The Value of the Kingdom

We're going to continue on in our Matthew series.

Today's passage is continuing on in the parable series,

! We're in verses 44 to 52.

If you don't have a Bible and would like to use one,

please raise your hand and we'd be happy to give you a Bible that you can use and keep.

Again, we're in chapter 13, verses 44 to 52.

Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's word.

Heavenly Father,

you are this great, precious, matchless treasure.

The best thing that we have ever found.

But life is distracting.

Life is hard.

We have an enemy.

A fierce enemy that's seeking to distract us.

Take our eyes away from the rich treasure that we have found.

I pray, Heavenly Father, please use my weak words,

this short time,

to refresh anew

our evaluation

of the kingdom of heaven.

that, Holy Spirit,

you would be in this place.

You would fill us

so that we would have eyes to see

and ears to hear

that your kingdom is worth everything.

Make us a people united in this one thing.

that we would just have this one thing

and we would lose all else

in joy to gain this one thing.

Make it true of us now.

Help us to come back to our first loves.

Speak through me.

I am a weak man

with so many infirmities,

deficiencies,

but you are perfect.

You are strong.

Be glorified through me.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

If you are able,

please rise

to honor the reading of God's word.

Starting in verse 44.

The kingdom of heaven

is like treasure

hidden in a field

which a man found

and covered up.

Then,

in his joy,

in his joy,

he goes

and sells all that he has

and buys that field.

Again,

the kingdom of heaven

is like a merchant

in search of fine pearls

who,

on finding one pearl

of great value,

went and sold

all that he had

and bought it.

Again,

the kingdom of heaven

is like a net

that was thrown

into the sea

and gathered fish

of every kind.

When it was full,

men drew it ashore

and sat down

and sorted the good

into containers

but threw away the bad.

So it will be

at the end of the age.

The angels will come out

and separate the evil

from the righteous

and throw them

into the fiery furnace.

In that place,

there will be weeping

and gnashing

of teeth.

Have you understood

all these things?

They said to him,

yes.

And he said to them,

therefore,

every scribe

who has been trained

for the kingdom of heaven

is like a master

of a house

who brings out

of his treasure

what is new

and what is old.

This is God's holy

and authoritative word.

You may be seated.

Yeah,

you can throw

all that stuff out.

Those

simple words

would come

to haunt

James Howells

for the next

12 years

of his life.

Because of that

all too common mistake

of just

mistakenly

throwing out something,

he has been

on a decade-long journey.

to retrieve

that piece of trash

who's made

his new home

at the local city landfill.

His plan?

Hire a bunch

of lawyers.

Beg

and plead

the local city council

to allow him

to purchase

that dumpster,

that landfill.

Fly

specialized drones

with infrared cameras

to find

this piece of trash.

Send out

a pack

of those

Boston Dynamic

robot dogs.

You guys know the kind.

The ones that could do

backflips.

Excavate

tens of thousands

of tons

of trash

cart by cart

to a scanner

trained by AI

to find

this piece of trash.

Finally,

install a

backup

magnetic belt

to capture,

to catch

any kind of

leftover

metallic objects.

house.

He's willing

to invest

millions

and millions

of dollars

and thousands

of hours

of power

to find

this piece

of trash

so small

that it just

got mixed in

with the rest

of his everyday

trash.

To his

overly

engineered plan,

Howell said,

and I quote,

this seems

logical.

But this man

looks crazy

until you

understand what

he was looking

for.

Back in

2013,

he accidentally

threw out

an office

hard drive

which contained

his only

copy of

a 51

character

password

to his

crypto wallet,

his Bitcoin

wallet.

You see,

Howells was

one of the

first people

in the world

to start

mining for

Bitcoin

and in doing

so he

amassed

an incalculable

fortune.

A fortune

that is

currently valued

at $800

million.

Now,

I still think

that Howell

should probably

just cut his

losses and

move on

with his

life,

but it

makes a

little bit

more sense

of why

he would

go to

such things

to find

this little

tiny

hard drive.

You see,

our actions

reflect what

we value

most.

We shape

our entire

lives

around

what we

value.

Our

schedules,

budgets,

thoughts,

our

conversations,

our

relationships,

they all

display on

the outside

what we

value on

the inside.

Someone else

didn't know

anything about

you but

saw a

snapshot of

your life

this past

week.

What would

he or she

think about

what you

value?

In our

passage this

morning,

Jesus wraps

up his

discourse about

the kingdom

of heaven by

making one

simple point.

The kingdom

of heaven

and its

king are

worth

everything.

The kingdom

of heaven

and its

king are

worth

everything.

One of the

repeated words

in this

parable is the

word all

or every.

So in the

final four

parables of

this chapter,

we'll understand

how the

kingdom of

heaven is

all

rewarding,

all

reckoning,

and finally

all

revealing.

Our

passage this

morning opens

with two

short parables

starting with

the parable

of the

hidden

treasure.

Verse 44,

the kingdom

of heaven is

compared to

a treasure of

inestimable

worth that a

man finds

buried in a

field.

Here,

Jesus draws on

a common

ancient practice

because remember

back then there

were no

secure banks,

no FDI

insured banks

where you

could store

all your

valued possessions.

But especially

in a period

rife with

wars,

fighting,

pilfering,

you needed

a safe place

to hide your

stuff.

And so

the best

option for

all these

people,

for a lot

of people,

was simply

just to

pick up a

spade,

pick up a

shovel,

and dig

so they

could hide

their treasures

underground.

And if the

original owner

passed away

before retrieving

it, a

treasure could

very easily

be hidden

for a very

long time.

And it

seems like

that's the

case in

this parable.

If the

current owner

had known

that a

rich,

matchless

treasure was

buried in

his field,

would he

have told

it?

Now, Jesus

doesn't give

us a lot of

detail on

the back

story of

this man,

how he

found it.

Details like,

who is he?

Why he was

on this field?

How did he

find this?

Because that's

all going to

detract away

from his

main singular

point.

Regardless of

the circumstances,

this man

finds this

one hidden

treasure.

And he

immediately

understands

its worth.

He does

a quick

cost-benefit

analysis,

does the math

in his head,

and he

easily concludes

that his

entire net

worth,

everything that

he's gained

from working

year after

year,

everything that

he's possibly

gained from

his family

inheritance,

all of that

can't compare

to the value

of the

treasure.

treasure.

So he

determines

to hide

the treasure

again,

to sell

all that

he has,

to buy

that field

so that

he can

gain it

properly,

legally.

The second

parable is

very similar

in length

and messaging.

Jesus compares

the kingdom

of heaven

to a

merchant

who is

in search

of the

finest

of pearls.

Today,

99% of

pearls are

manually

farmed.

They're

dramatically

boosting

their

production

and

dramatically

decreasing

their

value

and

rarity.

But

back then,

all the

pearls

were natural

and extremely

rare and

prized.

They were

even considered

more valuable

than gold.

There are

ancient reports

that tell

of pearls

that were

worth more

than tens

of thousands

and tens

of millions

even

of dollars

in modern

currency.

Some

serendipitously

stumble upon

a treasure

that just

plops in

their lap.

But

others,

like this

merchant,

search,

labor

with intention

and persistence.

When he

finally finds

that pearl,

though it

cost him

time

and energy,

he

instantly

recognizes

that this

pearl was

worth it.

With his

trained eye,

he sees

its coat,

its luster,

its perfect

sphericity,

its color,

its shape,

and he

immediately

knows he's

found something

he's never

found before.

Knowing the

market for

these kinds

of things,

he too

performs a

cost-benefit

analysis.

In comparison,

commentators

surmise that

the man in

the first

parable was

just a

lowly day

laborer,

didn't have

much to

his name

probably,

but this

merchant,

it's not

like that.

He probably

had other

expensive,

rare pearls

in his

possession.

He had

even more

to sell,

yet still,

Jesus is

emphatically

making the

point,

it is worth

to sell

all that you

have,

just to gain

this one

pearl,

this singular

pearl.

That word

one,

it stands

out in

verse 46.

Jesus

could have

said a

pearl,

but he

says the

one pearl.

I think

to highlight

its singularity,

this one

singular pearl

is more

valuable than

all the other

pearls in his

possession

combined.

This

cost-benefit

analysis is

the central

point of

this parable.

We're

familiar with

the basic

idea,

right?

It's a

fancy

business

term,

that's a

very basic

idea.

Do the

benefits

outweigh the

costs?

If so,

then go

for it,

it makes

sense.

If not,

then pump

the brakes,

rethink

things.

So there

are two

parts to

that analysis

of understanding.

It's the

cost on the

one hand,

and then the

benefit.

So I want

to first look

at the

cost.

The cost

of the

kingdom is

plain and

clear.

Almost verbatim,

Jesus tells us

plainly that

both of these

parables,

these men

sell everything.

They sell

everything that

they have.

Though they

might have

looked crazy

to the outside

world,

they nonetheless

liquidated their

homes,

their land,

their livestock,

extra clothing,

jewelry,

stored food,

anything and

everything.

It all

must go

so that they

could buy

this one

thing.

Jesus makes

it clear that

the kingdom

of heaven,

of being

under the

rule and

reign of

Jesus Christ,

the king,

it costs

you

everything.

The kingdom

of heaven is

all-encompassing.

It's all

demanding.

Jesus very

plainly tells

us in Luke

13,

anyone,

any one of

you who

does not

renounce all

that you

have cannot

be my

disciple.

Now,

I don't

think that

Jesus literally

means that

today we

need to

now take a

vow of

poverty and

sell all

that we

have to

give to

the poor.

You read

of examples

of wealthy

people in the

gospel and in

the book of

Acts who

provide for

Jesus and

his disciples.

Even the

apostles,

Peter,

he's shown to

have possessions.

And for those

of us with

families,

it is our

God-given

responsibility to

provide for

them, to

work hard for

them.

If you don't,

then you are

worse than

unbelievers.

That's what

1 Timothy 5

says.

For even

unbelievers

understand their

duty to

provide for

their families.

But while

Jesus might

not literally

demand all,

he does

spiritually demand

all.

All of our

hearts, all of

our allegiance.

The cost of

the kingdom is

steep.

There is no

easy believism

in the kingdom.

There is no,

all you need to

do is just say

a prayer.

Just come up

once for an

altar call.

Even just get

baptized.

Just get wet

for a little

bit and then

you're going to

be good.

You can

coast.

It is only

those who are

willing to give

up everything

who will be

able to gain

the kingdom.

As the old

saying goes,

salvation is

free, but it

costs you

everything.

money.

It's not just

with money,

whether it's

our time,

a dream of

yours, a

relationship,

attachments to

comfort,

family, your

health even.

There can't be

anything where

we say to

Christ, you can

have this much.

You can have

10%.

you can have

Sunday mornings,

but this,

this is mine.

This is my

line in the

sand.

You, you

cannot touch

this.

brothers and

sisters, where

is that line

for you?

Lots of us

ponder what we

ought to do with

our lives.

Some of us are

thinking through

our professional

careers, maybe

even thinking

about entering

full-time

Christian ministry.

Should I go to

med school, or

move to this

city, or marry

this guy or

girl?

At the risk of

minimizing the

importance of

those questions,

they are always

secondary.

The primary

question is,

can I renounce

all that I have

to follow Jesus

Christ?

Far too many of

us get the

order of this

question mixed

up.

We try to figure

out what to do

with our lives

without resolving

a total,

complete surrender

to Jesus

Christ.

But if you're

resolved, if you

get that first

question right,

then that totally

transforms the

way that you

answer that

second question,

doesn't it?

When we're

confronted, though,

with the high

cost of the

kingdom, it

might be easy to

push back saying,

oh no, Jesus

didn't mean

everything.

Jesus is kind.

Didn't we just

read that he is

gentle and lowly

and that he won't

break a bruised

reed?

Your interpretation

makes the kingdom

too demanding,

too exclusive,

too harsh.

You're right.

Jesus is all-loving,

all-kind, and that

is precisely why he

does demand our

entire allegiance.

Because he knows

that those who live

outside of the

kingdom of heaven,

we serve.

They serve a

self-defeating,

self-sabotaging

enterprise.

Take money, for

example.

Money universally

is seen as power.

Money promises

security, safety.

It holds out the

illusion of control,

of freedom of

worry.

It is so easy

to let money

displace God

as our highest

good, as our

rock and our

redeemer.

But the reality

is, is in the

long run, money

will never make

you feel rich.

Money will never

make you feel

rich.

It's like

salt water.

it temporarily

quenches your

thirst.

But it will only

suck your

cells dry from

the inside out

and make you

thirstier and

thirstier and

thirstier.

Even when I

know that in my

own head, if I'm

honest, I am cut

to the heart by

this passage.

And I'm

convicted by my

allegiance to

other things.

I've had to

wrestle in

prayer in

preparation for

this sermon.

Could I do

what these men

did?

Could I sell

all that I

have and

renounce

everything for

the sake of

the kingdom?

to give up

my house,

my car,

my 401k,

my entire

net worth?

Could I lead

my family down

that path?

Could I

joyfully do

it?

Do I value the

kingdom above

all else?

every morning,

every single

day, I feel

the need to

train myself

to do this

one simple

thing.

Trying to

rip open

this grip,

this tight grip

that I have

on my

possessions.

I have to do

that every

morning.

I have to

do that

every morning.

But in those

prayer times,

if I'm not

careful,

I can get

into this

mode very

easily of

self-focused

performance.

As Jerry

Bridges put it,

our default

mode as

believers is

to live by

performance

and not

by grace.

It is the

default mode

of my own

heart to

live just

looking at

myself and

to feel like

I'm not

Christian enough.

This message

so far

might have

just reinforced

that feeling

that you are

not sacrificial

enough.

You're not

giving enough.

You're not

holy enough.

But in these

short parables,

notice that

Jesus doesn't

describe these

men as

exceptionally

holy or

exceptionally

righteous.

It's not even

about these

men at all.

It's about

the value

of the

kingdom of

heaven.

in no

sense did

these men

feel like

they were

committing a

self-sacrificial

magnanimous

act.

If you came up

to them and

asked them,

how did you

do this?

How did you

find it within

yourself to be

so brave,

so sacrificial?

They would

have looked at

you with

complete confusion

because in

the end,

this deed was

done in

joy.

joy because

of the value

of the

kingdom.

While he

sold every

previous

attachment,

every sense

of security,

every aspect

tied to his

previous life,

he was

supremely

joyful.

This is the

key.

This is the

key to all

Christian living

and all of

Christian growth.

It's about

getting our

eyes off of

ourselves,

off of our

stuff,

and to

look,

seek first

the kingdom

of heaven.

We only

learn to

deny ourselves

and to

renounce

everything by

seeing the

surpassing worth

of the kingdom

of heaven.

That's how

the apostle

Paul,

he gave up

all former

ties,

all his

former security,

all his

former boasts.

In Philippians

3, he says,

whatever gain I

had,

I counted

as loss

for the

sake of

Christ.

Indeed, I

count everything

as loss

because of the

surpassing worth

of knowing

Christ Jesus

my Lord.

For his

sake I

have suffered

the loss

of all

things and

count them

as rubbish

in order that

I may gain

Christ and be

found in him.

Every gain

in this

world,

all the

money,

the status,

the power,

it was like

refuse,

like worthless

dung compared

to the

surpassing worth

of knowing

Christ.

That's why

David Livingstone,

a missionary

to Africa,

even when he

contracted malaria

over 30 times,

had his left

arm crushed

by a lion

or had to

bury his wife

in the soils

of Africa.

It almost

feels not real,

the hardships

that he had to

endure.

But he

said this,

people talk

of the

sacrifice

that I've

made and

spending so

much of my

life in

Africa.

Anxiety,

sickness,

suffering,

or danger,

now and

then with

the foregoing

of the

common

conveniences

and charities

of this

life may

make us

pause and

cause the

spirit to

waver and

the soul

to sink,

but let

this be

for a

moment.

For these

are all

nothing when

compared with

the glory that

shall be

revealed in

and for

us.

I have

never made

a sacrifice.

I never

made a

sacrifice.

I don't

mean to

over-spiritualize

or trivialize

our sacrifices

and our

hardships that

we face.

There are

real hardships

that we do

go through.

The battle

against our

sins, Satan,

and the world

is real.

It rages

against us.

And Christians

do get

discouraged

and depressed.

But Living

Stone's quote

is not to

minimize our

struggles, but

it is to

maximize the

incomparable

value of

the kingdom.

Once we

see the

immeasurable

value of

the kingdom,

then these

sacrifices, they

start to feel

smaller.

It all

relativizes.

It's not

primarily by

just doing

this in our

prayer times.

it's not

just doing

this.

But it's

doing this

to grasp

the feet of

our Lord

Jesus Christ,

to gain

more of

him, to

say that I

can't believe

I get to be

in relationship

with you,

Jesus Christ.

The point of

this parable is

not to starve

yourself, but

it is to

feast.

Look, guys,

I know you

know this.

I know you

know this.

But sometimes

life is so

hard and

distracting,

discouraging,

that you need

someone else to

tell you this,

to remind you

of the supreme

worth of the

king and his

kingdom.

It is so

easy, is it

not, to let our

estimation of the

kingdom fluctuate.

we know on our

heads the

infinite value of

the kingdom, of

Jesus Christ, but

in our heart of

hearts, our

personal evaluation,

it rises and

falls.

I am 100%

sure that

James Howell's

desire for his

little hard drive,

it rose and it

fell, along with

Bitcoin.

When he saw

that his

portfolio rose,

he just wanted

that even more.

When he fell,

disinterested.

When he saw

though, that

over time his

portfolio grow

from 10,000 to

a million to

100 million to

800 million

dollars, there's

a fire.

There's a desire

for that.

We do the

same thing when

we start to

really understand

the value of

the kingdom.

And when we

struggle to see

Jesus as he is,

God is gracious

to us to give

us the people

in this room

to rely on our

fellow brothers

and sisters in

this race.

And I have

experienced that

fellowship here.

I am amazed by

some of your

testimonies.

Some of you

guys have quit

your jobs,

moved to a

brand new

city, just

so you can

follow God's

call to be

part of this

church.

Others of you

are following

Jesus and

standing up for

truth, even if

it costs you

your relationships

with friends and

family, even when

they ridicule you.

you.

Still more of

you have given

yourselves to the

giving, to the

service, to the

growth of this

church and your

brothers and

sisters.

You have made the

kingdom your top

priority and it

shows.

Even when it is a

struggle to make

the kingdom your

top priority, is

it not evidence that

the kingdom is your

top priority still?

When we see, when I

see that faith in

you, I am regularly

built up, regularly

encouraged that Jesus

truly is worth

everything.

Bonhoeffer says so

much, he says,

God has put this

word into the mouth

of others in order

that it may be

communicated to us.

He needs him time,

he needs him again

and again when he

becomes uncertain and

discouraged.

For by himself he

cannot help himself

without denying the

truth, he needs his

brother as bearer and

proclaimer of the

divine word of

salvation.

The Christ in his

own heart is weaker

than the Christ in

the word of his

brother.

His own heart is

uncertain, his

brother's is sure.

When was the last

time you experienced

true Christian

fellowship?

Where a brother and

sister reminded you

of the joy that we

have in Jesus Christ.

Don't you want that?

Don't you want to do

that for others?

Let us faithfully

remind one another of

the value of the

kingdom, that the

king and his kingdom

are worth everything.

Now so far it sounds

like the kingdom of

heaven is only a

benefit to some, but

not a force to be

reckoned with.

Sean spoke last week

about the inevitability

of the kingdom of

heaven.

That when the battle

is done and the dust

settles, it will be the

kingdom of heaven that

stands, that reigns.

There is no place for

this kind of apathy.

No, it's good for you to

joyfully sell all your

stuff, but it's not for

me.

It's great that you found

your thing.

You have your kingdom,

I'll have mine.

Jesus debunks any sense

of that kind of talk in

the third parable of this

passage, the parable of

the net, which shows that

the kingdom of heaven is

all reckoning.

In this parable, the

kingdom of heaven is

compared to a massive

sen net thrown into the

sea that indiscriminately

gathers fish of all kinds,

which more literally

translates in the Greek to

all races.

Jesus again seems to be

drawing on real life

examples because fishermen

would regularly fish in

this particular manner.

They would stretch out this

ginormous net between two

boats.

It would stretch out even

across a half mile and

they would slowly sail

around.

These nets would have a

heavy lead line that

would drag across the

bottom of the ocean or

the bottom of the sea,

allowing the net to span

the entire depth of

water.

There was no escaping,

no dodging this net.

They would haul up every

watery creature on shore

then and then meticulously

sort out the good from the

bad.

In the Sea of Galilee,

there were more than 20

types of sea creatures.

Remember, in Jewish society,

they were to follow strict

dietary laws according to

Moses.

So some, some of these

species were ceremoniously

clean, others unclean.

The good and the bad.

And so far, this parable and

the parable of the wheat that

Sean preached on last week,

they touch on similar themes.

But while the themes are

similar, their focuses are

slightly different.

The parable of the wheat focuses

more on the fact that the

good and the evil, they

coexist.

But this parable, the parable

of the net, seems to build on

the previous parable, focused

not on their coexistence, but

their separation.

Right now, all of us see

creatures.

We're coexisting together.

We see the big blue sea in

front of us.

We see all the open space,

all the possibilities.

And we imagine ourselves to be

completely, completely free,

completely and forever

autonomous.

All unaware that the net is

enclosing in on us.

Because the net, slowly but

surely, is sweeping the sea of

the entire world.

And it's filling up right now,

as we speak.

And it indiscriminately catches

men of all kinds.

They don't care what demographic

you fit in.

The net will catch all of us.

It'll catch your Uber driver,

your neighbor, your lab partner,

your dentist.

The net has a max capacity.

It can't and won't fill up

indefinitely.

And once it reaches that

capacity, the kingdom of heaven,

then it will be revealed in all

of its resplendent glory.

And judgment will come.

With the bad being thrown into

the eternal fire.

The place of weeping and

gnashing of teeth.

This parable is a sober reminder

of the reality of hell.

As John MacArthur points out,

Jesus speaks more about hell

than he does about love.

He speaks more about hell than

all the other biblical authors.

And he does so because he loves us.

He earnestly warns us

that this net is slowly

but surely coming.

For scripture teaches us

that Jesus will return

one day soon.

All with his angels

to separate out

the good fish

from the bad fish,

from the sheep,

from the goats,

from those of the kingdom of heaven

and those outside of it.

Those who reject Jesus

as their king

and serve other idols

cannot and will not

be welcomed

into the kingdom of heaven.

Believe it or not,

we're already coming up

at the end of 2025.

Looking forward to start 2026.

many of you guys

have big goals,

big dreams.

Get married.

Have a child.

Start a new job.

Buy a home.

All good things.

All blessings.

But forget not

that 2026

could be the year

that Jesus returns.

It could be the year

when the net is full.

2026 could be the year

could be the last year

of our lives,

the last year of earth.

So this holiday season,

what will you speak about

with your family and friends?

This next year,

what will you speak about

to your coworkers,

to your neighbors?

You know,

I bet you that

going back,

the men in our passage

who found this great treasure,

they never shut up about it.

I bet you their friends

were sick and tired

of hearing about their treasure.

And I bet that we would too.

We can't help it.

What you value,

what makes you most happy,

is what you speak about,

what just overflows

in your life,

just naturally oozes out of you.

We see this later

in this very last verse

in our passage.

Those who have

and hold this treasure,

they are commanded

not to hoard,

not to hide,

but to bring out

this once hidden treasure.

To show publicly,

to share liberally,

to let others benefit

from this treasure

that we have found.

When you do,

God can and will use

that treasure of the gospel

to transform the evil

to the righteous,

just like he's done

for all of us.

And then the kingdom of heaven

is not just a personal treasure,

but it turns

or it becomes

a precious safety net

to snatch us up,

save us up

from the pits of hell.

This transformation

from evil to righteous,

it depends on one crucial thing.

It's understanding.

Without understanding,

the kingdom remains hidden

and its power unrevealed.

And that's why

Jesus now turns

away from the crowd

in verse 51

and turns directly

to his disciples

and he asks,

do you understand

all these things?

Understanding has been

a key theme

in this chapter.

It's full of parables

so far.

Earlier in verse 11,

Jesus rebukes

the unbelieving,

saying that they don't

have eyes to see,

ears to hear,

nor do they understand.

But to the disciples,

Jesus said to them,

to them it has not been given,

but to you

it has been given

to know the secrets

of the kingdom of heaven.

Now, if you know anything

about the disciples

in the gospels,

you know to question

whether they really understood

what Jesus is talking about.

But when the disciples

confidently respond

in verse 51,

saying,

yes, Jesus,

we get it.

We understand

all these things.

Jesus graciously agrees,

very graciously agrees,

and grants them

the honored title

of scribes.

Now, if you're familiar

with that title,

this was surprising

for two reasons.

Almost every time

you read of a scribe

in the gospel of Matthew,

that character

is not one of the good ones.

Though they're highly esteemed

in Jewish culture,

although they're seen

as scholars and teachers

and experts

in the Mosaic law,

they consistently

rejected Jesus,

testing him

against their man-made laws,

their man-made religion.

not only that,

none of his disciples

were ever formally trained

like these prestigious

scribes had.

They knew how to fish.

If you needed to fish,

they were your people.

If you needed to do your taxes,

Matthew might have been your guy.

But none were

rigorously trained as scribes.

But despite their lack

of education,

Jesus then compares

these blue-collar,

uneducated,

former fishermen

to scribes.

He bestows upon them

this honored title.

These are the ones

who have unearthed

the hiddenness

of the treasure,

of the pearl.

These are the true

biblical scholars

who see and understand

the reality

of the kingdom.

And so that these

blue-collar men,

these uneducated men,

Jesus then compares them

to rich,

powerful,

influential masters

of the house

who have gained

this incredible treasure

to share with others.

That's what

verse 51 and 52 say.

And what comes out

of this treasure?

Jesus calls it

what is of old

and what is of new.

What does that mean?

Here Jesus connects

these two ideas

of being a scribe

with great understanding

to a rich man

with great treasure.

Saying that the

teachings

are the treasure.

The teachings

are the treasure.

Jesus is likely

speaking of

old and new teachings

as in

the old

Hebrew scriptures,

our Old Testament

to the new teachings

about the kingdom

of heaven.