The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. 46 When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it. 47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. 48 When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away. 49 Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
51 “Do you understand all these things?” They answered, “Yes.” 52 And he replied, “Then every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.” 53 When Jesus finished these parables, he went away from there.
Jesus concludes His teaching in parables by again describing the supreme value of the Kingdom of heaven. One person unexpectedly discovers a treasure, while the merchant finds the pearl after searching for something precious. Their circumstances differ, but their response is the same: each recognizes something worth more than everything he presently possesses.
The person who finds the treasure acts “out of joy” (v. 44). His sacrifice is real, but it is not made reluctantly. He knows that what he is gaining far surpasses what he is surrendering. The merchant responds with the same single-mindedness. Once he finds the pearl of great price, everything else becomes secondary.
The Kingdom reorders a person’s life because it brings us into communion with God through Jesus Christ. The first disciples responded in this way when they left their nets and followed Jesus (Matthew 4:18–22). Saint Paul later described everything he had once considered valuable as a loss compared with “the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:8).
The parable of the net adds a warning. The net gathers fish of every kind, just as the proclamation of the Kingdom reaches many people. For the present, the righteous and the wicked remain together. The final separation belongs to God and His angels at the end of the age.
This does not mean that our choices are unimportant until the judgment. The parable calls us to repentance, faith, and watchfulness now. At the same time, it warns us against presuming to judge the final condition of others. In Scripture, the “heart” is not merely the place of emotion. It is the hidden center of the person, where thoughts, intentions, desires, and decisions take shape. Human beings see outward actions, but God sees the whole person—what each person knew, intended, freely chose, and did. Therefore, God alone can judge every person with complete truth, perfect justice, and mercy (1 Samuel 16:7; Jeremiah 17:10).
Jesus then asks His disciples, “Do you understand all these things?” (v. 51). Their answer, “Yes,” does not mean that they understand everything perfectly. They still have much to learn. Yet they have listened to Jesus, received His explanation, and begun to understand the mysteries of the Kingdom.
Understanding must lead to fruitful service. Jesus compares the disciple who has been instructed in the Kingdom to a scribe who brings forth “both the new and the old” (v. 52). A scribe was trained in the Sacred Scriptures. The disciples are now being formed by Jesus to understand God’s earlier revelation in the light of what God is accomplishing through Him.
The “old” refers to the Law and the Prophets, while the “new” refers to Christ and His teaching about the Kingdom. The old is not rejected or discarded. Jesus said that He came not to abolish the Law and the Prophets but to fulfill them (Matthew 5:17). In Him, the promises, patterns, and hopes of the Old Testament reach their intended fulfillment.
Christ therefore enables His disciples to bring forth treasures from the whole of Sacred Scripture. They can proclaim what God revealed to Israel and show how His saving plan is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The new illuminates the old, and the old prepares us to recognize the new.
This responsibility belongs in a particular way to those who teach the faith, but every disciple is called to receive God’s Word, understand it more deeply, and bear fruit. We do not preserve the treasures of Scripture merely for ourselves. We bring them forth so that others may encounter Christ and recognize the priceless treasure of His Kingdom.
Verse 53 marks the end of Jesus’ parables discourse. Having instructed His disciples, He leaves that place and continues His ministry. They must now carry with them what they have received: the treasure of the Kingdom, the warning of final judgment, and the responsibility to bring forth the new and the old.
The disciple instructed by Christ recognizes the Kingdom as the greatest treasure and brings forth the whole of Scripture in the light of its fulfillment in Him.
Lord Jesus, help us to recognize the priceless treasure of Your Kingdom, surrender whatever keeps us from following You, and understand Your Word more deeply. Teach us to bring forth the new and the old so that others may come to know You. Amen.
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Sources and References
- The New American Bible, Revised Edition. Washington, DC: Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, 2011. Notes on Matthew 13:44–53.
- Hahn, Scott, and Curtis Mitch. The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2010. Page 32.
- Casciaro, Jose Maria, gen. ed. The Navarre Bible: New Testament, Expanded Edition. Dublin: Four Courts Press; New York: Scepter Publishers, 2008. Pages 95–96.
- Brown, Raymond E., Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy, eds. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990. Page 657, paragraphs 92–94.
- Mitch, Curtis, and Edward Sri. The Gospel of Matthew. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2010. Pages 183–185.
- Aguilar Chiu, Jose Enrique, et al., eds. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. New York: Paulist Press, 2018. Page 937.
- Collins, John J., Gina Hens-Piazza, Barbara Reid, OP, and Donald Senior, CP, eds. The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century. Third Fully Revised Edition. With a foreword by Pope Francis. London: T&T Clark, 2022. Pages 1200–1201.
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