Hidden Treasures; The good householder Part 5

Church History: The parable of the good householder is intended to bind all the rest.
1. The occasion of it was the good proficiency which the disciples had made in learning, and their profiting by this sermon in particular. He asked them, Have ye understood all these things? Intimating, that if they had not, he was ready to explain what they did not understand. It is the will of Christ, that all those who read and hear the word should understand it; for otherwise how should they do good by it? It is therefore good for us, when we have read or heard the word, to examine ourselves, or to be examined, whether we have understood it or not. It is no disparagement to the disciples of Christ to question. Christ invites us to seek to him for instruction, and ministers should proffer their service to those who have any good question to ask concerning what they have heard.
They answered him, Yea, Lord: and we have reason to believe they said true, because, when they did not understand, they asked for an explanation, Matthew 13:36. And the exposition of that parable was a key to the rest. The right understanding of one good sermon, will very much help us to understand another; for good truths mutually explain and illustrate one another; and knowledge is easy to him that understands.

2. The scope of the parable itself was to give his approbation and commendation of their proficiency. Christ is ready to encourage willing learners in his school, though they are but weak; and to say Well done, well said.
He commends them as scribes instructed unto the kingdom of heaven. They were now learning that they might teach, and the teachers among the Jews were the scribes. Ezra, who prepared his heart to teach in Israel, is called a ready scribe, Ezra 7:6, 10. Now a skilful, faithful minister of the gospel is a scribe too; but for distinction, he is called a scribe instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, well versed in the things of the gospel, and well able to teach those things.