Parable of the Householder
by Daniel R. Vess
Jesus said to them, “Have you understood all these things?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” Then He said to them, “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.” Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, that He departed from there (Matthew 13:51-53).
The Parable of the Householder is the eighth parable Jesus told in the sermon on the seashore of Galilee in Matthew 13. Some commentators and scholars do not regard this as a parable. However, the context says “when Jesus had finished these parables” (13:53).
This final parable of that day can be compared with the first Parable of the Sower. Both parables speak of the treatment of God’s Word by the individual hearer. In the first parable the Word of God comes into the good heart and bears fruit. In this final parable the Word is given to others. In The Sower, fruit bearing is shown to be understanding, receiving and keeping the Word. In the Householder we are taught that the best way of keeping the Word is to transmit it to others.
In this short parable Jesus pointed out five responsibilities that Christians have toward God’s truth.
The Duty of Ascertaining the Truth That Is Taught
There are two groups involved in this parable. First is the scribe or gramma in the Greek which is the source of our English word, grammar. The scribe was one whose job was to write down the Law for others to have a reliable copy. They were the human xerox machines of their day. Because they dealt with the scriptures on such a constant and intense way every day, they were well instructed, and learned men of the Law of Moses. A scribe’s work was to examine the Law and discover its teachings. By New Testament times the Scribes had become a specialized religious sect or group. They surrounded it with their own traditions and precepts, teaching these instead of the Law. Which became an instrument for preventing true access to God. The scribes degenerated into an unspiritual clique and were more interested in protecting dead tradition than teaching living truth (Lk. 11:46-52). They became blind leaders of the blind. However in this parable they are not considered in a negative light. Still, the disciples were not to follow their corruptions of the Law, they are to imitate their devotion.
The second group here in the parable are the disciples. The disciples of Jesus are to be the next generation of scribes or teachers of Truth. All scribes or teachers must be trained. As the lawyer must study law and the doctor medicine, so the Christian scribe must study Christ, the Word. The twelve had three years in the school of Christ. Like Mary, they studied in the College of the Feet of Jesus (Luke 10:39).
The Duty of Apprehending the Truth of What Is Learned
Learning must produce understanding. The instruction given to the scribes was scholastic. They were taught in all the wisdom of the rabbis. Their exposition of Scripture consisted of citing a text and then quoting the opinions of the Rabbis. This is not understanding.
Jesus asked his disciples, “Have ye understood all these things?” Whether they fully understood all the implications of His teaching in the seven previous parables is to be doubted. A disciple of Christ must learn with a view to understanding what He has taught.
The Duty of Applying the Truth to One’s Life
A sermon is prepared to prick the heart of a certain man in the worship services. The man comes out and vigorously shakes the preacher’s hand and tells him what a good job he did getting after those in the congregation that need to be awaken to their failures and duties. The man listened, but he failed to apply it to his own heart. A. W. Tozer said, “unused truth becomes as useless as an unused muscle”. It is not merely what one eats that makes him strong. It is what the athlete does with the strength he has. Teaching must be applied in over for faith to grow.
Ezra was “a ready scribe in the Law of Moses” He “prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord” (Ezra 7:6,10). A disciple means a “learner,” or one who follows another’s teaching, and who is not only a pupil, but an adherent and imitator of his teacher (Jn. 8:31; 15:8). Truth is best learned when truth is lived. A old Chinese proverb says, “tell me; I’ll forget. Show me; I may remember. But involve me and I’ll understand.” A true scribe of God lives what he has learned and practices what he teaches.
The Duty of Accumulating the Truth in Time
The scribe not only deals with the truths of old, but he mines the scriptures to find new treasures. All true students of the Bible are ever learning. They may even find new insights into old lessons learned years ago. This is true not because of the failure of any teacher but because the Word of God is given by the omniscient mind of God. The Bible is also filled with long neglected old stories that when given a fresh hearing will bring new applications to life. After all truth never really grows old and there is not such thing as old truths. Truth is eternal.
The Law is old, and the Gospel is new, yet the latter came as the development of the former. The teaching of the Kingdom, for instance, was a well-known doctrine taught by the prophets of old. It has been said that the Old Testament is the New Testament concealed while the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.
The Duty of According the Truth to Others A householder was a “house-despot.” It is the word that shows one’s authority. He was the head of his house, with authority to control his treasured store, and who brought forth the right kind of food at the right time, suiting meals to eaters.
The treasure is the same as treasury or a place of deposit. Two different words are used for “treasure” in the New Testament. The one means to lay up and keep. The other word implies that which is spent. The first insinuates a tightwad, the second, a extravagant spender. As householders, teachers have vast treasure in the Scriptures. These must not only be hidden within the heart but scattered lavishly to the hearts of others.
A traditional saying of the “Men of the Great Synagogue” laid down three rules for scribes: “Be careful in pronouncing judgment, bring up many pupils, and make a fence about the law”. Ezra is the outstanding example of a good “scribe,” who from a raised pulpit of wood read the Law correctly and with clear articulation, and then gave the sense, or explained and expounded what he read.
Teachers of the Word in a way are accumulating by giving away. This is a paradox. It is those who obey God’s Word who learn the most of God’s Word and have the most to share.
A few years ago, a student died in New York City at age 63. He had been a student all his life and the degrees after his name looked like the alphabet. He never had a job, never taught anyone else from his store of knowledge. When he was a youth, a rich relative had bequeathed him several thousand dollars a year as long as he remained in school, but his income was to cease as soon as he left school. The relative merely wanted him to get a good education. But the youth took advantage of the technicality and kept continuously in school.