), rather than those of Moses.
“…Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” Luke 12:1b.
As for the error and hypocrisy of leaven, Scripture tells us this:
“Your glorying [over immorality in the church] is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?” 1 Corinthians 5:6.
“This persuasion [legalism in the church] does not come from Him [Christ] who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump.” Galatians 5:8-9.
If leaven represents demonically inspired evil and it leavens the whole lump; then the leaven is put into the meal to pollute the body of Christ, His church.
The woman can be seen as evil too, since she seems unconcerned that she is injecting something that is against God’s word into the church.
Women are metaphorically either good or evil in Scripture depending on the context of the parable or prophecy in which they are used.
“Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.” Revelation 2:20.
This letter to the church in Thyatira was not only to that church and concerned a real woman, but it was prophetic of the church age we know as the dark ages.
Whether that is her name or not is not known, but the reference is to the sorceress named Jezebel in the Old Testament who led the Northern Kingdom of Israel into abominable error, see 1 Kings 16:31.
If then the leaven represents false doctrine introduced into the church by wicked men in an attempt to pollute the pure word of the gospel of Christ with error.
It would follow that the birds in the parable of the mustard seed are those in authority who defamed the church by turning it into a greedy, murderous, self-serving, monolithic, political monstrosity.
This brings us to the fifth and the sixth parables.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” Matthew 13:44-46.
These two parables have two main things in common, and they are the most important ingredients; the man and the price. The Man is Christ Jesus, and the price was everything that He had, His life.
As a child I realized that death on a cross was horrific, but with many thousands having suffered such a death, I did not understand what made Jesus’ so different from any other crucifixion; though I did believe that He died for my sins.
It is possible that there are many believers and non-believers who also do not understand this question.
When a person is crucified it is for some real or imagined crime that they had committed, and they suffer a horrible death, but only for themselves.
In each case the ones most affected by this are those who loved the one who died, still, time soon swallows up their memory and they are forgotten.
“The voice [of the Lord] said, ‘Cry out!’ And he [Isaiah] said, ‘What shall I cry?’ ‘All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.’” Isaiah 40:6-8.
“As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes. For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.” Psalm 103:13-16.
But as for the Man Christ Jesus, Scripture says this.
“But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God…” Hebrews 10:12.
If we were to say that God came to earth in the form of a man and was crucified for our sins, that would be enough to understand that there was a price to be paid, and that He died for all of mankind.
However, that is not the end of it; Christ did not just die, He paid an eternal and infinite price which involves still more. Each and every sin ever committed.
Jesus hung on a cross from 9 am until noon because the representatives of all mankind, Jew and Gentile had rejected Him and nailed Him there.
But from noon until 3 pm in total darkness, Jesus paid for every sin of every person born, from the beginning to the end of time.
This was the infinite price, it was done in darkness, and it was between Jesus Christ and the Father only.
“Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him [Jesus]; He has put Him to grief. When You make His [Jesus] soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed [those who accept Christ], He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the travail of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities.” Isaiah 53:10-11.
They took the mutilated body of a Man down from the cross, but His soul which had been utterly crushed for the sake of both those who would accept Him and those who would reject Him had left unseen.
Men may die in agony on a cross but their soul goes unharmed to its final destination.
Jesus’ final cries are testimony to the things that had transpired on the cross.
“And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’ which is translated, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’” Mark 15:34.
“So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.” John 19:30.
The words, “It is finished!” are a reference to the payment for our sins; it is finished and complete!
So the Man Christ Jesus, paid an infinite price, for both the treasure hidden in a field (Matthew 13:44) and the pearl of great price (Matthew 13:45-46).
While some think that the treasure is Israel, and their assumptions are well reasoned. The more likely answer is that the treasure is all of mankind who put their trust in God before the cross or in Jesus afterward; from Adam and Eve until the very last person to accept Christ at the end of time.
You can see what makes this treasure so precious to the Lord and so critical that He should die for them.
The pearl of great price has the same idea, except unlike the treasure, the pearl is something quite different, it represents the church, the body of Christ on earth, and afterward when she is taken away in the rapture, the church becomes the bride of Christ, a position of true honor.
The seventh the parable is of the dragnet, which is similar to the parable of the wheat and the tares, both of which were explained by the Lord in Matthew 13:37-43, 47-50.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away.” Matthew 13:47-48.
While both are similar, the difference is this; the wheat is a type of the Christians which compose the church. And the tares are the sons of the wicked one, who had the task of destroying it by injecting error.
In this parable of the wheat and tares, the Christians are removed (harvested) before the tribulation, and the tares go on into it, to be cast into the fiery furnace after the tribulation and before Christ sets up His millennial kingdom on earth.
In the case of the dragnet, the Christians of today cannot be caught in the net because they were already taken out in the rapture.
So those caught in the net would be folks who were either saved during the tribulation or those who rejected Christ for the last time during that period.
While emptying the net, those who put their trust in Christ, the good fish, are separated from the bad fish, those who rejected Christ.
The bad fish are then cast into the furnace of fire, while the good are welcomed into the millennial kingdom.
All of the seven parables have been covered at length on this site, and are listed below.
Good Earth (the sower), four parts from 3-10-22 through 3-19-22; Tares, 6-30-23 and 7-4-23; Mustard and a Little Leaven, 7-8-23; Treasure in a Field, 7-13-23; A Pearl of Infinite Value; 7-18-23; Dragnet, 7-21-23; Things New and Old, 7-24-23 and 7-27-23.
“Jesus said to them, ‘Have you understood all these things?’ They said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord.’ 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 13:51-52.
The scribes were teachers and expositors of God’s truth. The Christian is also capable of doing the same thing by diligently studying the Scriptures.
This builds up a treasure of things old and new, meaning from the Old Testament and from the New Testament.
This privilege is especially great today because the average Christian has open access to the Bible, which unlike in the apostle’s time was not yet complete except for the Old Testament.
The majority of us have the freedom, often the time, and endless resources in the form of Bible dictionaries, and commentaries. The only thing we will not have is an excuse.
Whatever the case may be, with this knowledge we can teach Sunday school, Bible studies, or just attend them and participate.
If you are shy, or cannot speak in public, God will have something else for you that you will enjoy doing. Studying your Bible will open that door for you. God will not give you a job that will make you miserable because you are not fitted for it.
“Have you understood all these things?” Matthew 13:51a.
Things New and Old, Part 2 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 1-21-15, updated on 7-27-23.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.