"Old" Treasures

Jesus is everywhere.

But let me give you a grace that will help you see him:

He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.” (Matthew 13:52)

This is such a beautiful, gracious, and stabilizing verse. It is immensely kind; it is also immensely cunning. So very like Jesus.

Think of it — Jesus was shaking some of his listeners’ most cherished assumptions, while inviting them into very new ways of understanding God. The veil was coming down — forever. It was a moment ripe for diminishment. Or defensiveness. He moved quickly to dismantle the overreactions. On one hand, some of those present are leaping to, All these years I have been wrong?! (It will help to add a Jewish accent.) So much time in Hebrew school and for what? I am such a schmutz. They throw ashes on their heads, toss their tallith in the ash can. Diminishment. Certain personalities tend this direction. I know I can.

For years, whenever I’d hear one of those dramatic stories reported by missionaries — the ones where Jesus appears in the midst of a kidnapping or attempted execution, blinds the group of machete-wielding rebels and the would-be martyr walks out unharmed, then leads the village to Christ and becomes best friends with the witchdoctor — I would think to myself, Geez. I’m such a loser when it comes to Jesus. I don’t have anything like that to share. That’s the real stuff. I’m playing with blocks on the kindergarten floor. Something I haven’t experienced eclipses all that I have known of God. Jesus is trying to prevent that plunge into diminishment by saying that our “old” treasures are treasures.

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