Matthew 13:52

Then [Jesus] added, “Every teacher of religious law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a homeowner who brings from his storeroom new gems of truth as well as old.”

When I was nine or ten years old, one of the great delights of my life was to visit my grandmother’s house. She lived quite close to our family home and I was allowed to go and see her whenever I liked. Her house was like an Aladdin’s cave for me! It was full of generations of treasures and, whenever I found something that appealed to me, I would take it to my grandmother and almost always she would ask: “Would you like to have it dear?” Many of the things she gave me sparked my interest in history and geography and gave me a much bigger appreciation of life, particularly her postcard collection from before the first world war. I thank God for her generosity.

In this parable, Jesus spoke about how teachers of the law had great knowledge of Old Testament teaching. Their knowledge was like a house filled with treasure from which they could get hold of riches from the past. But, he added, those who became disciples in the kingdom of heaven were also able to take hold of brand-new gems. Jesus was always careful to say that he hadn’t come to scrap the Old Testament law but to help people see it in a new way through the illumination of the Holy Spirit. In Christ everything has been renewed.

In every generation there are those who want to abandon the past. Anything that looks traditional is mocked and rejected. But that wasn’t Jesus’ way. He looked to the past with respect and encouraged people to see it with the eyes of the Spirit. God is constantly at work and we should be eager to grasp hold of the gems that he gives to us from the past, as well as the new insights he reveals to us as we open our lives to his Spirit.

Question

What are the gems that you have discovered recently?

Prayer

Lord God, thank you for the treasures that you bring to us from the past, and for the ways in which you speak directly and clearly to us today. Amen