And he said to them, “For this reason every scribe who has become a disciple for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a household, who brings out of his treasury things both new and old”.
In these words Jesus emphasizes the value of a person who has learned the truths of the kingdom of God. The scribe symbolizes a spiritual leader or teacher who not only knows the old teachings of Holy Scripture, but has also accepted and understood the new revelation brought by Jesus. Such a person, like a householder, has a spiritual treasury in which both the old (for example, the Law of Moses, the prophecies) and the new (the words of Jesus, mercy, grace) teachings are kept. Jesus shows that a true teacher trained for the kingdom of heaven not only passes on what he has learned, but also has the skill to bring out and present, at the right time, both old and new spiritual truths.