Seeds for 09/19/2023 - Matthew 13:47-50
Scripture: 47 “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. 48 When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. 49 This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous 50 and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Observation: The parable of the net seems a good deal like the parable of the wheat and the weeds. Jesus knew the value of finding several ways to make the same point.
There are essentially two things in this parable that stand out to me and I’ll take them in reverse order.
First, the parable points to a future judgment that will “separate the wicked from the righteous.” This was standard fare in Jewish thought in the first century. A good example of this is when Martha tells Jesus that she knows her brother Lazarus will rise again “in the resurrection at the last day” in John 11:24. There would be a resurrection and final judgment. Jesus stands firmly in agreement with that doctrine.
Second, the net in the parable is “let down into the lake” and catches “all kinds of fish.” Once the net has done its work of catching, then the fishermen pull it up on the shore and do the work of sorting. It’s the “all kinds of fish” bit that catches my attention. Like the farmer scattering seed recklessly upon all sorts of soils, the net gathers up all the fish that glide within its reach.
The judgment will eventually arrive, but there’s an indiscriminateness about the offer of grace.
The kingdom comes into contact with more than will respond in faith, but there’s no telling them apart in advance. In Jesus’ ministry, we see religious people who fail to embrace the kingdom God is bringing while scoundrels and outcasts can’t get enough. Which fish is which when they arrive on the shoreline?
As it turns out, righteousness is a matter of faith, which is about humility and daily trust. The expansiveness of the net doesn’t negate the biblical witness about judgment nor the logic of judgment, but it does press hard against pre-judgment. We simply can’t predict who will receive the grace that offers us a righteousness not our own.
Application:
When have you been surprised at who got caught in the net of grace and responded in faith?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, remind me about the surprises of grace and keep me trusting in the righteousness of Christ and not my own. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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