Matthew 13:51-52

Matthew 13:51-52. Have ye understood, &c.— When Jesus had finished his parables, he asked his disciples if they understood them; and upon their answering in the affirmative, he told them, that every teacher of the Jewish religion, who was converted to Christianity, and made a preacher of the Gospel, might, by reason of the variety of his knowledge and his ability, be compared to a prudent master of a family, who nourishes them with the fruits both of the present and of the preceding years, as their need requires. Our Saviour has given the pattern and example of such a teacher in his discoursecontained in this chapter; and by the similitude of the householder, he shews his disciples the use that they were to make of the knowledge they had acquired, whether from the old revelation transmitted to them by the prophets, or from the new revelation, of which Jesus was, in a more peculiar sense, the author and dispenser. See Macknight and Wetstein. Dr. Clarke in his Sermons, vol. 10: serm. 4 gives the following exposition of the 52nd verse: "Those thoroughly qualified to be successful preachers of the Gospel should be able on all occasions in bring forth out of their memory, as out of a copious storehouse, instructions suited to persons of all capacities." Concerning the word treasures, see the note on ch. Matthew 2:11.