the new + the old

I was reading in Matthew this morning and I have been mulling over a specific verse that has kind of challenged me. 

"And He said to them, 'Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the Kingdom of Heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.'" - Matthew 13:52

This is sandwiched right in between Jesus teaching them in parables about the Kingdom of Heaven and telling them why He speaks in parables. The verse preceding it Jesus asks the disciples if they understand all the things he has been telling them. In the context of all those things I was thinking about this verse and what Jesus was trying to communicate to His disciples. 

I think that He is both warning them and encouraging them about not forgetting the old things. Jesus was teaching a lot of new stuff. He was radical in all that He preached and taught. That is the new treasure He is talking about. He gave them something completely new, and He wanted them to share that with the people who they would be ministering to. 

But He didn't want them to forget the old treasure either. Just because He was establishing and teaching a new covenant didn't mean that there was nothing of value in the old covenant. That is the old treasure. There is worth and value in both things, and a scribe trained for the Kingdom of Heaven will know the value of both old and new treasure. 

Let us not forget the value of tradition and the value of the old treasure. Let us not forget the value of the legacy that we come from. Let us not underestimate the ability of God to give us treasure in that which is old. 

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