Monthly Archives: November 2020

ON LOVE; PART MCCCLXIX

ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ

FIRST IS THE GREAT COMMANDMENTS: “The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31).

ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ

WHAT THEN IS LOVE? In a general sense love is benevolence, good will; that disposition of heart which inclines men to think favorably of their fellow men, and to do them good. In a theological sense, it includes supreme love to God, and universal good will to men. While this IS from an older definition of Charity, which IS rendered in the King James Bible from the same Greek word agape which IS generally rendered as Love, we should amend our own definition here to include the idea that in the reality of Love a man will accord to ALL men ALL things that he would accord to himself and to say that Love IS our thoughts and attitude of the equality of ALL men regardless of their outward nature or appearance…that ALL ARE equally children of Our One God.

ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ

PLUS THE EVER IMPORTANT AND HIGH IDEAL TAUGHT TO US BY THE CHRIST: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12).

ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ

We ended the last essay with a discussion of some of the ways that the Master makes comparisons for us as to the nature of heaven and in regard to the activities of the living, or of things which can effect the living, as they ARE found in His comparisons. We began with His words that ARE NOT a comparison as He tells the Pharisees that “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21) and we cited the idea that this IS what the Jews believed: that the Kingdom was to come to Earth with the Messiah, as the reason for the Master’s words. While this may or may NOT be the single Truth, the greater reality IS in the revealed idea that “the kingdom of God is within you“, a revelation that has NOT been accepted by the church that measures His words against their own theologies and say that ‘He could not have meant that literally’. While denying the literal nature of many of the Master’s sayings that ARE contrary to the practices of the church, the doctrinal thinker presumes literal ideas in others where the allegorical value seems rather clear. This IS the same effect against which the Master railed in His discussions with the Jews as they held their mitzvah and their traditions above the Truth of God’s Word. And Jesus’ discussions with the Jews IS NOT the origin of this effect’ it IS shown to the Jews by the Prophet Isaiah centuries before. While the Master places these words at the feet of the Jews’ religious leaders in His day showing their eternal value, the Christian DOES NOT see how that His words should effect them as they went about, and go about, to DO the same things. Jesus tells us “Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:6-7). While the Master calls these words prophecy, they were NOT to be considered so when the prophet spoke them; at that time they were a condemnation of the ways of the Jews just as they were when Jesus repeated them. The whole of Jesus’ journey from Bethlehem to Calgary, from His birth to His death, IS a picture of the Jew’s attitudes which held their traditions and their interpretations of the law above the Truth which the Master brought and it IS through such attitudes that they had Him put to death. While less barbarous and less superstitious, the early church went about to duplicate the Jews’ attitudes of righteousness and it IS through this unfortunate trend that the multiplicity of doctrinal approaches, their traditions and interpretations of the law, have flourished while the Truth IS further obnubilated year by year. As the church has essentially denied the idea that “the kingdom of God is within you“, they have also misunderstood and misapplied the Truth of Jesus’ other statements regarding the Kingdom of God. In the last post we covered the first two from our list which we repeat here saying:

• “Another parable put he forth unto them, saying,The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof“
• “Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened“
• “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field“
• “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it“
• “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away” (Matthew 13:31-32, 33, 44, 45-46, 47-48)

The first two show us the growth of the Kingdom in the Life of a man who seeks it and strives toward it. In the first the Kingdom IS sown into the heart, the Life of the man, and grows into a “great tree” (Luke 13:19) as Luke frames this for us. This IS the reality behind the parable; it IS NOT as depicted by doctrinal ideas of which we gave John Gill’s as an example. The second IS a bit deeper and more difficult to see without a proper grounding in the very nature of man which IS triple in nature as the Life Within, the heart, and the expression of the Truths revealed. Note that we DO NOT show this nature as commonly understood….as Spirit, Soul and body or, more rightly Spirit, Soul and the expression of their qualities. This latter view IS based in the objectives of the Soul through its incarnation in this world. It IS from the perspective of the Kingdom of Heaven’s effects upon the mortal man that Jesus speaks and here, if we could see the lines of Force at play, we can likely better understand the reality of the Kingdom. Jesus tells us that the seed or the leaven IS the Kingdom and if we can see this in terms of the unction that ever ‘resides’ in that Kingdom, the Soul or the Life Within the form, we can see the starting point for that flow of Force which first afflicts the heart and then becomes the expression of the man. We purposely use the idea of affliction here as this IS the view from the outside and perhaps from the perspective of the carnal mind which, by its own nature, IS opposed to the taking over of the mind by the Soul, taking over the whole of the personality to be more specific, and disturbing the status quo of one’s Life in form. It IS so much easier for everyman to continue to be “conformed to this world” than it IS to be “transformed by the renewing of your mind” and despite the claims of Christians to the contrary, most ALL men ARE yet so conformed. This IS the result of the vanity into which ALL are born; a vanity that IS compounded by the nurturing and indoctrination of youth and then the continued indoctrination offered by one’s Life’ experience and the teachings of those groups that have molded us into whatsoever we have become. None ARE free from this True affliction of men and, again, while so many ‘believe’ that they have been “transformed by the renewing of your mind” according to their doctrines, very few ARE those that have actually even begun the process of escape, choosing instead the status quo in which they find their comfort. The process of escape IS of course one’s Repentance and then Transformation from a carnal focus to a spiritual one where the Truth IS made ever more apparent, a Truth that IS NOT in the doctrines of men but in the seed and the leaven which must pervade the Life so that one can Truly see the Kingdom. The Apostle Peter shows us the nature of this escape, how that it IS a total escape from the desires of men for the things of the self and of the world. Peter tells us that it IS ONLY in this escape that we can have, or even see, the promises and understand that it IS through the promise of becoming “partakers of the divine nature” that flows ALL the Truth. In this Truth “the gift of prophecy“, the ability to “understand all mysteries, and all knowledge” and to have such “faith, so that I could remove mountains“. In this “divine nature” IS the expression of agape which IS the KEY; and it IS in the absence of this KEY that Paul shows us that “I am nothing“. In the fullness of Peter’s words we should be able to understand the spiritual movement of a man and how that it IS the seed, the leaven if you prefer, that makes ALL Truth possible; Peter tells us “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4).

While the idea of escape here IS rather clear, it IS at the same time NOT understood by the church as regards the totality of men’s desires. Perhaps it IS the rendering of epithumia as lust rather than desire that complicates the matter in the eyes of a church that has always affiliated this idea of lust with sexual deviation. While the bible dictionaries, Strong’s and Thayer’s DO define epithumia as desire, they qualify the idea by adding that it IS: desire for what is forbidden ^{9, 9a}. Others render eqithumia as “desires of the flesh“, “sinful craving” while another rephrases the whole idea to say that “you may escape from the destructive lust that is in the world“. ALL of these renderings, including the idea of lust, play on the sexual ideas that have been the focus of the church from the early centuries and we should understand here that the purpose IS and has been to protect the ‘regular’ desires of men from being in any way sinful. This sense of protection IS of course an illusion in itself, one that IS embraced by millions who DO NOT see the depth of the Master’s words as they regard the law. Jesus expanded upon every commandment in the few words that we have from Him and we should try to see that He likely expanded upon ALL of them based in the writings of the apostles who see such ideas as covetousness in much the same way as they treat the ideas of adultery and fornication. Paul shows us the severity of covetousness saying “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5) and here we should KNOW that the instruction IS to eliminate such ideas from one’s Life. Jesus DOES NOT ignore these ideas as He gives us a list of those carnal and spiritual behaviors that defile; The Master tells us that “from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness,a wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man” (Mark 7:21-23). Most of these, including the ideas of adultery and fornication, mean little to the average Christian and their practice IS considered to be a human norm. And they ARE human norms based in the vanity, in the illusion and the glamour that cloud the vision of the man who should be seeking to escape these things in order to Truly find the Lord. It IS NOT difficult to see how many of these words ARE found in the idea of lust, in the idea of those desires that men have for their lives in this world. We should try to see also that this escape from those desires that keep us in our bondage to the world IS found in the True experience of the those “spiritual gifts” (1 Corinthians 12:1) which Paul tells us that we should “covet earnestly” through that “more excellent way” which IS agape….our expression of agape here in this world. It IS in vanity that men find themselves in that: perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends ⁴ which encumbers the masses unbeknown. Repeating Paul’s words from our selection we read:

“covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity agape, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity agape, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity agape, it profiteth me nothing. Charity Agape suffereth long, and is kind; charity agape envieth not; charity agape vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity Agape never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity” (1Corinthians 12:31, 13:1-13).

Returning to Jesus’ list of those parabolic ideas that compare the Kingdom of God to ideas that men can ponder, we find the next IS in regard to the idea of treasure. Here we must see the Kingdom as that treasure and understand that this man who has found it recognizes it and desires it; NOT in some future state after his death, but rather here and now in his Life. If we equate the idea here to the Master’s admonition to those who seek to be His disciples, we can then better understand both. Jesus tells us “whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). This IS a clear defining idea for discipleship and one that IS ignored by much of the church that DO NOT see the human value in Jesus’ words, that DO NOT understand that to NOT forsake ALL IS to continue to serve mammon, continue to seek those “treasures upon earth” and continue to focus upon one’s Life here in this Earth. The True disciple IS free from ALL that attaches him to his Life in this world and it IS in this freedom that he finds entrance into the Kingdom of God. This reflects also upon the Master’s words from our trifecta that tell us of the True disciple that “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32). Can we see how that it IS in keeping His words that we CAN and DO forsake ALL because we have come to KNOW the Truth which shows us the worthlessness of the worldly things that men continually desire. We must understand here that this attachment to the world IS far more than possessions and wealth; we must forsake ALL human relationships, ALL personal desires, ALL divisive thoughts and attitudes; we must seek ONLY those “treasures in heaven” and forsake ALL that keeps us bound, we must escape from these as Peter shows us. The Master shows also us this in regard to the Kingdom of God as He tells Nicodemus “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit“. Here Jesus rightly explains the idea of being “born again” which IS the gateway to being able to “see the kingdom of God” (John 3:6, 3). Jesus DOES NOT equate this idea to any of the diluted ideas that much of the church holds, He links it ONLY to being “born of the Spirit” which IS to have the Inner Man, the Soul and the unction, in control of the Life; it IS in this condition that we can then “take no thought for your life” (Matthew 6: 24, 21, 22, 25). The Apostle Paul shows us this same idea saying that “they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit” and while the doctrinal thinker may believe that he IS the latter, unless one IS living in that state of forsaking, he IS among those who ARE continually “deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). James tells us of this deception in regard to keeping His words and here we should understand that this whole idea of discipleship and the cost thereof ARE His words of True salvation. And this IS the difference between living and dying which Jesus presents to us in spiritual terms, terms which Paul clarifies and amplifies for us saying “if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Romans 8:5, 13). Through these ideas we should be able to clearly see the relationship between forsaking ALL and the similar requirement that we “mortify the deeds of the body“. Both forsaking and mortifying ARE the result of Truly keeping His words and ARE part and parcel of the reward for DOING so. This the Master shows us in our trifecta which we repeat saying:

• “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32).
• “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
• “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me” (John 14:21-24).

These rewards that the Master cites ARE NOT seen as such by much of the church; most have traded the idea of DOING for the idea of that “free gift” that they presume that they have through their doctrinal practices. Here again we should be reminded of James words and understand the delusion shown us in his words saying “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). This delusion, or deception if you prefer, IS again the result of that vanity into which ALL men ARE cast by their birth in this world and if we could see that our escape from this vanity IS in keeping His words, in being “doers of the word“, we could then have a deeper realization of His words saying “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). It IS in Repentance and Transformation that men gain entry “into the kingdom of heaven” and it IS the man who has glimpsed the Kingdom that will “selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field” in which IS the treasure that he desires….”the kingdom of heaven“. Can we see the force of forsaking in these words? Can we see that to have the Kingdom one must give up, escape if you will, those things that tie him to his mortal Life and carnal ways. Again, there IS NO mention of the death of this man who seeks, finds and enters into the Kingdom in his Lifetime. The Master’s next parable of comparison relates the man himself to the Kingdom but the idea here IS a bit more hidden. This man IS seeking the Kingdom which IS represented by his finding of that “one pearl of great price“; he recognizes that this IS what he has been seeking and forsakes ALL to have it. These parables ARE showing us the same idea that Jesus shows to the rich young ruler who IS also seeking the Kingdom as he asks Jesus “Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?“. The Master’s answer IS in regard to keeping His words, the words of the Lord, to which the young man replies “all these have I observed from my youth“. Here of course we should understand that this young man IS a Jew following in the mitzvah of the Jews and NOT necessarily following the heart of the law. Jesus adds the criteria for “eternal life” that the young man has missed, the criteria shown us in the first of the Great Commandments; it IS this that Jesus IS showing the young man as He says “One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me” (Mark 10:17, 20, 21). Again the idea IS forsaking ALL, which IS framed for us as “sell whatsoever thou hast“, and here we should understand that for this man his thoughts and attitudes ARE presumed to be True as he tells Jesus that “all these have I observed from my youth“, a saying that the Master accepts. Can we see the point here? Can we see how that ALL of the teaching of the Master and His apostles ARE concentrated upon what must be DONE to escape and that in the final analysis ALL IS shown to us in the Great Commandments?

So again we have that same choice in Life; a choice that the doctrinal thinker DOES NOT believe he has to make as he continues in his Life in this world. When family, possessions, career, status and one’s own thoughts and attitudes ARE the focus of a man, he IS carnal and this despite the way that he may focus upon God through his doctrinal pursuits. Solomon tells us that “all is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1:2) and in this idea we should see his point: that ALL human expression in this world that IS NOT focused upon the Lord IS vanity. If we can see the vanity that Solomon speaks of as the result of the vanity to which ALL ARE subjected we can see through his words the futility of ALL carnal endeavors. In this we can perhaps understand that it IS in the illusion and the glamour that color this vanity that so many men become lost in the miasma of carnal living while believing that they have found the Truth and their own sense of salvation. The choice then is the vanity, either the cause or the effect, versus a True focus upon the Godhead. We should remember that it IS the vanity that IS men’s perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends ⁴ and that it IS this vanity that keeps men from those “exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature“. It IS from the vanity that men must escape and it IS in the freedom that our escape provides that we find the Truth. Jesus paints these choices for us in such clear language that men have ever sought to redefine His words as they set them as ideals through which the carnal mind can see some vision of God while maintaining their carnal pursuits. Jesus tells us to “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal” (Matthew 6:19-20). What we should see here IS the vanity of our “treasures upon earth” which most interpret ONLY in terms of possessions and wealth. Through this interpretation men then seek to define their possessions and wealth in ‘good’ terms while relegating the idea of “treasures in heaven” to men’s ability to give liberally of what they may have. This DOES NOT at ALL comport with the Master’s words to the rich young ruler to whom he says “go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven“; to this man Jesus IS offering the same choice. John Gill, in his Exposition of the Whole Bible, shows us the doctrinal view saying of “treasures in heaven” that: That is, either be concerned for, and seek after heavenly treasure, the riches of glory, the joys and glories of another world, which infinitely excel everything that is valuable on earth; and which can never be corrupted, or taken away: or rather, lay up your earthly treasures in heaven; that is, put them into the hands of God in heaven; and this is done, by liberally communicating to the poor ⁸. From our perspective Mr. Gill IS wrong on both sides of his equation; the reality IS that the ONLY spiritual choice IS in DOING as the Master instructs the rich young man. The reality IS found in forsaking the one to have the other. Similarly there IS the choice of whom to serve, God or mammon. Here the doctrinal thinker sees mammon as the same idea of treasure while at the same time NOT finding words by which to translate the idea behind the Chaldean word mammonas.

Jesus tells us that “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24). In the terms presented, that we must serve the one or the other, the idea of treasure or even Strong’s idea of wealth personified ^9a become as a non sequitur; these present NO logical course of action but rather a segmented view of Life that disregards ALL that IS NOT that wealth or treasure. Thayer’s tells us that the idea of mammonas points towards: what is trusted in ⁹; in this understanding it IS easier to see the Master’s point. Most ALL men trust in their own Life and their views, individual or corporate. What then IS the choice? Simply that we can choose a focus upon the mundane and carnal ways of the world; a focus upon our own developed thoughts and attitudes and other aspects of our lives including family, possessions, career, status, politics and religion or, we can focus upon God. Here we should see the first of the Great Commandments rather clearly as it tells us to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength“; ALL this represents God while ALL else IS mammon. Of the five comparisons of common ideas to the Kingdom of God that the Master gives us in our selection above, the last IS the ONLY one that IS rather cryptic but this IS ONLY in a casual reading of His words. If we can see this as being addressed to those who believed that the Kingdom was that destination at the end of one’s Life in the Earth, perhaps we an better understand the way that such ideas have migrated into the Christian religions while there IS NO scriptural basis for them. Jesus tells us through His words to those Jews “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away”. Here perhaps we should see that it IS the lives of men that ARE caught in the net and, so that we ARE clear, as the Master continues to set the stage, we should try to see that He IS speaking to the Jews beliefs. Jesus continues to say “So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:47-50). The meaning here of the Greek word aion IS the KEY to Jesus’ words; aion can mean everything from the end of an age to the the idea of eternity which, in this context, IS NOT the apparent meaning. Many translations render aion as age and show us that these things will happen at that time. We should note that except for esoteric and astrological reference the end of an age IS highly non-specific. We should note also that according to both Jesus lived in the Piscean Age and we ARE now entering into the Age of Aquarius; this should show us that the Piscean Age in which Jesus speaks IS ending. Since the meaning DOES remain unclear, the ideas presented can be interpreted in many ways; and so they ARE especially in those denominations and sects where eschatology plays a larger role. From Jesus’ words however we can see a number of things being presented to the Jews and to ALL that may believe in this end and its relationship to the Kingdom of God. First that there will be a separation of those lives that ARE gathered up in the net and here we should note that the whole idea of a final judgement can be seen here. If we can see that the angels ARE the Souls of men, then our understanding can be more clear; there are several references to this idea in Jesus’ words and the most notable IS His words saying “Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 18:10). While this IS interpreted differently by the church, the whole of the idea here IS the Master’s reference to the Souls of “these little ones” whose goal IS ever to express the fullness of Truth and Love through their lives in this world and perhaps to gain that control before those lives ARE overwhelmed by their own nurturing and indoctrination.

We should remember here that Jesus IS speaking to His disciples alone and that He IS giving them revelations of Truth which they themselves must discern out of His words. In this regard He asks “Have ye understood all these things?” and they respond saying “Yea, Lord“. The Master’s discussion continues and it IS here perhaps that we find the deeper reality of the Master’s words and His intent as He completes His parable saying “Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old” (Matthew 13:51, 52).

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
• ⁸ Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
• ⁹ Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
• ^9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on blueletterbible.org

Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.

Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher