6 1 03

10a

Matthew 13:47-58

In verses 47 through 52, Jesus gives us the parable of the Net. He tells us that the kingdom of heaven is like a fishing net and the angels like fishermen� The angels will weed out the good fish from the bad, gather the good together and take the bad to the furnace where there will be �weeping and gnashing of teeth�.

Jesus then asks �Have you understood all these things?�

Um, no.

I mean, sure, at its most basic I get it. At the end, there will be a separation. The good guys will be gathered up and taken wherever God wants them to be while the bad guys will be led off to death. That�s pretty cut and dried. But� The last part really bugs me.

52 He said to them, �Therefore every teacher of the Law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.�

Huh?

Okay, the only thing I can piece together here is this� �teacher of the law� is a minister/rabbi. A teacher of the law who has been �instructed about the kingdom of heaven� is a rabbi/minister who has heard the gospel and accepts it. Said teacher is likened to an owner of a house� well� temple right? If he�s overseeing a congregation as a teacher of the law and he�s sharing the gospel he has learned � after all, what good is a teacher if they don�t share what they have learned? � then his congregation/house is the treasure both new and old. Meaning that some of said rabbi�s congregation has been attending that particular �house� for a long while, whereas some of the congregation is a recent addition� all of them, however, are treasures because they�re listening to and hearing the word of God.

Ya think?

*shrugs*

Verses 53 through 58 discuss the whole �prophet without honor� thing.

Jesus went through His home town where the people didn�t put a lot of stock in what He said. Some were amazed at His words, remembering Him from when He was a little boy and such� the town�s people knew Jesus as a human.

Let me put it this way: Would you be as impressed by Freddie Prinze Jr. if you had changed his diapers when he was a kid?

That�s a good one for comparison for MY generation. To me, Freddie Prinze Jr. is no big deal. He�s just some kid who would like to be, say, Andrew McCarthy, Ally Sheedy, Molly Ringwald� see? To those who are about ten to twenty years older than I, they�re laughing at the mention of those actors.

A prophet is without honor in his own town. If Sylvester Stalone or Harrison Ford went home to his parents� house, they wouldn�t pull out the red carpet. They might ogle over him, welcoming him home, for a few minutes, but then it would be �Harrison, pick up your shoes. How many times do I have to tell you? Don�t leave your shoes in the middle of the hallway!�

That�s the way it goes quite a lot. So, how do I internalize this? It is my responsibility to AVOID becoming so familiar with Jesus that I lose awe. I don�t want to reduce the level of awe and majesty which come with knowing who Jesus is.