Householder: August 28, 2014

TODAYS WORD FOR THURSDAY AUGUST 28, 2014.

HOUSEHOLDER

DEFINITION:

The one in charge of the storage and distribution of the food in a house in Biblical times.

SCRIPTURE:

Then He said to them, therefore every scribe which is instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things old and new. Matthew 13:52.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

When Jesus came to the last parable that He was sharing to His disciples and to the masses, He asked his disciples (verse 51) if they understood His teaching concerning the Kingdom. Jesus wanted His disciples and us, as believers, to know and understand His Word so that we are equipped and ready to help new believers understand the Word of God.

In this last parable Jesus was comparing his disciples to the Jewish Scribes and told them that they had the same privilege and responsibility as scribes and householders. The Jewish scribe had the privilege of knowing the Old Testament Law of God. They had the responsibility of teaching the Law to others.

Jesus reminded the disciples that they had been unusually blessed. They had been instructed in the old counsel just as the scribes had but now also they had been taught by Christ, the Messiah himself. They possessed not only the “old treasure” but the “new treasure.”

Just as Jesus told His disciples that they needed to be responsible and share the whole counsel of God, both the old and new counsel, we are to be responsible to do the same as believers in Jesus.

The Jewish Scribes were extremely devoted and studied the law so that they were knowledgeable and well versed in it. Jesus expects us to be like the scribes and study the Word of God, both the Old Testament and the New Testaments, with unswerving diligence. Jesus also made it clear that His disciples and we also, are to be a storehouse of His truth by letting the Word of Christ dwell in us. We are not to be like the scribes who perverted the treasure of God’s Word and therefore missed the truth of God’s Word. 

Jesus also explained this parable further by using the householder as an illustration. The householder had two prime duties, both dealing with the food in the house. He was to store the old food and keep it fresh and he was to add new food to the old, serving both at the appropriate time.

Jesus explained to His disciples that they were to respond as a householder needed to do. He compared them to the head of a house. He charged them with the responsibility of preserving Christ’s teachings and then they were to teach what they had been taught about the Kingdom of heaven, both old and new, with others.

They knew the old truths which were the message of the Old Testament and now since they had met Jesus they were learning the new truths, the message of the gospel and the New Testament. Today all believers are householders of the old and new treasures and we are responsible for the spiritual nurturing of those within the Kingdom.  

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in James 1:22.

But prove yourselves doers of the Word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.

PRAYER:

Help me to study daily and improve my knowledge of Your Word, both the Old and New Testaments, so that I can share with others the good news of the gospel as You have taught us to do.