Other Parables
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treasure things new and old.” In this parable, Jesus presented before
his disciples the responsibility of those whose work it is to give to the
world the light which they have received from him. The Old Testament
was all the Scripture then in existence; but it was not written merely
for the ancients; it was for all ages and for all people. Jesus would have
the teachers of his doctrine diligently search the Old Testament for that
light which establishes his identity as the Messiah foretold in prophecy,
and reveals the nature of his mission to the world. The Old and the
New Testament are inseparable, for both are the teachings of Christ.
The doctrine of the Jews, who accept only the Old Testament, is not
unto salvation, since they reject the Saviour whose life and ministry
was a fulfillment of the law and the prophecies. And the doctrine of
those who discard the Old Testament is not unto salvation, because it
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rejects that which is direct testimony of Christ. Skeptics begin with
discounting upon the Old Testament, and it takes but another step to
deny the validity of the New, and thus both are rejected.
The Jews have little influence over the Christian world in showing
them the importance of the commandments, including the binding law
of the Sabbath, because in bringing forth the old treasures of truth,
they throw aside the new ones in the personal teachings of Jesus. On
the other hand, the strongest reason why Christians fail to influence
the Jews to accept the teachings of Christ as the language of divine
wisdom, is because, in bringing forth the treasures of his word, they
treat with contempt the riches of the Old Testament, which are the
earlier teachings of the Son of God, through Moses. They reject the law
proclaimed from Sinai, and the Sabbath of the fourth commandment,
instituted in the garden of Eden. But the minister of the gospel, who
follows the teachings of Christ, will gain a thorough knowledge of
both the Old and the New Testament, that he may present them in their
true light to the people an inseparable whole—the one depending upon
and illuminating the other. Thus, as Jesus instructed his disciples, they
will bring forth from their treasure “things new and old.”
In looking abroad over the various fields where he had labored,
Jesus was filled with compassion for those scattered ones who had
accepted him as their Saviour, and looked to him for the bread of
life. They seemed to him like sheep to be left without a shepherd,
when he should ascend to Heaven. Before his sufferings and death, it
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was necessary that he should commission his disciples to go forth as