Matthew 13 - IVP New Testament Commentaries

Revealing the Kingdom's Treasures

True teachers of the kingdom display the kingdom's treasure for all to see. Matthew concludes this central discourse of his Gospel with a final, eighth parable. If Jesus' disciples have truly understood his teaching (v. 51), they are prepared to teach others the value of the kingdom (v. 52). Jesus expects his disciples to build both on the biblical teachings that had come before him and on his gospel of the kingdom; the heavy New Testament dependence on both shows that they did so. Because these disciples understand (v. 51), they prove that they are the good soil, those who pressed in close enough to Jesus to know him (v. 23; compare 13:11-12, 16).