Read:  “Have you understood all these things?” They *said to Him, “Yes.”  Mat 13:51

Examine: Jesus taught using parables, Matthew 13 contains a series of seven parables, all of which focus on the theme of the kingdom of God, and all of which are designed to teach us about unexpected aspects of the kingdom.

Jesus first describes these to a large crowd along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Later, in a house, He explains to the disciples the meanings of the parables of the sower, the weeds, and the fish caught in the net.

 “Also, the Kingdom of heaven is like this. Some fishermen throw their net out in the lake and catch all kinds of fish.  When the net is full, they pull it to shore and sit down to divide the fish: the good ones go into the buckets, the worthless ones are thrown away.  It will be like this at the end of the age: the angels will go out and gather up the evil people from among the good and will throw them into the fiery furnace, where they will cry and gnash their teeth.

“Do you understand these things?” Jesus asked them. “Yes,” they answered.

So he replied, “This means, then, that every teacher of the Law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of heaven is like a homeowner who takes new and old things out of his storage room.”

Application: Jesus said to them, “Have you understood all these things?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”

They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” We wonder if the disciples really did understand Jesus here. However, Jesus did not deny their claim to understand.

The main idea is that the disciples – who had just claimed to understand what Jesus taught – are now responsible to bring forth their understanding to others, as if they were distributing from the storehouse of their wisdom and understanding. This storehouse contains things new and old.

“A small degree of knowledge is not sufficient for a preacher of the Gospel. The sacred writings should be his treasure, and he should properly understand them… his knowledge consists in being well instructed in the things concerning the kingdom of heaven, and the art of conducting men thither.” (Clarke)

Decision: Lord help me to be a carefully practicing and diligent student of the word of God. Let me never be shallow in gospel but men mighty in the Scriptures, well acquainted with the writings of the Old and New Testament, and the sense of them; men that have a stock of spiritual knowledge, able readily to speak a word to the weary, and to speak to people particular cases and questions.”