Treasures Old and New

 TREASURES OLD AND NEW

He said to them, “Every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house. 

He brings new treasures out of his storeroom as well as old ones.” (Matthew 13:52 NIRV)

One joy of the Christian life is the privilege of learning God’s truth from God’s Word. 

The Lord Jesus Christ often confronts  the Teachers  of the Law  who are the Scribes, mostly Pharisees. They are steep in religious learning. They are the intellectual elite. They are in a sense lawyers, experts in Hebrew law (Scripture). They are the repository and interpreters of Scripture. But the Scribes  go beyond interpretation and add many man made traditions to what God ordained. The regulations and traditions which they add to the Law become more important  than the Law itself. Christ condemns them for they nullify the law by the man made traditions they  add to the Law. (Mark 7:13) They cancel the word of God for the sake of their tradition. (Matthew 15:6)

The disciples of Christ are not as learned as the Scribes. They are his followers who learn the truth about  Christ and live in obedience to him. Christ is their Master Teacher. Everyone is amazed when Jesus teach in the synagogue. They ask, “Where does he get this wisdom and the power to do miracles?” Many acknowledge that Jesus is unlike the Scribes  and the Pharisees for he teach with authority. (Mark 1:22)

So, the Lord here points out that a Scribe who may happen to become his disciple is likened to a house owner, who holds out treasures from his storeroom. Scribes may be said to have a treasury of traditional knowledge. A Scribe’s treasure is his knowledge and understanding of Scripture, but unillumined by the mind of Christ such knowledge is imperfect. 

The Scribes during that time emphasize learning, but true disciples emphasize living. Disciples are doers of the Word (James 1:22) and they learn by doing. While learning is important a balance should be maintained  by living out what is learned. 

As shown in the experience of the Scribes, knowledge alone without personal application, puffs up and does not build up according to St. Paul ( 1 Corinthians 8:1) 

Verse 52 speaks of treasure. What is the treasure? In context this refers to the teachings the disciples had heard from Jesus and would continue to hear from Him right up to the time He ascended. Scribal knowledge would turn into enlightened knowledge, when one learns of the new truths imparted by Christ.

Bible Commentator Brian Bell  noted that the disciples were beginning to understand the new things Jesus was teaching in conjunction with the traditions from the Scriptures they already knew.  

The fusion of the old and the new (Testaments) is like a gem of knowledge made alive in practice.

Theologian and Pastor Knox Chamblin says, “Every true disciple has discovered the treasure of the kingdom (Mt 13:44); and each of them will in time have a full treasury from which to impart things both new and old (Mt 13:52b), including things formerly learned but now freshly illuminated…”

Bible Teacher Warren Wiersbe sharply observed: 

“The scribes preserved the Law but did not invest it in the lives of the people. 

The treasure of the Law was encrusted by man’s traditions. The seed was not planted so it could bear fruit. 

The ‘spiritual gold and silver’ 

was not put to work so it could produce dividends. 

As Christians we should be conservative but not preservative. The steward guards the treasure, but he also dispenses it as it is needed. He dispenses both the old and the new. 

New principles and insights are based on old truths. 

The new cannot contradict the old because the old comes out of the new (Lev. 26:10). 

The new without the old is mere novelty and will not last. But the old does no good unless it is given new applications in life today. 

We need both.”

St. Augustine in speaking of the Gospel, famously described the relationship between the Old and New Testaments this way: “The new is in the old concealed; the old is in the new revealed.” 

They are treasures found in the storehouse of God’s revealed truth. Churches could well be reminded that preaching an incomplete Gospel  is a weak investment.