Our next kingdom text (#49 if you are counting) is found in Matthew 13:52. In context: 51 ?Have you understood all these things?? Jesus asked.?Yes,? they replied. 52 He said to them, ?Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.?.
1. I’m not convinced the disciples did understand Jesus but they said they did. There’s not much in the parables of Mark 4 or Matthew 13 that leads one to think they really did comprehend what Jesus was saying. Still, whether they did or not, Jesus builds on their “yes.”
2. Those who comprehend the kingdom are like a teacher of the Torah. (The “like” element is assumed.)
3. Those who comprehend kingdom have the capacity to bring out “new” and “old.”
4. The storeroom is either the Bible (Hebrew Bible for the disciples) or Israel’s history (Bible plus events since then).
5. The “both” is important: followers of Jesus both adhere to the ways of God in the past and strike forward into new territories.
6. Unlike the sacred tradition folks, Jesus advocates newness (and this was probably controversial focus of the parable).