47“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a fishing net that was thrown into the water and caught fish of every kind.48When the net was full, they dragged it up onto the shore, sat down, and sorted the good fish into crates, but threw the bad ones away.49That is the way it will be at the end of the world. The angels will come and separate the wicked people from the righteous,50throwing the wicked into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.51Do you understand all these things?”“Yes,” they said, “we do.”
52Then he added, “Every teacher of religious law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a homeowner who brings from his storeroom new gems of truth as well as old.”
Jesus will not stop reminding us that , in the end, there will be justice. Obviously he knows that we want to believe that God wouldn’t really send one of his creations to eternal suffering. He will not let this point alone so perhaps we need to look at ourselves and make sure that we have fully accepted this truth and all its implications. There is a hell, people we know will spend eternity there, and if we are not saved by Jesus’ death on the cross, we will spend eternity there.
Now Jesus ends this teaching by pushing us to action. First we must note that we can teach “religious law” (Bible or church rules), and not be a disciple of the Kingdom of Heaven. If we are both a teacher of the “religious law”, and all of us are at times, and a disciple of Heaven, we must bring forth gems, both new and old. Old gems are truths about God and from the Bible that we’ve all been taught before, but eveyone needs reminded of. New gems are stories or events about God in our lives or the lives of others that teach us something or perhaps are just examples of God’s life with in us. For example, in the post a few days ago regarding the yeast and the mustard seed, the thoughts about bread in an oven were an entirely new application of this teaching to my own life.
Lord, help us all to see the new and the old in Your Word and in our lives. Help us all to share both the new and the old with everyone around us so we may all be gathered together with You in heaven on the last day. Beginner’s Online Bible Study *obbs*
Please share a story about God or the Bible that is a new “gem” to you.