The Binary Gospel

 The  Binary Gospel

October 27, 2025

Jesus taught in parables, and parables all have two meanings. There is the clear text meaning of the story about some everyday occurrence, and then there is the hidden, coded, meaning about some aspect of the kingdom of God.

 Matthew 13:51-52

51 “Have you understood all these things?” They *said to Him, “Yes.” 52 And Jesus said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”

That’s partly what Jesus meant when he talked about new and old in verse 52. He also talked about out two kinds of people, those who had ears to hear and those dull of hearing.

Matthew 13:10-17

10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” 11 Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. 12 For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. 13 Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,

‘ YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND;

YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE;

15 FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL,

WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR,

AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES,

OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES,

HEAR WITH THEIR EARS,

AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN,

AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.’

16 But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. 17 For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

Jesus explained to his disciples that he taught in parables so that everyone could understand the plain story, but only some would understand the deeper meaning. Everyone in the crowd knew about planting seeds and fishing. But only a few understood the mystery of the gospel of the kingdom. It was also imperative that they understood the scriptures, the law and the prophets, before they could understood the new application of Jesus’ teaching. This is the main meaning of new and old in verse 52. And in the Hebrew logic of the existing scripture at that time, I,e. The Old Testament, they commonly used binary logic. That is to say, they would compare and contrast two things. The psalms and proverbs are full of examples of this. 

Proverbs 27:5-7 (NASB95) 

5 Better is open rebuke Than love that is concealed. 

6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy. 

7 A sated man loathes honey, But to a famished man any bitter thing is sweet.

Do you see the pattern? Open vs. concealed, faithful vs deceitful, sated vs. famished. I’ve heard it said that a one armed rabbi couldn’t teach because he couldn’t say “But on the other hand…”. New and old, good and evil, hearing and dull, thegospel that Jesus taught was full of binary logic. It was a message that even simple fishermen could understand. But also a message so sublime that it stymied the scribes and Pharisees who tried to fit Jesus words into their rigid religious box. But Jesus’ message was like the mustard seed that would grow and grow until it broke out of their box and filled the whole world. 

Matthew 13:31-32 - The Mustard Seed

31He presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; 32 and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that THE BIRDS OF THE AIR come and NEST IN ITS BRANCHES.”

In computer science, binary logic is 0 and 1. So don’t be a “zero” but be the “one” that has ears to hear. The binary gospel.