Bible Study series: Matthew 13:51-52. Educated disciples can bring out old and new treasures.
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In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Matthew 13:51-52
51 “Do you understand these things?” They said to him, “Yes.” 52 He said to them, “Because of this, every teacher of the law who has become a disciple for the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings forth from his storehouse new and old things.” (Matt. 13:51-52)
Comments:
51-52:
These two verses teach that the disciples understood the seven previous parables, with v. 52 being the eighth. So who are the teachers of the law in v. 52? Did Jesus change the topic so suddenly? One teacher of the law said he would follow Jesus wherever Jesus went (Matt. 8:19). Another teacher of the law asked what was the greatest commandment (Matt. 22:34). So who is a teacher of the law in these two verses?
Here are three interpretive options:
(1). Jesus is establishing a new school for teachers, not trained by rabbinic schools, but by the instruction Jesus offered. Jesus said in Matt. 23:34 that he was going to send teachers of the law to the Pharisees and other recalcitrant religious leaders. Recall that many Jews of Jerusalem and priest converted (Acts. 2:41; 4:4; 6:7; 21:20).
(2). Jesus is establishing instructors who were educated enough to take writing and reading to compile records and teach others. Matthew the tax collector would be one of them, and so v. 52 refers to himself.
(3). They are Jesus’s disciples with a knowledge of the law (the old) and the instructions Jesus taught. Jesus is simply using this title teacher of the law expansively. Disciples know how to bring forth the truths of the Old Testament and incorporate it in the New Covenant. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus opened their minds to understand how all the parts fit together (Luke 24:45). Then the apostles taught the word, referencing many Scriptures in the first five chapters of Acts.
Given the context of Jesus asking his disciples whether they understood the parables, I like the third option.
“First, these are not ‘the new in place of the old (= replacement …); nor are they the Jesus tradition (the old) given new meaning in new situations … Rather, this refers to a new reality of Jesus fulfilling that of the old covenant reality” (Osborne, comment on 13:52).
Blomberg likes the third option:
Jesus nevertheless likens the disciples to scribes (“teachers of the law”) “instructed” (literally, discipled—as in 28:19) for the kingdom. Properly trained disciples may be compared with the Jewish teachers of the law in that they too are equipped to instruct others. No special gift or office of “scribe” seems to be in view here. But Matthew may be thinking of Jesus’ disciples, like other scribes, as endowed with wisdom, authority, the right understanding of the law, and perhaps some measure of prophetic inspiration. (comment on 13:52)
The householder—the disciple who understand the mysteries of the kingdom—brings forth or brings out treasures from the Old and New Testaments.
“householder”: it literally could be translated as “man householder” or “person householder.” It is the Greek noun anthrōpos (pronounced ahn-throw-poss), and see vv. 24-30 for more comments. So I chose “householder.”
“teachers of the law”: The term is often translated as “scribe.” See this post a look for the term, in alphabetical order.
Quick Reference to Jewish Groups in Gospels and Acts
Let’s explore more fully who these teachers of the law might be in the kingdom community. Teachers of the law or “scribes”:
Whoever wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews qualifies to be a kingdom teacher of the law.
Of course Paul knew how to teach the OT as it should be taught, in his epistles.
In Stephen’s sermon (Acts 7), he gave a long overview of Israel’s history and how the ancient Israelites misunderstood God’s ways. Here Stephen repeats what Jesus is saying in his denunciation of the religious establishment in his time:
51 “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised of hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, as your forefathers did and you! 52 Which one of the prophets did your forefathers not persecute? And they killed forerunners who announced the coming of the Righteous One, and you have become his betrayers and murders, 53 who received the law as the ordinances of angels, which you have not kept!” (Acts 7:51-53)
Apollos particularly was a powerful teacher of the law:
24 A Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, a learned man, powerful in Scripture, landed at Ephesus. 25 He was teaching the path of the Lord, and alive in the Spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the story of Jesus, understanding only the baptism of John. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Pricilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and laid out before him the path of God more accurately. 27 When he intended go through Achaea, they encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. He arrived and greatly helped those who had believed by grace. 28 He powerfully refuted the Jews publicly, demonstrating from the Scriptures that the Messiah was Jesus. (Acts 28:24-28)
As noted, maybe a few priests who converted became teachers of the law:
And the Word of God was increasing, and the number of disciples was growing strongly in Jerusalem, and a large group of priests obeyed the faith. (Acts 6:7)
Jesus praised a teacher of the law for answering correctly, when the teacher said that love for God and for one’s neighbor is more important that burnt offerings and sacrifices. Jesus said that the man was not far from the kingdom (Mark 12:34). Who knows? Maybe he was converted to the resurrected Jesus and joined the large Messianic Jewish community of Jerusalem and Judea (Acts 2:41; 4:4; 6:7; 21:20).
It’s clear, particularly from Apollos’s example, that the treasures old and new refer to discovering the Messiah in the Old Testament and situating him in the New Covenant. Therefore, in v. 52, Jesus was referencing himself indirectly when he spoke of treasures.
GrowApp for Matt. 13:51-52
1. How is your study of the Old Testament? Do you have study Bibles and other helps to guide you?
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1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
SOURCES
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