At the church where I serve, we are in the middle of a
sermon series entitled “The Kingdom of Heaven is like…” During this series, we
are spending our time together looking at a series of statements that Jesus
made that are recorded for us in an account of His life that has been preserved
in the New Testament of the Bible, called the gospel of Matthew. During this series, we are discovering how Jesus
described the kingdom of Heaven. During this series, we are discovering how one
enters into the Kingdom of Heaven. During this series we are discovering how
one should live as part of the kingdom of Heaven.
And as we go through this series, our hope and our
prayer is that God would move by the power of the Holy Spirit, in our heads,
hearts, and hands in such a way that we would live lives that reveal and bring
the light and love of the kingdom of Heaven into the areas of influence we have
been given. This week, I would like for us to take a front
row seat to an event from history where Jesus told a fishing story that reveals
a timeless truth about the kingdom of heaven. So let’s take that front row seat
to this event from history together, beginning in Matthew 13:47:
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and
gathering fish of every kind;
and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and
gathered the good fish into
containers, but the bad they threw away.
Matthew begins to give us a front row seat to this
event from history as Jesus is telling the disciples a parable about the
kingdom of heaven. As we have been talking about through this series, a parable
is an earthly story that reveals a deeper spiritual truth. In this parable,
Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to a dragnet cast into the sea.
Now a natural question that may have popped into your
mind at this point is “what is a dragnet?” A dragnet was a type of net that the
Jewish people would use to fish in the Sea of Galilee. The disciples, along
with the large crowds that were listening to Jesus, were very familiar with a
dragnet and with fishing, as it was one of the primary sources of food for the
Jewish people who lived in this region.
This net would be thrown into the sea by fishermen and
then gathered back, either into a boat or dragged by the boat onto land. And as
this dragnet was gathered back by the fisherman, whatever fish were in its path
would be caught into the net and captured.
Jesus then explained that this dragnet would gather
fish of every kind. Scientists believe
that there are between 20 and 24 different species of fish that lived in the
Sea of Galilee, which is where the disciples and the large crowds that were
listening to Jesus lived and fished. You see, a dragnet is indiscriminate; it
simply gathers all the fish that are in its path. The fishermen would simply
throw out the dragnet and then wait until they believed that it was
sufficiently filled with fish. The net would not be pulled out prematurely, as
that would allow some fish to escape the net’s grasp and would cause the
fisherman to be less productive in their catch.
Now of these 20-24 different species of fish, there
were several that would be considered “unclean”, as Jewish dietary laws
permitted that only fish with fins and scales could be eaten. Also some fish
that would be caught in the dragnet may have been too small or diseased to be
kept to eat. Because of these realities, Jesus explained what every fisherman
and disciple already knew: that after the dragnet was filled with fish and then
gathered and dragged onto land, the fishermen needed to do some evaluating. The
fishermen needed to evaluate and separate all of the fish that had been caught.
Jesus explained that these fishermen, like all good
fishermen, would evaluate and gather all the good fish into containers. As the fishermen went through the nets to
separate the fish, the fish that were healthy and met the Jewish dietary
standards as being “clean” would be placed into containers to be processed for
food.
The bad fish, however, received a different fate. As
the fishermen went through the nets to evaluate the fish, the fish that were
unhealthy and unclean would be separated and removed from the clean fish and
then thrown away to die. Matthew then continued to give us a front row seat to
the event from history as Jesus, who wanted to make sure that the disciples and
the large crowds listening understood the deeper spiritual meaning of this
parable, provided that deeper meaning to them in Matthew 13:49-50. Let’s look
at it together:
"So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and
take out the wicked from among the righteous, and will throw them into the
furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Jesus explained and applied this fishing scenario that
the disciples would be very familiar with to the kingdom of heaven by saying
that this process of gathering and evaluating will apply to the wicked and the
righteous. Jesus explained that God, through the angels, will gather all of
humanity to stand before Jesus at the end of God’s story here on earth.
And at the end of God’s story here on earth, when
Jesus returns to usher in the kingdom of heaven is its fullest, all of humanity
will be gathered and evaluated. Jesus then explained that the angels will take
out the wicked from among the righteous. The phrase take out from among here
literally means “to take out of the middle of the righteous”. When Jesus refers
to the wicked, He is referring to those who rebelled and rejected the message
of Jesus and the kingdom of heaven.
You see, Jesus wanted those listening to this parable
to clearly understand that, just like the dragnet that remains in the sea until
it is full of fish, those who reject the kingdom of heaven will coexist side by
side with members of the kingdom of heaven until they are all gathered before
Jesus at His second coming. At that time, the angels will separate those who
have rebelled and rejected the message of Jesus and the kingdom of heaven from
those who are members of the kingdom of heaven as a result of believing,
trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader.
For those who have been evaluated and separated from
the kingdom of heaven as a result of rebelling and rejecting the message of
Jesus and the kingdom of heaven, Jesus explained that they will be thrown into
the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Jesus is pointing to the harsh reality that those who rebel and reject the
message of Jesus and the kingdom of heaven will be evaluated based on their
rejection and be sent into eternal separation from the relationship with God
that they were created for, but rejected, in hell. And in hell, Jesus states
that there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth by those who have rejected Him
and His kingdom as a result of the punishment that they will experience for
their selfishness and sin.
And in this parable, we see Jesus reveal and timeless
and sobering truth about the kingdom of heaven. And that timeless and sobering
truth is this: The
kingdom of heaven is going to be gathering for an evaluation. The
timeless reality is that at the end of God’s story here on earth, all of
humanity will be gathered before Jesus. And at that gathering, an evaluation
will be made based on this question: Do I know you? Are you a member of the
kingdom of heaven?
For those who responded to the message of Jesus and
the kingdom of Heaven by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and
Leader, they will be gathered together to participate as part of the kingdom of
Heaven. However, for those who have selfishly rebelled and rejected the
relationship with God that they were created for; for those who rebelled and
rejected the message of Jesus and the kingdom of heaven, they will be separated
out from those who are members of the kingdom of heaven and sent to a place where
there is no return from, only judgment and punishment. Jesus then closes His conversation with the disciples
with a question and a final parable.
A question and a parable that we will look
at on Friday…
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