Kingdom scribes
“Have you understood all these things?”
They said to him, “Yes.”
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.” (Matthew 13:51-52)
June 29, 2025
Dear friends,
The scribes of Jesus' day, just like lawyers in our own time, are often portrayed in an unfavorable light. When we read, for example, of "the scribes and Pharisees..." (Matt 15:1), we go on to learn about their religious hypocrisy: “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” (Matt 15:8-9). Their technical training did not profit them in the way of faith or true obedience.
But despite the cold hearts of the scribes of Jesus' day, there were good scribes. For example, in the Old Testament there was Ezra the scribe, who was a godly and sincere guide for the Jews: "For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel." (Ezra 7:10) Jesus himself uses the word in a positive light for a "scribe...trained for the kingdom of heaven" (Matt 13:52, above). A scribe (γραμματεὺς grammateus -- the same word from which we get "grammar") was one trained to handle (read, write, and explain) the text of God's word. He was a student of holy Scripture [γραφὴ graphē]. It meant also that he would be (or, should be) an expert in Jewish law.
In Matthew 13 the context is the disciples understanding Jesus' parables and the mystery of the church age, the hidden kingdom, as it were, of God's working before the great Day of Judgment. The disciples were expected to be students of the kingdom of heaven, understanding God's plan for history and the phases of his work on earth. This is especially true, when it comes to putting together things prefigured in the Old Testament and now revealed in the New. The Apostle Paul called this being "stewards of the mysteries of God." (1 Cor 4:1)
Jesus said to his disciples, "Have you understood all these things?" Understanding is the first step. And then, bringing forth treasures "old and new" from God's word follows. A pastor (or minister, teacher, parent, leader) should first be a student of the text of God's word. We are called to speak words of comfort, exhortation, and reproof, along with gospel invitations. But clear understanding -- being a careful student of Scripture -- must come first.
Ministry is more than having good leadership skills, counseling ability, or administrative expertise. It means teaching the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ in all its theological depth and historical breadth. Then, "what is new and what is old" can be applied to spiritual life, to ethics, to church life, to worldview, and to civic life.
This verse about being scribes trained for the kingdom, has been a vital truth for me through my years of ministry. There are various metaphors for pastoral ministry, such as, being a shepherd, or a priest, or an elder or parent watching over God's household. The scribal metaphor for ministry may bring to mind, perhaps, a rabbi studying a Torah scroll, or a medieval monk hunched over a manuscript. That image may not be too far off the mark. The study of God's word should take a significant place in the pastor's schedule. He is a student carefully putting together great truths old and new. This applies also to those working with ancient manuscripts, or translating the Bible for unreached people today, or writers of commentaries and devotional literature, or teachers in church or school.
Theologian A. H. Strong wrote, "A true theology thinks over again God's thoughts and brings them into God's order, as the builders of Solomon's temple took the stones already hewn, and put them into the places for which the architect had designed them." (Systematic Theology) Carefully studying and systematizing biblical truth can be compared to constructing the temple of God in the minds of the people of God. What that means is that a kingdom scribe -- a student of God's kingdom -- must know, study, and understand as much as possible the words of God in Scripture. As Paul wrote to Timothy: "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth." (2 Tim 2:15)
IN OTHER READING.
-- "It surely binds heart to heart when we learn that others hold the same faith as ourselves, that we belong to One church, and that together we break One bread and drink One cup." (Abraham Kuyper) Read “Why the Lord's Table is Important”.
-- "Paul goes on further to show that the law in its stricter sense, as the embodiment of God's will, is upheld and fulfilled more adequately in the age of faith than was possible 'before faith came', when law kept the people of God 'under restraint' (Galatians 3:23). Only in an atmosphere of spiritual liberty can God's will be properly obeyed and his law upheld." (F. F. Bruce) “Let Paul Be Paul.”
-- “If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair.” (C. S. Lewis, quoted in "Tax Insight Into Worldview" by Erick-Woods Erickson)
-- "By his tally, this luxury item [a fountain pen] has cost him $3.75 a year. Meanwhile, the rest of the world turned to disposable pens, leading to some 1.6 billion plastic pens going into the landfill every year..." Read "The Moral Lessons of a Fountain Pen".
FINAL QUOTE.
"The shortest road to an understanding of the Bible is the acceptance of the fact that God is speaking in every line." (Donald Grey Barnhouse)
That's it for this week!
Sandy
Afterwords is an occasional newsletter on topics of interest to me (Sandy Young) since my retirement from full-time pastoral ministry. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.