Most scholars agree that Jesus told his parables without any explicit explanation of the exact allegory. In last week’s passage, we saw an example where the gospel writer was so uncomfortable with the wheat and the tares that they included an episode of Jesus outlining the metaphor just for his disciples. In this week’s passage, we get a smorgasbord of conflicting parables—mustard seed, leaven, fielded treasure, the pearl of great price, diverse fish caught in a net.
And then Jesus gives us a single sentence about bringing treasure that is new and old. Was he saying that some parables are old and stale? Is one to be preferred over another? Or in a different way, is one sort of treasure more intrinsically valuable than another? And how does this relate to the Kin(g)dom of Heaven? This Fifth Sunday Worship, we hope that you will bring such questions with you … and maybe get some unexpected answers.
Scripture: Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
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