Lesson 9 – THE PARABLE OF THE HOUSEHOLDER
THE PARABLE OF THE HOUSEHOLDER –
We have now studied all seven parables, but today we study a very revealing epilogue that Jesus added at the end of this message that is extremely important. In verse 51, Jesus says to his disciples,
“Have you understood all these things? They said to him, “Yes.” And Jesus said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.” (Mathew 13:51-52)
But Jesus is talking privately to his disciples, and he asks them, “Have you understood all these things?” And the disciples simply reply, without any questions or explanation, “yes”. So our Lord shows them something very remarkable about themselves, and since we are all related to him as disciples as well, what he says also applies to us. Jesus goes on to describe his disciples at this point, and he says, “Therefore,” i.e., because you say you understand this, “every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a householder. . .” He says his disciples are scribes. That is very shocking because the scribes were enemies of Jesus! The people that were trying to trap Jesus and get him in trouble with the Roman authorities and get him killed were the chief priests, elders, Pharisees, Sadducees and scribes. Yes, Jesus says to his disciples, “You are scribes who have been trained for the kingdom of heaven.”
In the beginning the scribes were a very helpful ministry, but as so often happens, their preaching and teaching became corrupted, whose words were distorted by interpretive opinions that were unsupported by the Scripture. So Jesus tells his disciples that you are scribes who are to be authoritative interpretive of the Word of God, to teach all men and women how God works in the affairs of men, to teach us the secrets of the divine activity behind the scenes of history and the personal events in our own lives. It is the business of Christians to understand life. Christ has left us here to learn how to live, how to be healed, to have the same struggles and problems as men and women who are not Christians, but to learn how to solve them. When non-Christians look at us, they should be seeing problems being solved and healing taking place all in a positive way.
However, if non-Christians see Christian homes torn with strife, quarreling and fighting, marriages being split up and getting divorces, if they see sexual immorality prevailing in Christian lives as much as in non-Christian, if they see struggles, heartaches and loneliness prevailing in our lives as much as in everyone else’s, then they say, “Why should we be interested? What’s your message? You’re not doing any better than we are.”
Scripture stresses that Christianity is more than just believing a set of doctrines. It is demonstrating life. This great message is that this transformation of life is not a single act of magic. It is not accomplished at the conversion of an individual, but that is where it begins. That is when your life starts to show an immediate change for the better, and you will enjoy peace and forgiveness that you have never known before. That is when you will rejoice and give thanks to God, but that is just the beginning.
The householder is the head of the house. He is the authoritative figure. The householder is constantly who brings out of his treasure things new and old and puts them together. Jesus is talking about life, as he always does. The new ones are the ever-changing experiences of our lives. Every day is a fresh new experience that we have never experienced before. I am experiencing right now, as an elderly adult, certain things that I have never experienced before, largely because of the passing of the last two of my five siblings last year. I, for the first time, am unable to undergo an enjoyable morning of having a wonderful breakfast and conversation with any of them. It is different now. It is new. I am also only working a few days a week now which gives me more free time to study Scripture and become closer to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This is also new. I’m sure many of you are having new experiences. Some of you are getting married, some of you are becoming new grandparents, some of you are graduating from college, or getting new jobs. So life is made up of new things.
But then there are also things that are old. There are eternal, unalterable principles that remain the same forever, God’s nature is one. Evil and good remain the same, and the laws of physics and morality abide forever. I read about the story of a music teacher who was asked, what’s the good news for today? The music teacher went to the back of the room and picked up a little rubber hammer and struck a tuning fork that was hanging there. As the note sounded throughout the room, he said, “That is ‘A’. It was ‘A’ five thousand years ago and it will be ‘A’ five thousand years in the future.There are fundamental things that never have changed and never will change, and the wonderful place where the inspiration of things old is found is in the Word of God. There is where you will learn what is real, what you can count on, and what will not disappear or fold when you put your trust in him. Jesus says that the business of life is to understand these things. He is saying that you can start with an intellectual notion of them, but you will never understand them until you put the two together, things new and things old. Then you will understand life and be trained for the kingdom of heaven.
There are quarrels in relationships all the time. Jesus’ fundamental law for handling quarrels between human beings is to begin with yourself. “First remover the beam that is in your own eye, then you will see clearly how to help your brother,” (Matthew 7:5) But we want them to change, don’t we? If they do this, I will do that. That never seems to work, but as Jesus points out, let the old reveal the new, and things begin to work out.
Fear us rampant in today’s world. The what ifs are seeming to take over. The answer to fear is faith. It begins small, in little steps in the reality and trust in God, seeing that his truth can be depended upon, and finding that gradually fear begins to fade as faith and love takes over. “Perfect love casts out fear,” (1 John 4:18). Christianity is a life healing process. It is designed to change us and make us whole. The world must see this healing taking place in us. Jesus says that speaking with authority and interpreting the law will only come as you have undergone the process of taking things old and things new and put them together. Study scripture and spread the good word.
Until next time, may love, peace and joy be with you always.