WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.560 You'll have mentioned it's a very short passage, but I think it's the hardest one we've 00:00:05.560 --> 00:00:12.519 ! looked at all series. I still have questions about it myself, so don't worry if you still 00:00:12.519 --> 00:00:19.000 ! have questions. But, and quite ironically, given that I don't understand all of it, Jesus 00:00:19.000 --> 00:00:26.359 starts with, have you understood all these things? That's an important question after you've been 00:00:26.359 --> 00:00:32.539 teaching, isn't it? I do some teaching, at a center I teach some Greek, just some basic 00:00:32.539 --> 00:00:38.820 Greek, and I have to always just make sure that people understand what I'm saying. Every 00:00:38.820 --> 00:00:42.359 new concept I give them, I have to say, do you understand? And I have to check with them 00:00:42.359 --> 00:00:47.560 that they understand. But when Jesus tells his disciples here, have you understood all 00:00:47.560 --> 00:00:52.340 these things? They say yes. People often say yes straight away, and then you ask them a 00:00:52.340 --> 00:00:57.860 question about it, and it comes clear they didn't really understand it, so they at least 00:00:57.860 --> 00:01:03.740 think they understood it, and we certainly hope that they understood it. But let's think 00:01:03.740 --> 00:01:09.200 about what he means by all these things. It's good to think about that. All these things is 00:01:09.200 --> 00:01:15.820 everything he's been saying so far about the fact that he is king. He hasn't said so quite 00:01:15.820 --> 00:01:21.159 as explicitly as he would at the end of the book yet. He has said that the kingdom of heaven 00:01:21.159 --> 00:01:29.599 has come, or is at hand, which means that he's saying that he is king and he has come. 00:01:30.759 --> 00:01:34.899 And at the end of the book he will say that explicitly, all authority in heaven and on earth 00:01:34.899 --> 00:01:43.759 has been given to me. And so all this is explaining the fact that Jesus is king. He's not saying 00:01:43.759 --> 00:01:48.479 I would like you to think of me as king, or I can be your king if you want me to. He's 00:01:48.480 --> 00:01:54.939 saying I am the king. And this is what you have to deal with as king. And he's told these 00:01:54.939 --> 00:02:00.280 stories, hasn't he, these images of what it means for him to be king. He has started with 00:02:00.280 --> 00:02:05.859 the parable of the different soils, explaining that you need to listen very carefully to Jesus, 00:02:06.960 --> 00:02:12.620 making sure you understand what he is saying, listening very carefully. And we have the parable 00:02:12.620 --> 00:02:18.700 of the wheat and the weeds that explain that his mission is to combat evil. He is going 00:02:18.700 --> 00:02:25.200 to do away, eradicate evil. But he will do it in his way, which won't necessarily be the 00:02:25.200 --> 00:02:30.980 way we would have expected, but he will do it. But of course we have to make sure that 00:02:30.980 --> 00:02:36.200 we are not among the evil ones that he will do away with. We have to make sure that we are 00:02:36.199 --> 00:02:43.780 among the sons of the kingdom, and we have to trust our king to eradicate evil. And we 00:02:43.780 --> 00:02:49.399 saw the mustard seed and the leaven that taught us not to underestimate the king, didn't we? 00:02:50.519 --> 00:02:56.539 It may look very small, everything he's doing, but it will grow to a tree that will attract 00:02:56.539 --> 00:03:04.479 birds from all over the place. A bird can't really build a nest on a seed. But you can bet 00:03:04.479 --> 00:03:10.799 that plenty of birds can build their nests in a massive mustard tree. And so it doesn't 00:03:10.799 --> 00:03:16.699 look like much, but it will be much greater than you can imagine. And like leaven, you 00:03:16.699 --> 00:03:22.079 can't really see what it's doing, but it is working. You can guarantee it is impacting 00:03:22.079 --> 00:03:28.719 the whole batch as the leaven, the yeast, is in there. So we've seen that this is a life-changing 00:03:28.719 --> 00:03:34.319 message. And it doesn't look like it, it doesn't necessarily impress everybody. 00:03:35.219 --> 00:03:40.939 But don't underestimate it, it is life-changing. That's what he announced to a whole crowd. 00:03:41.699 --> 00:03:48.799 Then to a smaller crowd who came back to find out more, to his own disciples, possibly only 00:03:48.799 --> 00:03:53.899 the 12 disciples we know about, possibly a bigger group, we're not sure, but he just calls 00:03:53.899 --> 00:04:00.620 them his disciples. He tells them more. We hear about the treasure, that this kingdom is 00:04:00.620 --> 00:04:07.520 a treasure, that the news of Jesus as king is incredibly precious. And it's because he 00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:12.500 is like a merchant who has come to seek the pearl. He is like a merchant who has given 00:04:12.500 --> 00:04:20.540 up everything to buy this pearl. And then last week we saw, well, who is in the pearl? Well, 00:04:20.540 --> 00:04:28.160 lots of fish. But some people just get dragged along in the net, but actually are bad fish. 00:04:28.860 --> 00:04:35.620 They haven't truly been transformed by this good news. They turn out in the end to be bad 00:04:35.620 --> 00:04:41.820 fish. And so that there is a call, not only to be a part of the church, which is very important. 00:04:41.819 --> 00:04:47.339 We want to be caught in the net. We want to place ourselves under the authority of Jesus, 00:04:48.060 --> 00:04:55.060 in the net, but not only being dragged along, but actively saying, no, I want to be a follower 00:04:55.060 --> 00:05:02.000 of Jesus. I want to trust in him. All these things. Have you understood all these things 00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:09.779 is what Jesus is asking? And they say yes, which is wonderful. It is possible to understand 00:05:09.779 --> 00:05:15.959 these things if we listen very carefully. But this is what you need to know now. Now 00:05:15.959 --> 00:05:22.379 that you've heard all these things, now you need to understand something else. You need 00:05:22.379 --> 00:05:28.899 to understand that if you understand these things, you are being trained. Look at that 00:05:28.899 --> 00:05:34.359 verse 2. Every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom. Understanding this means that 00:05:34.359 --> 00:05:39.759 you are being trained, or the word literally is being discipled, or taught, or trained, or 00:05:39.779 --> 00:05:46.639 for the kingdom of heaven. You're being trained. Which means that you don't have the option 00:05:46.639 --> 00:05:53.559 of ignoring it, or rejecting it. If you understand these things, you can't just leave them to one side. 00:05:54.679 --> 00:05:59.719 I don't know how many of you watch Strictly Come Dancing, but when you do, you'll often watch 00:05:59.719 --> 00:06:06.479 videos of the celebrities with their dancing teachers in their dancing studios, training all 00:06:06.480 --> 00:06:12.640 week learning the dance. You never see a celebrity saying, no, I refuse to do what you're telling 00:06:12.640 --> 00:06:20.840 me to do. And you never see them just ignoring the teacher. If they do, they have fundamentally 00:06:20.840 --> 00:06:27.000 misunderstood their relationship to the trainer. They are there to learn, they are there to be 00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:32.439 taught, they are there to be trained. And so they have to do what their trainer tells them 00:06:32.439 --> 00:06:38.180 to do. If they reject it, or ignore it, they have misunderstood what's going on. They haven't 00:06:38.180 --> 00:06:44.939 really understood. If you really understand what Jesus is saying, understand that you are 00:06:44.939 --> 00:06:51.639 being trained. Jesus' message is that he is the king, and he's explaining what that means. 00:06:52.639 --> 00:07:00.800 He has demonstrated that very clearly in the resurrection. So Jesus here is training us to live 00:07:00.800 --> 00:07:07.020 for him, to live with him as our king. It means that if we're being trained, we also don't 00:07:07.020 --> 00:07:14.920 have the option of merely admiring him. If you go back to that dancing studio, they don't 00:07:14.920 --> 00:07:19.259 reject it, they don't ignore it, but neither do they just stand back and say, wow, that was 00:07:19.259 --> 00:07:25.160 fantastic. As they watch the trainers show them the moves. Or they don't even just say, 00:07:25.160 --> 00:07:30.920 that's very interesting what you did there. That is not enough. That is just as bad as 00:07:30.920 --> 00:07:36.880 rejecting it, or ignoring it. If all you do is say, wow, that looks fantastic, you still 00:07:36.880 --> 00:07:42.760 misunderstand your relationship to the one who is training you. You're being trained. 00:07:44.060 --> 00:07:51.120 And if your only reaction to that is, oh, how fascinating, or how wonderful, then you have 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:57.620 missed the point. You need to understand that Jesus is training you for the kingdom with 00:07:57.620 --> 00:08:03.740 these parables. The second thing you need to understand is, you're being given treasure. 00:08:06.079 --> 00:08:12.300 This teaching is treasure. The master of a house who brings out of his treasure what is 00:08:12.300 --> 00:08:18.680 new and what is old. You're being given new treasure. It is new treasure that goes along 00:08:18.680 --> 00:08:25.540 with a lot of old treasure. People often refer to the law and the wisdom of the Old Testament 00:08:25.540 --> 00:08:32.480 as treasure. And here Jesus is giving new treasure. Not treasure to replace the old treasure, 00:08:33.419 --> 00:08:39.419 but treasure that goes on top of it. Treasure that develops it. Treasure that continues. It 00:08:39.419 --> 00:08:47.060 is more treasure. It is just adding to your wealth. Not diverting from it, but just developing 00:08:47.059 --> 00:08:53.659 it. You're being given new treasure. And what wonderful treasure it is. It is wonderful to 00:08:53.659 --> 00:09:03.079 have a king who will eradicate all evil and suffering. It is wonderful to have a king who is doing far 00:09:03.079 --> 00:09:08.759 more than you can imagine. It is wonderful to have a king who is precious beyond words and 00:09:08.759 --> 00:09:16.799 who finds you so precious that he gave up everything for you. And one who will ultimately divide 00:09:16.799 --> 00:09:24.759 between the false believers and true believers and bring true justice. You are being given 00:09:24.759 --> 00:09:32.919 treasure as you listen to Jesus and as you understand what he is saying. So if you understand 00:09:32.919 --> 00:09:41.219 you are being trained. Don't ignore it. Don't reject it. Don't just only admire it. Be trained 00:09:41.219 --> 00:09:49.360 and you are being given treasure. And finally, if you understand, share the wealth. The treasure, 00:09:50.500 --> 00:09:58.459 this master of the house, brings the treasure out. The word is literally thrown out. He doesn't 00:09:58.460 --> 00:10:06.400 just bring it out. He's throwing it out of the place. He's sharing it. He's sharing the wealth. 00:10:07.759 --> 00:10:14.920 Back in chapter 12, there's a similar parable about somebody throwing out treasure. And there 00:10:14.920 --> 00:10:21.480 Jesus makes the connection between that and speaking. The throwing out of the treasure is like speaking. 00:10:21.480 --> 00:10:31.379 Now here he is probably talking to his disciples who he is training to be teachers, to be what he calls 00:10:31.379 --> 00:10:38.580 scribes. The scribes are the people who taught the law. So he is training them especially for not just 00:10:38.580 --> 00:10:47.039 being disciples of the kingdom, but people who will disciple others in the kingdom. So they are being 00:10:47.039 --> 00:10:55.139 trained to teach as well as to know what this treasure. And so he is explaining, if you know 00:10:55.139 --> 00:11:01.019 this treasure, then you will throw this treasure out to people. You will share this news. You will share 00:11:01.019 --> 00:11:09.639 the wealth. Now it's not everybody here who will be teachers or scribes as he calls them here. But for 00:11:09.639 --> 00:11:17.860 everybody, it at least means this, I think, that those who understand these things, all these things, 00:11:18.699 --> 00:11:25.279 and those who understand that they are being trained, they will speak like subjects of the king. 00:11:26.679 --> 00:11:33.039 If you understand these things, you will speak like somebody who is a subject of Jesus the king. 00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:43.379 You will sound like his people. What you say will match the things that he said. What you say will match 00:11:43.379 --> 00:11:52.259 everything he was about. These things will affect everything about you, down to the very depth of your 00:11:52.259 --> 00:11:59.599 being, and affect every aspect of your life, even to just your speaking. Something as every day and every 00:11:59.600 --> 00:12:07.519 moment as our speaking. These things will affect your whole life and permeate even the way you speak. 00:12:10.820 --> 00:12:17.000 So the treasure will come out. It will spill out as the treasure has gone in. As you have understood, 00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:23.360 as you have been trained, the treasure will then spill out in the way we speak. 00:12:23.360 --> 00:12:31.800 But it is not a matter of forcing it. It's not a matter of, well, I will just try and speak like 00:12:31.800 --> 00:12:39.019 Christians speak. And I will sort of learn the lingo, and it will all be fine. The point is, the main 00:12:39.019 --> 00:12:45.740 question is, not can you throw treasure out really well, the point, the real question is, have you 00:12:45.740 --> 00:12:54.940 understood all these things? That is the key question. The key question is, do you see what these things mean? 00:12:56.620 --> 00:13:07.519 Will you submit to Jesus as your king? Not will you take the option of having him as your king? He is your king. 00:13:08.279 --> 00:13:15.000 He has made that announcement very clear. The question is, will you live like it? Or will you reject him? 00:13:15.740 --> 00:13:24.539 Or will you ignore him? Or will you merely stand back and admire him? He didn't come here just to entertain 00:13:24.539 --> 00:13:37.139 your curiosity. He came to be your king. But what a king. He came to be a life-saving, evil-destroying, 00:13:38.500 --> 00:13:45.440 heart-captivating king over your life. And all these things that he has been explaining 00:13:45.440 --> 00:13:52.160 through these parables, that they can change your life completely, even down to the way you speak. 00:13:53.360 --> 00:13:59.560 Not so that we become a sort of weird secret cultish club, but it just permeates every part of your being. 00:14:01.960 --> 00:14:06.540 These things will change your life for the better. Not to make your life easier. 00:14:06.539 --> 00:14:14.659 We trust the king to make things much better later. But knowing this king is great treasure. 00:14:16.439 --> 00:14:24.179 These things can completely change your life. And so the message is, if you understand these things, 00:14:24.179 --> 00:14:33.299 and you understand that these things can change your life, very simply, let them. Let them change your life. 00:14:33.399 --> 00:14:36.059 Let Jesus change your life. 00:14:36.059 --> 00:14:42.239 If this is something that is new to you, we'd be happy to talk to you about that. 00:14:42.979 --> 00:14:49.159 If maybe you've been listening to Jesus for a long time, and you just thought, oh, how interesting, how fascinating. 00:14:50.179 --> 00:14:53.879 But I think it's more like this. Jesus isn't giving you that option. 00:14:55.899 --> 00:15:01.919 Jesus is saying, no, you need to submit to him as king, on his terms, in his way. 00:15:01.919 --> 00:15:08.199 So do that. And we'd love to talk to you about that. 00:15:08.599 --> 00:15:13.919 Do keep reading in Matthew's Gospel. If you don't have a Bible, do take this Matthew's Gospel. 00:15:14.259 --> 00:15:16.979 It's our gift to you. Do take that and read it. 00:15:17.579 --> 00:15:22.219 Get to know Jesus better. Get to know this king better and submit to him. 00:15:22.979 --> 00:15:25.339 You will be very glad that you did. 00:15:26.339 --> 00:15:27.039 Let's pray.