In Matthew chapter 12, you will read where the religious leaders had rejected Jesus and then at the end of chapter 13, you find that even the people he grew up around don't believe in him. There is a lot happening here...but in the middle of those related events in Jesus life, Jesus is using another parable to relate a very serious truth to the people listening. This parable takes on a different feel than the other parables Jesus had been teaching with...this particular parable in verses 47-50. (Available at the bottom of the page. I would encourage you to read chapters 12-13 in Matthew to get a better feel for this particular parable.)
The word net in this passage is the Latin word for "sweep net" or in other words a "dragnet"...meaning that the net is cast into the water to catch fish, and the particular purpose of this net is to drag fish up from the bottom. As this is dragged along it keeps gathering all in its way, both good and bad, small and great; and, when it is brought to the shore, those which are good for use are preserved, and those which are not, are either destroyed or thrown back into the water. The use of the word "net" here could be understood as the preaching of the Gospel of the kingdom, which keeps drawing men to become Christ Followers and into the fellowship of the Church of Christ. The word "sea" is referring to sinful depth of error, ignorance, and wickedness in which men live, and out of which they are drawn, by the truth and the Holy Spirit which presents salvation through the preaching of the Gospel. 1 Corinthians 18:21 says, "21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." When Jesus refers to the phrase "drawing to shore", he is pointing out that there is coming and end to this whole process of opportunity when He returns to do as He said before...to separate the tares from the wheat. In verse 49, Jesus makes a very strong point that there is a difference between those who serve Him and those who have not...there will be those who wear his name but not living in a true relationship with him. There is an end to this thing called opportunity...an opportunity to come to know salvation through Jesus Christ...God will call this some day. While we are living and before God says it is over, we have been given the privilege to know this Jesus in a real and dynamic way...to have the joy only he can give and to experience the relationship of a living Savior and Master. The Pharisees did not like what Jesus was doing, who He was or what He said...educated but closed to truth...aware of what scripture said but unaware of its power...claiming the name of God but willing to deny the Name at the same time. We can't escape the net because the net is the command of God as in Acts 17:30 (NASB) 30 Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent...". Good thing is this...God is calling us to repent...because He is mad? No...because He loves wildly...deeply...maybe you are not familiar with "THE WORD ON THE STREET" bible and I ask you to not be offended by how it reads but I want to share with you what John 3:16-17 says..."Cause God's so passionate about the planet that he donates his one and only Son. Whoever invests their life in his Son doesn't die, but gets given this limitless life. D'you think God sends his Son to slam people down? No! He sends his Son to liberate people." To liberate...to liberate from our own destruction to His awesome redemption...liberate from sin to be given everlasting life...and to liberate from eternal judgment to His eternal joy! READING: Matthew 13:47-52New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) 47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; 48 when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 51 “Have you understood all this?” They answered, “Yes.” 52 And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
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AuthorThe Pastors of Cornerstone Wesleyan Church Archives
July 2017
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