Thought for the Day – Saturday 1st August
‘“Have you understood all this?”
They answered, “Yes.” And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been
trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings
out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
When Jesus had finished these
parables, he left that place.’ (Matthew 13: 51-53)
Well Jesus has truly given a whole host of parables about the kingdom of
heaven, signifying just how important the kingdom is and now he turns to his
disciples and simply asks them ‘Have you
understood all this?’
Amazingly, they answer ‘Yes’ – not something they do too often but here
they do – and they answer with such great confidence too!
Now usually when we read Jesus parables we can be left scratching our
heads and wondering just what he has been talking about – sometimes even when
Jesus has given us an explanation of his parable we can still be left
scratching our heads – so it is truly surprising that on this occasion when
Jesus asks his disciples if they understand they give a resounding ‘yes’ as
their reply. It is as if they are saying to Jesus ‘message clear and
understood’!
Although, I suppose they did ask for explanations more than once and so
are perhaps reasonably confident that they do now understand or on the other
hand maybe they answered so quickly and so confidently because having asked
Jesus more than once for an explanation they now did not wish to appear daft in
his eyes by saying we still don’t understand. Who knows!
Anyway – having looked at the kingdom of heaven described in so many
different ways this week can we now say we fully understand what the kingdom of
heaven is and is like?
I wonder!
Jesus parables always seek to turn our expectations upside down,
inviting us to look at what we thought we knew in a totally different way and
that means as the second part of our reading says that, as these citizens of the
kingdom of heaven, we need to be looking at everything in our lives, everything
we do in a totally different way. We need to be looking at everything from
relationships to what we think constitutes the ‘good life’ through the lens of
God’s surprising love and mercy and grace. In other words we look at everything
within us, around us and everything we do with ‘kingdom eyes’ and ‘kingdom
values’ and that’s how we seek to grow the kingdom of heaven here on earth.
That will mean, of course, that to enter God’s kingdom and to grow his kingdom
we ourselves will have to bring out and consider both the old and the new.
When we can master, looking at everything in light of God’s
extraordinary love and try to turn the values of this world into kingdom values
– try to turn this world upside down – something truly worth trying! - then we
might just be on our way to truly understanding the parables of the kingdom of
heaven.
Prayer
Loving Lord,
Through these parables you teach and the parables we encounter in
everyday life we can catch glimpses of the kingdom of heaven. May these
glimpses continually renew our faith and our courage that we might seek to grow
your kingdom by reaching out to others in love as you have reached out to us.
May we confidently seek to turn this world upside down and bring the kingdom of
heaven here to earth by sharing your values, your compassion, your love, your
mercy to our world. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
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