Matthew 13:51

Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord. JESUS SAITH UNTO THEM - that is, to the Twelve. He had spoken the first four in the hearing of the mixed multitude: the last three He reserved until, on the dismissal of the mixed audience, He and the Twelve were alone, (, etc.) HAVE YE UNDERSTOOD ALL THESE THINGS? THEY SAY UNTO HIM, YEA, LORD....

51._Have you understood all these things? _We must keep in recollection what we have formerly seen, that all the parables of Christ were explained in private. And now the Lord, after having taught them in this kind and familiar manner, warns them at the same time, that his object, in taking so much pains to instruct them, was not merely that they might be well informed, (234) but that they might communicate to others what they had received. In this way he whets and excites their minds more and more to desire instruction. He says that teachers _are like householders, _who are not only careful about their own food, but have a store laid up for the nourishment of others; and who do not live at ease as to the passing day, but make provision for a future and distant period. The meaning, therefore, is, that the teachers of the Church ought to be prepared by long study for giving to the people,...

44-52 Here are four parables. 1. That of the treasure hid in the field. Many slight the gospel, because they look only upon the surface of the field. But all who search the Scriptures, so as in them to find Christ and eternal life, John 5:39, will discover such treasure in this field as makes it unspeakably valuable; they make it their own upon any terms. Though nothing can be given as a price for this salvation, yet much must be given up for the sake of it. 2. All the children of men are busy; one would be rich, another would be honourable, another would be learned; but most are deceived, and take up with counterfeits for pearls. Jesus Christ is a Pearl of great price; in having him, we have enough to make us happy here and for ever. A man may buy gold too dear, but not this Pearl of great price. When the convinced sinner sees Christ as the gracious Saviour, all things else become wort...

Verse 51. _HAVE YE UNDERSTOOD ALL THESE THINGS?_] Divine truths must not be lightly passed over. - Our Lord's question here shows them to be matters of the utmost weight and importance; and that they should be considered again and again, till they be thoroughly understood....

Jesus kindly asked them whether they had understood these things. If not, he was still willing to teach them. He enjoined on them their duty to make a proper use of this knowledge by speaking another parable. EVERY SCRIBE WHICH IS INSTRUCTED UNTO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN - That is, every man that is acquainted with the gospel or with the truth. As the disciples had said that they had understood the truth, he says that it should not be unemployed. They should bring it forth in due time, like a householder bringing out of his treasury, or place of deposit, what had been laid up there at any time, as it was needed. BRINGETH FORTH - As occasion demands; as sickness, or calamity, or the wants of his family, or the poor require. TREASURE - The word “treasure” here means a place of deposit, not for money merely, but for anything nece

EXPOSITION A few remarks by way of introduction to the characteristic portion of this chapter (Matthew 13:1). (1) We have here a collection of the Lord's parables, all spoken, as it would appear, at an early period in his ministry, descriptive of the principles of the kingdom of heaven as they make themselves felt in history, and of the way in which those who are brought into contact with the kingdom ought to act. As the chapter stands, it consists of three chief parts, which probably roughly correspond to three stages of development in its composition. (A) Matthew 13:1, also in Mark and Luke, except some characteristic enlargements in verses 10-17. The section contains the parable of the sower and its interpretation, together with a statemen

JESUS SAITH UNTO THEM,.... This is left out in the Vulgate Latin, and Ethiopic versions, and in Munster's Hebrew Gospel, and in some Greek exemplars; though it is necessary to the connection and sense of the words: HAVE YE UNDERSTOOD ALL THESE THINGS? All the parables Christ had delivered, besides those he had given a particular explanation of; as of the mustard seed, and leaven, of the treasure hid in the field, the pearl of great price, and the net cast into the sea: Christ's putting this question to the disciples, shows that the things delivered, had some difficulty in them; that they were of moment and importance to be understood; and how concerned he was, that they should understand them; and how ready he was to communicate the knowledge of them, which he knew would be useful to them in their after ministrations: THEY SAY UNTO HIM, YEA, LORD. This answer, which was truly and faith...

Matthew 13:24. _Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:_ Jesus never sowed any other kind of seed. The truth which he taught is pure and unadulterated. It is good seed, good and only good, the very best of seed. Matthew 13:25. _But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way._ Wherever Christ is active the enemy is sure to be active too. If you have a sleeping church, you may have a sleeping devil; but as soon as ever Christ is in the congregation sowing the good seed, the devil wakes up, and by night, when men are off their guard, the bad seed the mock wheat here translated «tares» is sown among the true wheat....

II. THE REJECTED KINGDOM AND THE REJECTED KING. CHAPTER S 13-28. 1. The King at the Seaside. The Mysteries of the Kingdom. CHAPTER 13 1. The King at the Seaside. (Matthew 13:1 .) 2. The Parable of the Sower. (Matthew 13:3 .) 3. The Question of the Disciples and His Answer. (Matthew 13:10 .) 4. The Parable of the Sower Explained. (Matthew 13:18 .) 5. The Parable of the Good Seed and the Tares. (Matthew 13:24 .) 6. The Parable of the Mustard Seed....

FURTHER PARABLES OF THE KINGDOM. The treasure and the pearl (Matthew 13:44) are one, and have one point everything must be sacrificed for the highest good, the Kingdom. This urgent, intense wholeheartedness is characteristic of Jesus. The question of concealment, the conflict between individual salvation and social duty, is not to be pressed here. Yet note that, while one man attains the _summum bonum,_ as it were, by accident, another does so by quest. For the pearl as a metaphor of spiritual treasure _cf. Matthew 7:6_, Revelation 21:19, and the Syriac Hymn of the Soul. The parable of the net is like that of the wheat and the tares, except that the sifting follows hard on the discovery. Not all who h