The Lesson of the Kingdom of Heavens

 

Πᾶς γραμματεὺς μαθητευθεὶς εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν ὅμοιός ἐστιν ἀνθρώπῳ οἰκοδεσπότῃ, ὅστις ἐκβάλλει ἐκ τοῦ θησαυροῦ αὐτοῦ καινὰ καὶ παλαιά (Μθ 13,52). (T.N.: koine Greek, original text, in translation below).

Every scribe instructed into the kingdom of heavens is like a householder, which takes out of his treasure new and old things (Ev.Matt. 13,52). It is one of the shorter parables of the LORD in the Gospels. Scribe is the bookman, the scientist of the writings, the literature teacher, the philologist. The kingdom of heavens is also a school, since the LORD is a teacher and those who follow him are his disciples; and their book is the Bible. Here the word θησαυρὸς (treasure), which etymologically derives from τίθημι – θήκη (to reposit – depot) is the repository, the suitcase, the wooden case, the jewelery box; that is, the heart, the mind, the brain, the consciousness, the mindset. Everyone who reposits replaces the old things in his storeroom with the new. When he additionally gets something new, and needs space for it, then he throws away (ἐκβάλλει (takes out)) from his storeroom the most worn-out or outdated and disused, to put in the newest and uncorrupted. But when a scribe, good estimator of the lessons, becomes a student in the kingdom of heavens and takes in the lesson involved in the teaching of this school, then he does not count either the old nor the new, but he throws everything away from his storeroom (τὸν θησαυρὸν αὐτοῦ (his treasure)), new and old, to put that which he discovered and learned, the lesson of the kingdom of heavens, the incomparably superior and more valuable of any old and any new. Everything confronted to this lesson, any teaching and any mindset, any tradition and any lesson, unimproved and improved, is garbage to throw away. In the treasure of the heart of a Christian person the only lesson that worths to exist is that of the kingdom of heavens, the teaching of the LORD contained in the Bible.

The core meaning of the parable is that the good student of the kingdom of heavens, of the preaching of the LORD Jesus Christ, of the Bible, of the Christian belief, believes immovably to the self-sufficiency of the Bible, the Christian belief, and he doesn't supplement it with anything, neither with the Greek wisdom, nor with the Jewish tradition, neither with other such made "values'' new or old, nor with any nationalism, neither with any patriotism, nor with any humanitarianism or altruism, neither with any other ''ideals'', nor with anything other such as modesty and boasting. He does not consider that Christian belief needs completion or to coexist within the same treasury, his heart, his conscience, with something else important, nor with anything other of those considered noble and sublime. In front of the Christian belief all are rubbish and trash to throw away. The right Christian has no passion nor love (old), neither any ideal (new), except for the Christian belief, that the book of the kingdom of heavens, the Bible, represents. The Bible alone holds the conceptual space of the soul of the good scribe, that is of the right Christian, and it is his unique mindset. The Christian of course is a good and healthy member of the society where he lives, the better and healthier indeed, a good citizen of his earthly country and a good patriot of his homeland, the better; this happens however because that is the will of his LORD, the king of the kingdom of heavens, in which he was instructed. He is a good decent and loyal husband, not for his wife, but for the LORD; simply his wife reap the benefits of these unfeigned performances of her husband that are due to the LORD who supervises everything; and conversely of course the husband of the wife. He also acts in this way as a citizen and member of his nation and society. He could also be a master of a science and sometimes the best, because the LORD prefers it so, as he prefers for his man to be the best carpenter, but a Christian is such as a professional only, and not as a lover of the subject of his science.

The good Christian, that was instructed into the kingdom of heavens, that is, trained to be a member of the kingdom of heavens – this is the correct interpretation of the verse – does not have absolutely any ideology; he only has the Christian belief. And yet even if he is a very wise scientist, he has no views, because his views are the Bible's teachings. This is so even if people near him, ignorant at most, have views, even tough ones. Those, are in need to have views to "fill" their emptiness. He, instead, has no need to have views, because he is full; he has those which he put in his treasure, when he threw away from it the new and the old. His Christian belief, so as to the substance of the Bible as to life conduct, is both exclusive and self-sufficient; that belief dislodges (takes out) the new and the old things from his heart, and for none of these he says "This seems pretty good, so let me keep it''. Everything is discarded before the Bible, the Christian belief. The Bible does not need anything, either help nor supplement; The Christian belief is self-sufficient and unparalleled. And just the idea alone for any supplementation is blasphemy; as the sweet look of a married woman to someone is unfaithfulness to her husband. The LORD as a lover does not accept to be an added lover; he is not a prostitute's costumer, but a husband, a bridegroom. Christian belief cannot coexist with any ideology and any philosophy. All these confronted to it are for the Christian trash to throw away.

Christian belief is not something new nor something old. It is the eternal. It does not consent to any improvement, because it is the perfect. It does not adapt to anything, because everything has to adapt to it. It is the unsurpassed, the unaged, the absolute. In the world all breakthroughs cause deterioration and all the traditions and ''values'' are those that constrain progress and bring delays and setbacks. The Christian belief, as tradition and conservatism so as innovation and radical change, is only prosperity and progress; it is the success, the exquisite, the real culture. In the three continents, Europe, North America and Australia, where the Bible circulated, live the most scientifically and technologically advanced and free nations. In the other three, Asia, Africa, South America, where it did not diffuse, live the most retarded and unfree people. Before the Bible, and the Christian belief which is its substance, nothing keeps up, either the new or the old; everything is a waste.

A good Christian and wise scribe, trained and worthy for the kingdom of heaven, is only him which for it throws away everything, not just the old but also the new.

Christian letters consist from the inspired by God Bible and the enlightened by God Christian literature. As more this literature aligns with the Bible, so more is enlightened by God, because it illuminates it like a stellar body which is not the source of light, as the inspired by God Bible is, but the illuminated which receives its light elsewhere; thus the lesser is aligned with the Bible, the more is lightless, like the dark and icy places of the poles.

 

Studies (Μελέτες) 1 (2008)