The End of the Age and the Keepers of the Treasure

Today, we will finish up this section of Kingdom Parables from Jesus. I hope this has been an interesting study for you, and has given you some insight and encouragement about God’s work in the world in our age.

Parables, again, were given with really a two-fold purpose. To reveal and conceal the truth about the kingdom. They concealed the truth from those with closed eyes, hard hearts, and a decided rejection of Jesus and His teachings, but to the disciples and those who followed, they revealed some wonderful things.

In the parable of the Sower, we started by learning that the Kingdom of God is the Word of God being sown, taking root, and producing fruit in the hearts of men and women. The interesting thing about that parable was the explanation of the different kinds of soils, or hearts - the hard heart, the shallow heart, the strangled heart, and the soft heart.

We need soft, fertile ground in our hearts to receive the Word of God gladly and produce the fruits of the Spirit that remain.

In the parable of the wheat and the weeds, we learned that we live now in a mingled world, a mingled kingdom. That is true in two ways. The kingdom is mingled in that we live and exist among many people who do not and will not believe, but it is also true in the sense that there are true and false disciples.

In the parables of the Mustard Seed and the Leaven, we learned that the Kingdom may have started with small and insignificant beginnings, hardly recognizable as a kingdom, but has grown and is growing to considerable and monumental size. There are Kingdom Citizens all around the globe - much work is left to do in the spread of the Kingdom, but still, there is great hope because Jesus promises that His Kingdom will thrive and be the victorious one in the end.

In the parables of the Treasure and the Pearl, we learned that following Jesus in His Kingdom is worth giving everything to do so. We learned that taking the long view of the Kingdom is prudent, and even at times becoming very poor in one sense is worth it to become very rich in another sense. It is an investment that produces returns beyond imagine, not only in the future, but also in our experience of peace and joy in this present age.

This morning, then, we come to two final parables. One is really a repeated idea - an emphasis - that we already saw in the parable of the wheat and tares. This parable, called the parable of the Drag-Net, refers to the judgment at the end of the age.

The final one is perhaps the shortest in this section, compares well-trained disciples in the kingdom to those who are keepers of the treasure of the Kingdom.

Right in the middle of these two, Jesus asks a question to his disciples - to those listening.

Matthew 13:51 ESV

“Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.”

Have you understood all these things? That is the operative question. For these followers would, sooner than they think, be in this world apart from their Lord, and it would be them who carry on the teaching and the proclamation of the Kingdom.

Jesus wants his followers to understand his teaching, to know the meaning, and to apply it. For years, the Lord had been dealing with cycles of stubborn, closed-minded, and stiff-necked people.

In the time of the Judges, the people disregarded the law of God and followed their own ways.

Judges 17:6 ESV

In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

In the time of the exile, the people were stubborn and closed-minded to God’s prophets, like we saw a few weeks ago in Isaiah 6.

Isaiah 6:9 ESV

And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “ ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’

Now, in Jesus’ own day, he was dealing with a generation of Israelites, particularly the religious teachers and lawyers, who were so self-righteous and stubborn that they completely missed the coming of their messiah.

Today, still, the Lord calls us to have soft hearts, to understand, to listen.

Hebrews 3:12–15 ESV

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

Today, if you hear his voice. Do you hear the voice of Jesus in His teachings? Do you hear the Kingdom Message in His words? I pray that you do - that we all do - and that we listen, and understand, and follow.

This is especially prudent in these final parables, because they really reveal a contrast that exposes both the grave reality of rejecting and ignoring these teachings, but also the beauty and goodness of embracing them.

The warning concerning the end of the age is clear and potent, which makes the treasure of Kingdom Truth much more valuable.

1. The Parable of the Drag Net - Vs. 47-50

Matthew 13:47–50 ESV

“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.

A. The Net

Any fishermen in the congregation today? I know of at least few of you who enjoy fishing. Now, I don’t know any of you who are professional fishermen - those of us who fish for fun, or maybe just for something to eat, usually fish in a certain way called angling - that is, we have a rod, a line, and a hook with some sort of bait on the end, and we catch one fish at a time - and that only if the deceptive power of good luck is on our side.

If you want to get set up for fishing today, you might go town to the sporting goods store and speak to the fishing department, and they will gladly set you up. They might ask you what you want to fish for, and and give you recommendations and products that will guarantee your success. Well, after you pick out $100 rod and reel, a $30 tackle box, an assortment of baits and lures, maybe a nice fishing hat, a net, some plyers, and of course, a fisching license, then $300-$400 later, you are ready to go out and fish. And if you are really lucky, you will catch enough fish to equal several dollars worth of meat - but the enjoyment will be worth it.

Well, angling, or fishing with a hook and a line of some kind, had been invented at the time of Jesus, but it was much more common to be a professional fisherman than a hobby fisherman. And the typical method of fishing in that day, the most successful, was to use a net. There were two types of nets, a small-single person net that would be cast out and pulled in by yourself, and then another net called a seine - a net you would stretch between two boats and sail in the same direction, dragging the net through the water, catching everything in its way.

Later, the net would be dragged up on to the boat, or in many cases, right up onto the shore, and then the tedious process of sorting would begin. These fishermen were fishing for their living, and only certain fish were desirable for food - so the good species - a kind of fish they called a musht - like a tilapia - were kept and sold, while the bad fish or the refuse in the water was simply thrown away.

This process was what Jesus described in this parable, and knowing his audience, they would have had no problem understanding the idea and the circumstances within it.

This process of gathering, sorting, and separating the fish is what Jesus likens to the Kingdom at the end of the age.

This parable is a sobering parable, it is a parable of judgment.

The concept is repeated, as I mentioned, from the parable of the wheat and the tares.

Matthew 13:40–43 ESV

Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

For Jesus to repeat this direct message, this exact idea, tells us something of its importance in nature, and the clarity which he wants his hearers to have about this subject.

The separation of the wheat and the tares, and the separation of the good and bad fish represents God’s judgment at the end of the age.

During our present age - our experience right now - this age of the church, this age of grace, this age of the kingdom spreading and growing, as we have already seen, God allows a mixture of belief and unbelief, of righteousness and unrighteousness. He allows that coexistance, that mingling, that intertwined reality.

Just as the fish being pulled in the net, they may have had no concept that they were even in the net to begin with. Some of these seines - these dragnets, covered as much as half a square mile. It would not be until it was pulled together that the unsuspecting fish would realize their plight.

And so it is in our age - that men and women walk about in the earth as if they were free, as if there were nothing to be accountable to, nothing to fear, no consequence. Yet, that is simply not the case.

God’s Kingdom extends throughout the entire earth, and not every person is a citizen of the Kingdom, but ever person is subject to the authority of the King - of the Lord Himself.

We know individuals - we may even have this attitude ourselves at times - where we live as care-free and jovial, conducting our lives as if whatever successes and joys we can achieve in the moment are the pinnacle of existence. Yet, this sobering reminder from Jesus tells us that it is not so.

B. The Sorting

Again, like in the parable of the wheat and tares, Jesus speaks of the Angels as God’s workers of separation. Now, when and how exactly will that happen? Jesus doesn’t give that information, nor does he intend us to know that here. This parable doesn’t give us an exact theology of the end-times, nor is it meant to. But it is meant to give a picture.

What is clear is that in the separation, there is something to be feared for those who are evil, for the unrighteous. In both cases Jesus speaks of the judgment as a fiery furnace.

It has often been said that Jesus speaks more of this jind of judgment - the judgment of hell or a fiery judgment - than he does of heaven, or even of love. And that is true - because a major part of Jesus’ ministry was the warning aspect of it. The implications of following or not following Jesus are more than just having a peaceful or more successful life now, they are implications that extend from this age to the age to come.

Jesus has already warned of this separation. Back in the Sermon on the mount he gave this reminder.

Matthew 7:21–23 ESV

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

A time of separation is coming. And it is not only the hitlers and the stalins and the mass murderers who face the judgment. Remember, that even the Pharisees - the religious elite and keepers of the letter of the law - were not counted as righteous by Jesus. No, dear one - we must come to Jesus and submit to His Lordship, call upon His name, receive the righteousness that only he can give.

Denis read earlier from Revelation 20 and 21. In that passage of the great white throne judgment, we saw the contrast of the judgment for some, but the wiping away of tears and new existence for others. The contrast is great, and the contrast is true.

It is a common deception when people speak of the judgment as a time when they will simply be gathered with their buddies and carrying on separated from all those stodgy religious people. But Jesus’ imagery here gives a different picture.

Matthew 13:50 ESV

and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Weeping and gritting of teeth - that leaves no question about whether or not this will be an enjoyable existence. Dear ones, this warning is stern and clear, but it is compassionate and patient on the part of Jesus as well.

He gives this warning in contrast with the joy and goodness of the Kingdom in order that we might listen. And as we saw in the parable of the wheat and tares, the fact that we live in a world now where evil and righteousness are mingled is a sign of God’s patience - his willingness that men would come to Him.

Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart - do not ignore him - do not presume upon his patience. The same righteous King who is judge of all the earth is also a gracious and patient shepherd who warns and calls his sheep to Himself.

2. The Parable of the Householder - Vs. 51-52

A. Trained for the Kingdom

By way of conclusion and application, Jesus asks, again, that operative question.

Matthew 13:51 ESV

“Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.”

Now, as we read on in Matthew, we fill find that the Disciples’ understanding was not as clear or perfect as they probably thought it was. But Jesus took their answer, and accepted it. They probably did understand to a point, maybe got the big ideas. And we should be glad that Jesus is gracious with us as we seek to follow and understand the scriptures. None of us has ever arrived.

Those who have been believers for 60-70 years will tell you that they are still learning and gleaning new treasures and insights from the scripture after all this time.

Marion Turner Bible

And that leads well into this last little parable.

Matthew 13:52 ESV

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.”

Based on their affirmation that they did, indeed, understand, he says “therefore, every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom....”

Now, the scribes were an official category in Israel. They were the Grammateons - the teachers of the law. They were responsible for recording and knowing the law and the recorded interpretations of it by the Rabbis. They were experts, so to speak, in the Tanach - the Old Testament.

But Jesus says, based on his disciples affirmation of understanding, that they are “scribes trained for the kingdom of heaven...”

This is not a new category of scribe, but these are simply the ones who have been taught by Jesus. After all, that is the teaching/learning/training that has been taking place and in the context of this passage. The disciples who follow and learn from Jesus were like Kingdom Scribes - a keeper of the truth of the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of God.

This probably was in a bit of a contrast to the official scribes. For those scribes were not just well-versed in the Scriptures, but as we have seen in previous passages, there was so much man-made tradition mingled in their teachings that they often missed the scriptures or went beyond their truth.

But those who follow Jesus are scribes well-trained for the Kingdom. Their teacher is the Lord Himself. And that is true, dear one. I may stand before you as a teacher, but I am not the teacher. Me, or Matt, or Denis, or others may have opportunity to study and teach in this kind of context, but truly in the Kingdom, the Lord is the teacher.

When you learn from scripture, you are learning from God Himself. We can read, understand, explain, and apply it - but the truth is not ours, it is God’s truth. A Scribe for the Kingdom doesn’t add tradition, he simple gives the Lord’s teaching.

B. New and Old Treasures

Matthew 13:52 ESV

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.”

Jesus, then, pictures these disciples as master’s of a house who have things stored in their treasure.

The Kingdom Truth is a treasure stored in the disciples heart. That is a really interesting picture.

The person who holds the treasure didn’t make the treasure, they did’t buy the treasure - it is an inherited treasure. And, it is new treasure and old treasure.

This ties in well with that little comment that Matthew gave back in the middle of this section.

Matthew 13:34–35 ESV

All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.”

New and Old. New and Old.

We have said all along that the Coming of Jesus was a new thing - this was it. The Messiah was here, the Kingdom was here, the fulfillment of law and prophecy coming to fruition.

But it was not new in replacement of the old, or despising the old.

Matthew 5:17 ESV

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

If you recall when we studied that, saying “the law and the prophets” was not merely talking about some books of scripture, but it was a euphemism for the whole of the scriptures at that time.

From Genesis to Malachi - books of history, books of poetry, books of prophecy, they all had their aim and their focus in pointing to the greater thing to come - the greater one to come, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.

So, the treasure of the Kingdom for the well-trained disciple is both new and old. Certainly, with Jesus did come new revelation, new insight, new teaching. And with the Apostles came the writing of the books of the New Testament.

But be clear, these new and old are not in contradiction, not in opposition. They do not give different pictures of God and His work, they are a unified whole that speak together. The Scriptures are a body of teaching - a living organism. Not living in that they change, but living in that the life-blood of God’s Truth courses through the entirety of them.

It has been popular at various times in history, including right now, to sort of take the view that the Old Testament God and the New Testament Jesus are two different things. Or, that Jesus sort of is the new and improved version of the God of the Old Testament.

But that is not the case - the Jesus of Matthew is the promised Messiah that we read about in Daniel and Isaiah and Micah. He is the seed of the woman that crushes the head of the serpent in Genesis 3. He is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.

God has not changed, nor has his plan changed, nor has his ways changed.

Brother and sister, take up the new and the old. Take them up and bring them out.

Take up the story of creation in Genesis, learning how God is the beginning of all things.

Take up the story of the Exodus, how God delivers his people.

Take up the giving of the law, how God has clear intentions for every detail of life, intentions of justice and human flourishing.

Take up the stories in the books of history, how God didn’t despise or destroy his people though they often strayed from Him.

Take up the Psalms and see the full range of human emotion placed against the goodness and beauty of God.

Take up the Proverbs and see the Wisdom that far surpasses every treasure of human understanding.

Take up the prophets and see how God is a righteous Judge, but also has a master plan that extends through the Ages.

Take up the Gospels, and see the coming of the Messiah, the work of Jesus and his real life, death, and resurrection.

Take up the writings of Paul and see how God used one of the hard-hearted pharisees to hand down almost half the books of the New Testament, and the theology that shapes the church and explains in detail how Jesus fulfills the Old Testament.

Take up the writings of Peter and see how the disciple that wavered so much went on to encourage and strengthen his brothers, calling them to follow Christ.

take up the writings of James and Jude and see how Jesus’ half-brothers, who didn’t even believe in Him when he was on the earth, went on to be well-trained scribes for the Kingdom.

take up the Writings of John, and his book of Revelation, and see how the Lord’s plan extends through all the ages and culminates in the total victory of the Kingdom, of the New Creation, of the eradication of Sin, of Suffering, and of Sadness. How Jesus is the Beginning and the End, and is making all things new.

Brothers and Sisters, take up these things, Old and New, and bring them out.

They are a treasure to be shared, to be proclaimed. things once hidden are now revealed in Jesus, and may we treasure them and show them off - display them for all the world to see.