Things Old And New
"Therefore every scribe who hath been made a disciple to the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, who bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old." (Matt. 13:52)
The Scribe Who Hath Been Made A Disciple In The Kingdom Of Heaven"
The term, "scribe, was originally applied to the one who copied the manuscripts of the law. This exercise made the scribe familiar with the law; knowledge of the law qualified him to instruct and thus the scribe came to function as an instructor of the law. The scribe of Christ's reference was not the scribe who had perverted his mission and lined up with those Pharisees who opposed the teaching of Christ. The scribe which Jesus compared to the householder was the one "who hath been made a disciple to the kingdom of heaven" or as another translator renders it, "who has been instructed unto the kingdom of heaven".
The scribe, who had been instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, had a treasure well stocked with truth gained through his study of the Old Testament and through the instruction or schooling he had received unto the kingdom of heaven. To the training gained as ascribe had been added Christ's instruction unto the kingdom of heaven. Such a one was well equipped to bring forth from his storehouse things new and old.
Things New
The things new are the things which God "hath in the end of these days spoken unto us in his Son". (Heb.1:2). To all these things we are required to hearken---"and it shall be, that every soul that shall not hearken to that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people" (Acts 3:23).
These things are things "new" but this provides no license for the present day teachers to bring forth anything not available in the last will and testament. Such is forbidden by the Holy Spirit - "Beloved believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they be from God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world" (1 Jno. 4:1). The characteristic of newness is not enough to qualify a thing for a place in the treasure. Many things that are wrong could qualify if being "new" were all that was necessary. No doctrine new or old finds a place in the treasure of the faithful instructor unless it is the teaching of Christ. "Whosoever goeth onward and abideth not in the teaching of Christ hath not God; he that abideth in the teaching, the same hath both the Father and the Son" (2 Jno. 9).
Things Old
The old things which the scribe who was likened to the householder, could bring forth out of his treasure, are those principles of truth that were available to the scribe through his study of the Old Testament. From his treasure, the scribe who had been instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, could bring forth the ancient prophecies pointing to Christ and the promise made to the fathers to be realized in Christ. Along with these things "old", he could bring forth the "new" things which are the complement of the old. The prophecies found their fulfillment in Christ; the promises are realized in Christ. All of these properly had a place in the treasure of the scribe, who had been made a disciple unto the kingdom of heaven.
A religious instructor today is like unto a householder who bringeth forth things new and old, only if he has the word of Christ dwelling in him richly. His treasure is deficient, regardless of degrees he may have, if he has failed to lay up the word of God in his heart.