Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 13:47

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:

47 50. The Parable of the Net, in St Matthew only

47. a net, that was cast into the sea ] The reference is to the large drag-net or seine [Greek the word in the text hence sagena (Vulgate) and English sean or seine ]. One end of the seine is held on the shore, the other is hauled off by a boat and then returned to the land. In this way a large number of fishes of all kinds is enclosed. Seine-fishing is still practised on the coasts of Devonshire and Cornwall.

The teaching of this parable partly coincides with that of the parable of the Tares ( Mat 13:24-30). In both are exhibited the mixture of good and evil in the visible Church, and the final separation of them. But here the thought is specially directed to the ingathering of the Church. The ministers of Christ will of necessity draw converts of diverse character, good and evil, and actuated by different motives. From the parable of the Tares we learn not to reject any from within the Church, in the hope of expelling the element of evil. It is a parable of the settled Church. This is a missionary parable. It teaches that as a matter of history or of fact, no barrier or external test will serve to exclude the unworthy convert.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net … – This parable does not differ in meaning from that of the tares. The gospel is compared to a net dragging along on the bottom of a lake, and collecting all – good and bad. The gospel may be expected to do the same; but in the end of the world, when the net is drawn in, the bad will be separated from the good; the one will be cast away, and the other saved. Our Saviour never fails to keep before our minds the great truth that there is to be a day of judgment, and that there will be a separation of the good and the evil. He came to preach salvation; and it is a remarkable fact, also, that the most fearful accounts of hell and of the sufferings of the damned, in the Scriptures, are from his lips. How does this agree with the representations of those who say that all will be saved?

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Mat 13:47-50

The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea.

The drawnet

1. We of this generation, a miscellaneous multitude of old and young, good and evil, move about at liberty in the wide expanse of life, as fishes move about in the deep broad sea; but certain mysterious, invisible lines, have been let down into the water, and are silently, slowly creeping near, and winding round us.

2. Good and bad alike are drawn in company towards the shore, but the good and bad are separated when they reach it. (W. Arnot.)

Separating good and bad

There is a machine in the Bank of England which receives sovereigns, as a mill receives grain, for the purpose of determining wholesale whether all are of full weight. As they pass through, the machinery, by unerring laws, throws all that axe light to one side, and all that are of full weight to another. That process is a silent but solemn parable for me. Founded as it is upon the laws of nature, it affords the most vivid similitude of the certainty which characterizes the judgment of the great day. (W. Arnot.)

The net

Here the mixture of good and bad is not attributed to an enemy, but is exhibited as resulting from the nature of the case. In fishing no selection is possible. We are here reminded that we are all advancing through life towards its final issue. This suggests-

1. Enclosure.

2. Enlargement. But the main points of the parable are-

I. The truth that the net gathers of every kind. The Church embraces every variety. This mixture arises from the manner in which the kingdom of heaven is proclaimed among men; publicly to all. But this mixture is at length to give place. On the shore a real and final distinction will be made and acted on. The test will be our value to God. (M. Dods, D. D.)

The drag-net

I. The occupation implied. Ministers of the gospel are set forth under various similitudes.

II. The result declared. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that gathered of every kind; so the Christian Church is at present in a mixed condition. There are two important uses to which this truth may be applied.

1. To refute a common objection. When religious professors bring scandal on the cause with which they are identified, the enemies of Christianity should remember that in this respect things turn out just as the great Founder of our religion foretold.

2. Inasmuch as the visible Church is thus mixed, all who name the name of Christ should be jealous over themselves with a godly jealousy, and not rest without seeking to ascertain what is their true character.

III. The explanation given-So shall it be at the end of the world. Notice.

1. The period when the separation will take place.

2. The agents by whom it will be accomplished.

3. The solemn issue in which it will terminate. (Expository Outlines.)

The parable of the net cast into the sea

The gospel preached may fully be compared to a net.

1. A net is a proper engine or instrument to catch or gather fish; so the gospel, or the Word of God preached, is a proper instrument to gather sinners out of the world into the Church, both visible and invisible (1Co 1:2).

2. A net is cast into the river or sea before it can take fish, so the word of the gospel must be preached that sinners may be converted.

3. A net takes fish (when they are caught) out of their proper element, and they die immediately; so those sinners who are indeed taken, or spiritually and savingly wrought upon by preaching the Word, are taken out of that element where they lived, and loved to live before-i.e., out of a course of sin and wickedness; and such die presently to sin and to all the vanities of the sea of this world.

4. A net must be cast into the sea or river with judgment by a skilful fisherman; it requires wisdom to use it to answer the end appointed. So ministers, Christs spiritual fishermen, ought to be men of great skill, knowledge, wisdom, and experience (2Co 12:16).

5. A net is cast where a fisherman hath ground to hope he may take store of fish; so a minister should preach where multitudes of people are gathered together, when an opportunity doth present; thus did our Lord (Mat 5:1).

6. Sometimes fishermen labour all night (as Peter and John did) and take nothing; it is God that blesses their labour when they succeed well.

7. A net takes fish of every kind, some great ones, some small ones; some good, and some bad. So the gospel net gathers of every sort, some rich, some poor, some great ones (but not many of that kind), some little ones, who are despised in the eyes of the world.

8. A fishermans work is very hard, and he is exposed oftentimes to be tossed on the tempestuous sea; so is the work of Christs ministers. (B. Keach.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 47. Is like unto a net] A drag-net. This is the proper meaning of , which the Latins translate verriculum, a sweep net; Quod in aquam jacitur ad pisces comprehendendos; imprimis, cujus usus est extrahendis iis a fundo. MARTINIUS. “Which is cast into the water to catch fish, and the particular use of which is to drag them 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 proper for use are preserved, and those which are not are either destroyed or thrown back into the water.

By the net may be understood the preaching of the Gospel of the kingdom, which keeps drawing men into the profession of Christianity, and into the fellowship of the visible Church of Christ. By the sea may be represented that abyss of sin, error, ignorance, and wickedness in which men live, and out of which they are drawn, by the truth and Spirit of God, who cordially close in with the offers of salvation made to them in the preaching of the Gospel.

By drawing to shore, may be represented the consummation of all things, see Mt 13:49, when a proper distinction shall be made between those who served God, and those who served him not; for many shall doubtless be found who shall bear the name without the nature of Christ. By picking out the good, and throwing away the bad, Mt 13:48, is meant that separation which God shall make between false and true professors, casting the former into hell, and bringing the latter to heaven.

Instead of the good, the Cod. Bezae, and five copies of the old Antehieronymian, or Itala version, read , the best, the very best. Every reader would naturally hope that this is not the true reading, or that it is not to be understood literally, as it seems to intimate that only the very best shall be at last saved.

It is probable that this parable also refers, in its primary meaning, to the Jewish state, and that, when Christ should come to judge and destroy them by the Roman power, the genuine followers of Christ only should escape, and the rest be overwhelmed by the general destruction. See Mt 24:30, &c.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

The scope of this parable is much the same with that of the tares, to teach us, that while the church is in this world there will be in it a mixture of good and bad, a perfect separation of which one from another is not to be expected until the day of judgment.

Again, the kingdom of heaven. This term signifieth the whole dispensation and administration of the gospel, both the grace dispensed in it, and the means of that grace which is administered under it. I should here interpret it of the preaching of the gospel, which is called

the word of the kingdom, being the means by which men are gathered in both to the church visible and invisible. This our Lord here compares to

a net, thrown

into the sea of the world, and gathering in of every kind, bringing in many to an outward profession, all of which shall not come to the kingdom of glory, nor are indeed true members of Christ; not members of the church invisible, though they be members of the church visible. When the end of the world shall come, and Christ shall have accomplished his design in the world, then a day of judgment shall come, and there shall be a perfect separation between such as received the gospel in truth, and in the love of it, and others: the former shall be taken to heaven, and the latter thrown into hell; which he expresses by the like phrases which he had before used in the parable of the tares, which need no further explication.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

47. Again, the kingdom of heaven islike unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of everykindThe word here rendered “net” signifies a largedrag-net, which draws everything after it, suffering nothingto escape, as distinguished from a casting-net (Mar 1:16;Mar 1:18). The far-reachingefficacy of the Gospel is thus denoted. This Gospel net “gatheredof every kind,” meaning every variety of character.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Again the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net,…. By which also is meant, the Gospel, and the ministry of it. This may be compared to a net, for its meanness in the esteem of men; being despicable, and of no account in the eyes of the world: and yet like a net, a piece of curious artifice and workmanship, being the produce of the grace of God; in which his manifold wisdom is displayed, and is what angels desire to look into: it is designed, and purposely contrived, for the gathering in of sinners to Christ, and to his churches, though by accident, it has other uses; such as troubling of the world, as the net does the waters of the sea, and drawing out the corruptions of the men of it, as that does weeds, stones, c. and which, like a net, can do nothing of itself, unless cast and not then neither, unless succeeded with a divine blessing:

that was cast into the sea; by “the sea” is meant the world, so called, for the storms and tempests of afflictions, and persecutions the saints meet with, and for the continual troubles that are in it; for the restlessness and instability of all things therein; for the dangers of it; and for its being the proper place and element of fishes, as the world is to the men of it. The casting of it into the sea, designs the opening of the Gospel, and the unfolding the mysteries of it, and the preaching it in all the world; and supposes persons qualified for it; such were the patriarchs and prophets under the Old Testament; and particularly Christ, John the Baptist, and the Apostles of Christ, and succeeding ministers under the New Testament; and requires art, skill, and wisdom, might and strength, industry, diligence, and patience; and which is done at a venture, whether there are fish or not; and sometimes succeeds, and sometimes not:

and gathered of every kind; the Persic version adds, “of animals”; but much more agreeably Munster’s Hebrew Gospel, and the Vulgate Latin, add, “of fishes”; and so some copies read. The preaching of the Gospel, is the means of gathering souls to Christ, and into his churches; and those that are gathered into a visible Gospel church state, are of every kind, of all nations in the world; Jews and Gentiles: of all ranks and degrees of men, high and low, rich and poor, bond and free; of all sorts of sinners, and of men good and bad; some who have the truth of grace in them, and others that are only hypocrites: profess in words, and deny in works; have nothing more than a form of godliness, and name to live, and are dead.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

A net (). Drag-net. Latin, sagena, English, seine. The ends were stretched out and drawn together. Only example of the word in the N.T. Just as the field is the world, so the drag-net catches all the fish that are in the sea. The separation comes afterwards. Vincent pertinently quotes Homer’s Odyssey (xxii. 384-389) where the slain suitors in the halls of Ulysses are likened to fishes on the shore caught by nets with myriad meshes.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

Net [] . See on Mt 4:18. The only occurrence of the word in the New Testament. A long draw – net, the ends of which are carried out and drawn together. Through the transcription of the word into the Latin sagena comes seine. From the fact of its making a great sweep, the Greeks formed a verb from it, saghneuw, to surround and take with a drag – net. Thus Herodotus (iii. 149) says : “The Persians netted Samos.” And again (iv. 31), “Whenever they became master of an island, the barbarians, in every single instance, netted the inhabitants. Now, the mode in which they practice this netting if the following : Men join hands, so as to firm a line across from the north coast to the south, and then march through the island from end to end, and hunt out the inhabitants.” Compare Isa 19:8 : “Those who spread nets on the face of the waters shall languish.” Also Hab 1:15 – 17, where the Chaldaean conquests are described under this figure.

Gathered of every kind. Compare the graphic passage in Homer (” Odyssey, “, 22 384 – 389) of the slain suitors in the halls of Ulysses.

“He saw that all had fallen in blood and dust, Many as fishes on the shelving beach, Drawn from the hoary deep by those who tend The nets with myriad meshes. Poured abroad Upon the sand, while panting to return To the salt sea, they lie till the hot sun Takes their life from them.”

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

THE SEVENTH KINGDOM OF HEAVEN PARABLE, THE DRAGNET V. 47,52

1) “Again the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net,” (palin homoia estin he basileia ton ouranon sagene) “Again the Kingdom of heaven (the church) is similar to or compared with a net,” a throw-net for catching fish.

2) “That was cast into the sea,” (blepheise eis te thalassan) “Which (was) cast into the sea,” for the purpose of catching fish. Symbolically the term “sea” refers to the masses of humanity. The lesson is that our Lord cast forth His net (the church) into the mass of humanity, in the world.

3) “And gathered of every kind:” (kai ek pantos sunagagouse) “And he gathered every kind out of it,” as every kind of sea-creature may be caught in a throw net, so may every kind of person be drawn into the church, even some saved, some unsaved.

This parable differs from the wheat and tares parable where the Devil or wicked one was the evil agent. In this parable, it appears that the throw net had been baited, then drew in the good and the bad, or the net had fallen directly upon both kind.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

47. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net. No new instruction is here given by Christ; but what he formerly taught is confirmed by another parable, that the Church of God, so long as it exists in the world, is a mixture of the good with the bad, and is never free from stains and pollutions. And yet the design of this parable is perhaps different. It may be that Christ intends not only to remove the offense which perplexes many weak minds, because they do not find in the world all the purity that might be desired, but likewise to employ the influence of fear and modesty, in restraining his disciples from delighting themselves with the empty title, or mere profession, of faith. For my own part, I cheerfully adopt both views. Christ informs us, that a mixture of the good and the bad must be patiently endured till the end of the word; because, till that time, a true and perfect restoration of the Church will not take place. Again, he warns us, that it is not enough, and—what is more—that it is of little consequence to us, to be gathered into the fold, unless we are his true and chosen sheep. To this effect is the saying of Paul,

The Lord knoweth who are his; and let every one that calleth on the name of the Lord depart from iniquity, (2Ti 2:19.)

The preaching of the Gospel is justly compared to a net sunk beneath the water, to inform us that the present state of the Church is confused.

Our God is the God of order, and not of confusion, (1Co 14:33,)

and, therefore, recommends to us discipline; but he permits hypocrites to remain for a time among believers, till the last day, when he will bring his kingdom to a state of perfection. So far as lies in our power, let us endeavor to correct vices, and let us exercise severity in removing pollutions; but the Church will not be free from every spot and blemish, until Christ shall have separated the sheep from the goats, (Mat 25:32.)

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

THE PARABLES OF THE LEAVEN, FISH NET AND HOUSEHOLDER

Mat 13:13-33; Mat 13:47-52

THE three parables, of the leaven, the fish net, and the householder, are in the thirteenth of Matthew. That interpretation which brings their teaching into line with the lessons from their five sister parables, appeals to us as the one that has the weight of evidence in its favor. The fact that such an interpretation is unpopular with Bible students is no positive proof against its correctness, since upon many subjects a multitude of teachers have gone astray.

What are the lessons from the leaven? What are the facts to be gleaned from the fish net? What are the hints to be had from the householder?

LESSONS FROM THE LEAVEN.

Another parable spake He unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened (Mat 13:33).

The common rule for interpreting Scripture is to compare Scripture with Scripture; and the way to find out the meaning of a Biblical word is to search the sacred records for its uses, and learn from them the evident intent of its employment.

The word leaven is known to both the Old and New Testaments. It uniformly suggests evil. Its effect, as is well known, is fermentation, another name for decay or corruption. It was on this account that the law of the Lord concerning the great passover feast in Israel was,

Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel (Exo 12:15).

It is a well-known fact that the meal-offering of the Old Testament, the very thing to which the three measures of meal here refer, was prescribed after this manner,

No meal offering, which ye shall bring unto the Lord, shall be made with leaven (Lev 2:11). This is the law of the meat offering * * it shall not be baken with leaven (Lev 6:14; Lev 6:17).

The New Testament use of the word conforms to this Old Testament conception. The Master warns His disciples, Beware of the leaven of the Sadducees and Pharisees. Mark adds to this report the leaven of unrighteousness. Luke reports Jesus as having defined His own phrase the leaven of the Pharisees after this manner: which is hypocrisy. Paul, in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, condemns the fornicator, demands that such be delivered over to the judgment, saying,

Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us: therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. I wrote unto you in an Epistle not to company with fornicators (1Co 5:6-9).

Addressing himself to the Galatian Church, he opposed the imposition of Jewish ceremonies upon Gentile converts, announcing the same as a return to the law of falling away from grace, adding, This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you and illustrating, A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. We are not, therefore, to read this parable with a period after the word leaventhe Kingdom of Heaven is like unto leaven, but, rather, as the Word puts it, The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened, and then ask the questions, What is the Biblical use of the word woman in such connection? What is the Divine thought in the meal offering of the Old Testament? And what is the Biblical suggestion of the introduction of leaven into the same?

In answer to these, Campbell Morgan says, correctly, as we think, The woman is the type of authority and management; leaven, the emblem of disintegration and corruption; the meal, the symbol of service and fellowship.

And to bring the Biblical use of these terms before us is to have our attention called again to three things: The mal-administration of the church, The mixed character of modern Christianity, and The miserly consecration of professed Christians.

The mal-administration of the Church. On what grounds does Campbell Morgan say the woman here is the type of authority and management? First of all, on natural grounds. The woman is commonly queen in the home, and the family and society look to her for the administration of purely household affairs. In Scripture, she is made by the prophet Zechariah (Zec 5:5-11), the administrator of the false religion also; and strange to say, the woman beheld in his vision is seen, first of all, in an ephah, or the flour measure; and also, with another of her kind,

the ephah is borne between them to a shinar, where it is to be set up in a sanctuary

a suggestion of idolatry.

Do you not recall, also, how in the apocalyptic vision, John beholds a

woman sitting upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones, and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand, but full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication,

etc., and when he comes to interpret, he says,

The woman which thou sawest is that great city which hath a kingdom over the kings of the earth.

It is a remarkable circumstance that woman, who was made of God, not to be administrator, but subservient in the home, whenever she leaves her Divinely-appointed sphere, becomes at once the symbol of usurpation and social and religious confusion. Eve was created of God and put into the Garden of Eden, and the revelation of the Divine will was given her by Adam, the husband and man of the house, and when she accepted another, and essayed to teach the same, communion with God was broken, and intellectual and moral confusion resulted; and to say the least, it is a significant thing that in these latter times, so full of suggestion of the approaching end of the age, woman should again appear in the ascendancy as religious spokesman, and that such false philosophies as have been preached into the world by the Fox sisters, Mrs. Oliphant, and Mary Baker Eddy, should find a following, create false churches, and enfeeble the faith of the many. Paul, when he wrote to the Corinthians, enjoining silence upon their women, was not so much insisting that a woman should refrain from telling her personal experiences of the grace of God, or publishing the good news of a sufficient Saviour; but, rather, inveighing against the attempt upon the part of his sisters to administer in the Church of God at a time when she was passing through divisions and difficulties. No more important subject ever engages the minds of saints than that of church administration. A properly administered church enjoys the unity of the spirit, exercises the diversity of gifts, profoundly impresses the world, and equally pleases God! Mal-administration, on the other hand, makes for divisions, results in schisms, incites the worlds scorn, and invites the Saviours judgment.

But we have also said that the leaven was at work in three measures of meal.

The mixed character of modern Christianity. Three measures of meal, without leaven, made up the acceptable offering to God. That was according to His own Word. But the least leaven introduced vitiated their sacred employment. The thing that keeps our modern Christianity from being wholly acceptable to the Lord, is the worlds leaven working its way in Christian experience and devitalizing the church-membership. Campbell Morgan says a brave thing, and a much-needed thing, when in the Parables of the Kingdom he speaks after this manner: I am often told todaytold seriously that what the Church of God needs in order to succeed is to catch the spirit of the age. I reply that the Church of God only succeeds in proportion as she corrects the spirit of the age. I am told that if I am to succeed in Christian work, I must adopt the methods of the world. Then, by Gods help, I will be defeated. We are not in the world to borrow the worlds maxims and spirit. The world would crucify Jesus as readily now as nineteen centuries ago. The Cross is no more popular in the world today than when men nailed Him to it on the green hill outside the city gate nineteen centuries ago.

This is the explanation of much of church failure. When the Israel of the Old Testament effected an alliance with her heathen neighbors, she lost out with God; and when the strictest Jew agreed with his Gentile neighbors upon a compound of religion, he shortly found himself without a laver of cleansing, a table of shew bread, an altar of sacrifice, or a holy of holies; and modern Israel, containing as it does the seeds of the kingdom, fares no better when it is unequally yoked together with unbelievers, or finds its fellowship with the unrighteous, or brings its temple into agreement with idols.

In this twentieth century condition one finds the explanation of the next suggestion, namely,

A miserly consecration to Gods service. It will be remembered that the meal offering was one wholly consumed upon the altar of the Lord, a suggestion of both perfect and complete consecration in service and fellowship. Who says that complete consecration is not the sorest need of the hour, and for that matter, of every hour of this age of the church? Separation unto the Lord is the secret of successful service, and that is true, whether the service be one of devotion or duty, of prayer or power, of availing with God or prevailing with men. Truly Abraham and Lot are illustrations of both sides of this statement. Abraham was an uncompromising servant of God, and Lot was a believerenamored of the worlds enticements, satisfied with the worlds standards, succeeding by the worlds methods. But when some one must intercede for Sodom, though Lot was its mayor, he had no ability whatever to keep it from the burning, nor even to delay its destruction; but Abraham, the man who walked with God, and whose back was upon the world, won with God, and stayed the flames of judgment until his politically important, yet spiritually poor nephew, could be drawn from the streets of the same by angel hands.

Consecration is commonly looked upon as the first duty of the forgiven soul; but let us not forget that it is also that souls highest privilege. It is a fact that we belong to God, and ought to give to Him all of self; but it is equally a fact that such consecration best releases our powers and lifts us to office and honor. Truly, as one has written, We offer burnt offering on the great altar of God when we give ourselves lovingly and wholeheartedly to His service. Wendell Phillips offered it, when as a boy of fourteen, he threw himself upon his face in his room and said, God, I belong to You. Take what is Thine own. I ask but this, that whenever a thing be right, it take no courage to do it; that whenever a thing be wrong, it have no power of temptation over me. David Livingston offered it when he wrote in his diary on his last birthday, save one, My Jesus, my King, my Life, my All, once more I dedicate my whole life to Thee. Maltbie D. Babcock offered it when he wrote beneath date and place on the flyleaf of the pocket Bible which he carried at the time of his death, Committed myself again with Christian brothers to unreserved docility and devotion before my Master.

But I turn to our second parable in this series, and bring you some

FACTS FROM THE FISH NET.

Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world; the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth (Mat 13:47-50).

The Master was speaking of the end of this age, and His statement involved some certitudes.

Fact number one is this: At the end of the age there will be a great gathering together.

The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind.

When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all His holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory, and before Him shall be gathered all the nations (Mat 25:31-32).

I am persuaded that this gathering together is the one that comes in the very end of the age, winding up the Millennium itself, and is a gathering of judgment. When Christ comes to His throne, His first work is conquest; but before Christ leaves His throne, in other words, His final work will be judgment. The dead, the small and the great shall stand before Him. What a gathering that will be! Phillips Brooks says of this great event, We are apt to picture to ourselves a great dramatic scene,host beyond host; rank behind rank; the millions who have lived upon the earth, all standing crowded together in the indescribable presence of One who looks not merely at the mass but at the individual, and sees through the whole life and character of every single soul. The picture is sublime, and it is what the words of Saint John intended to suggest. It was of this very scene of which John Newton was speaking when he wrote:

Day of judgment, day of wonders,Hark! the trumpets awful sound,Louder than a thousand thunders,Shakes the vast creation round,How the summons Will the sinners heart confound!

See the Judge, our nature wearing,Clothed in majesty Divine;You who long for His Appearing Then shall say, This God is mine,Gracious Saviour,Own me in that day for Thine.

At His call the dead awaken,Rise to life from earth and sea;All the powers of nature, shaken By His looks, prepare to flee,Careless sinner,What will then become of thee?

But to those who have confessed,Loved, and served the Lord below,He will say, Come near, ye blessed;See the Kingdom I bestow,You for ever Shall My love and glory know.

The last phrase of Newtons suggests fact number two, found in the parable of the fish net, namely,

There will be a careful gathering out.

Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down and gathered the good into vessels.

One of the marvels of Scriptureto me, the positive proof of its Divine inspiration;is the exact use of words to convey exact ideas. The fishermen of this parable sit down; they propose to be calm in their work, to gather out the good with painstaking care, to select the last fish fit for use, so that when the rest are cast away, there will be no real loss. One of the anxious concerns of mortal men, dwelling upon the judgment, voices itself in the fear of possible mistake! Even though I be a Christian, might I not be misjudged and condemned? And even though I rejected Jesus, walked in the lusts of the flesh, and finished my life without ever repenting my sin, in the hour of the great assize, may I not be fortunate enough to hide in the crowd of Christs accepted ones and be invited to place of honor and joy at His right hand?

Neither contingency is possible! Gods judgments involve no mistakes! When Christ shall descend from Heaven with a shout, every sleeping saint shall hear His voice and shall come forth, changed by the sound of the same, from the corruptible to the incorruptible, and every living saint shall hear it and be changed from the mortal to the immortal. Death will have no more dominion over them! And when Christ shall sit upon His throne, He will gather out of the throngs that stand before Him to His right hand, all those whose names are written in the Lambs Book of Life, and that without the loss of one. Judgment for them is impossible; His Word will then find its fulfillment, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My words and doeth them shall not come into judgmentthe blessed experience of Gods own! And His word concerning the unbeliever shall no more fail, For then will He profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from Me ye that work iniquity.

This involves, as the third fact, a necessary casting away. But cast the bad away. What else can you do? Men get troubled upon this subject sometimes; men frame up a philosophy of Universalism; men join with Mr. Tennyson in his larger hope,

O yet we trust that somehow, good Will be the final goal of ill,To pangs of nature, sins of will,Defects of doubt and taints of blood.

That nothing walks with aimless feet;That not one life shall be destroyed Or cast as rubbish to the void,When God hath made the pile complete.

That not a worm is cloven in vain;That not a moth with vain desire Is shrivelled in a fruitless fire,Or but subserves anothers gain.

But all fires are not fruitless. The gehenna outside the gates of Jerusalem was absolutely essential to the health of the city within; and hell is as needful to the holiness and happiness of Heaven as a sewer is to the health of the house. The only thing that makes Heaven possible is the fact that the fearful and unbelieving, and all murders, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars are to be excluded; and the very gehenna necessitated by Satan himself is to do its cleansing work.

No man can live in the midst of modern conditions and see how iniquity flaunts itself on every side, without consenting, if he be righteous at all, to the sentiment expressed by Campbell Morgan, when he said, I sigh for the coming of the angels. I feel increasingly that the government of men is a disastrous failure, and will be to the end. Presently, when the Church is completed and lifted out, angels will take this business in hand, There will be no seducer clever enough to dodge an angel, and there will be no scamp, master enough of traffic, to escape the grip of an angel hand. Blessed be God for judgment, stern judgment! I am not sure that the world does not need judgment more than mercy.

God was better to men in the day that Sodom was swept with fire than He would have been had He withheld the flames; and, when the parable of the fish net has found its finality, and the good are gathered into His presence, and the had are cast away, righteousness will have found its vindication, and only devils could desire to defeat the full and final coming of righteousness.

But in conclusion

HINTS FROM THE HOUSEHOLDER.

And Jesus said unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto Him, Yea, Lord. Then said He unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old (Mat 13:51-52).

That is a significant question with which Jesus plied His auditors, Have ye understood all these things? Have ye seen in these parables the plan of the ages? Have ye seen the progress of the Kingdom through the sowing of the good seedthe children of God? Have ye seen the unnatural growth of the Kingdom seed through the worlds nurture as set forth in the parable of the mustard seed? Have ye seen the corruption that shall be introduced into the kingdom preparation as revealed into the parable of the leaven? Have ye seen My treasure Israelfound in the world-field, bought with a great price, hidden yet against the day of My coming?

Have ye seen My precious jewel in the Gentiles converted, for whom I paid an equal price? Have ye seen the coming judgment that shall consummate all? If so, then prove yourselves like the householder, in possession of treasure to be drawn upon at your pleasure, to be passed out to the profit of others.

This to me is the meaning of the Masters words, as He concludes this marvelous series of more marvelous illustrations, and likens His own disciples to scribes instructed into the Kingdom of God. The word scribe as He employs it is not used in the sense of a mere reader, an interpreter of traditions such as He had condemned; but in that more ideal way in which Ezra filled up the office, by becoming a good reader of the Word and a faithful interpreter of the same, both by word of mouth and by the works of his life.

Three hints from the parable of the householder.

First, The wise householder creates a competent treasury. The figure here is that of a treasure chest in which the rich Oriental laid up the garments against the day when his great company of guests should make heavy demands upon it. The word in the original indicates that they were laid in one upon another. The one who would be a disciple of the Kingdom of God must create a treasury just after the same manner. He is to lay line upon line, precept upon precept, storing away the great truths of God, not for his own sake merely, but for the sake of others as well. Our forefathers had a keener appreciation of this necessity than do their children. They tried to steep our souls in a knowledge of the Word of God, by command, by coaxing, by attractive prizes, by words of approval! They induced us to commit to memory what the Scriptures saith, and to store up passage after passage in the enrichment of life.

Some years ago it was my privilege to walk about the old Ruskin manor and estate. John Ruskin was a marvelous man; his mind was perhaps as well stored as that of any man of his century. It had gleaned from the fields of science, and literature and art. He had made himself master in each. Yet when he comes to speak, this is what he says, All that I have taught of art, everything that I have written, every greatness that there has been in any thought of mine, whatever I have done in my life, has simply been due to the fact that when I was a child, my mother read daily to me a part of the Bible, and daily made me learn a part of it by heart.

When I was studying for this mornings discourse, I found six illustrations in my Index Rerum on The BibleThe Treasure House of God, but, alas for the mishaps of a library! The volumes in which they occurred could not be found. At first I felt disappointed, but then I suddenly remembered that is not the meaning of the text. It is not how much richness in the Word of God; it is not what stores it contains at all; but the thought is, How much have I taken out of it, treasured up in my own memory? What went into my own heart and life subject to my own uses as occasion may require? Ah, that is the suggestion! A man may have a Bible on the center table; it contains all the wisdom of God; but if he has not transcribed it to his own thoughts, if he has not tested it out in his own experience, if he has not tucked it away in the recesses of his own soul, it is for him as if it were not. It is one thing to have a Bible between leather covers; it is another thing to have it stored in the memory, transcribed into heart experience. You remember the folly of the farmer, who, when he had gathered into his barns until they were bursting, said to his soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. There is but one man that can say that, and that is the man who has taken Gods treasures as revealed in Scripture and stored them in the recesses of his own soul.

Father of mercies, in Thy Word,What endless glories shine!For ever be Thy Name adored For these celestial lines.

Tis here the tree of knowledge grows,And yields a free repast;Here purer sweets that nature knows,Invite the longing taste.

Tis here the Saviours welcome voice Spreads Heavenly peace around,And life and everlasting joys Attend the blissful sound.

O may these Heavenly pages be My ever-dear delight;And still new beauties may I see,And still increasing light.

But the householder draws upon his treasury at his pleasure. The Christians treasury ought to be capable of kindred draughts, and if he have one, it is. Do you remember in Lew Wallaces The Prince of India the Wandering Jew who lived for hundreds of years and traveled through all parts of the earth, and who spent money as liberally as though a Solomon were back of him? It was because he had discovered the place where Solomon had hid his riches, and whenever occasion required, he was wont to go to that treasure chest, and take out priceless jewels and exchange them for the needs of the hour. But Solomon had a richer treasury in the words of Divine wisdom upon which he was invited to drawthe gifts of which may be discovered by others and drawn upon for daily needs as the Prince of India drew upon this limitless fund.

George Mueller had discovered the way to that repository. When he was ninety-three years of age, he was engaged to address the yearly meeting of the British and Foreign Bible Society, at the Town Hall, Birmingham. Failing health prevented his coming, and he wrote, saying, Let it be said to the assembly that for sixty-eight years and three months, or ever since July 1829, I have been a lover of the Word of God, and that uninterruptedly. During this time, I have read considerably more than one hundred times through the whole Bible, with great delight. I have for many years read through the whole Old and New Testament with prayer and meditation, four times every year. No wonder his experience of grace was so rich; nor is it any wonder that he, who had drawn upon the treasury chosen of God, had created a treasury of his own upon which others drew so often and so profitably. In addition to the teaching he accomplished in all parts of the world, the personal testimony he bore upon thousands of occasions, he was enabled himself to circulate in various languages a quarter of a million of Bibles, a million and a half New Testaments, 21,350 copies of the Psalms, and 223,500 other portions of the Holy Scriptures. Truly he drew out of his treasury things new and old.

One writer has said that this does not suggest that we get out of the Bible new things and old things. That would be a contradiction. But we are to get out things that are supposed to be old, and yet are found to be new. Old things, new things! But we dissent from the interpretation. We candidly believe that the parable holds us strictly to its own language, and that the householder has in his treasury things new and old. There would be occasions when the old clothing would serve the best ends; there would be other times when the new dress was absolutely demanded. His treasure chest would meet either or both. There are old truths that certain experiences of our lives demand; we have worn them like a garment before; they have taken our shape; they fit us; they bring us needed comfort. Ah, it is an old truth that God so loved the world. I tried it out in my boyhood; I clothe myself with it today! It is an old truth that If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. Not a day but I must draw it forth to hide nakedness from before Him in whose presence I would otherwise be ashamed. The number of the old truths are too many to make mention of them. Then, blessed be God! I am forever discovering a new one; and as a scribe instructed unto the Kingdom of Heaven, it is mine to present it to the people. I believe that I have done that in some of the sentences employed today. And yet the truths are not less needful because they are new. Some of you have heard them for the first time, and yet, I trust, they come to you at the very time when they will be as food and clothing from your Heavenly Father.

Ah, the great truth of this entire string of parablesI was about to say, pearlsis this, that with the consummation of the age there is a kingdom coming which shall be established in righteousness, with Gods Son on the throne, and Gods saints in seats of power, and Gods will triumphant in all the world. The Gospel of Grace is great; the Gospel of the Kingdom is greater. Many of you know the story told by Hugh Price Hughes, of how he was standing one day before the window of an art store where was exhibited a picture of the crucifixion of our Lord. Presently he was conscious of a little ragged lad at his sidea street Arab. Noticing that he was looking intently at the same work of art, he said to him, Do you know who it is? Yes, he replied, that is our Saviour, with a mingled look of pity and surprise that Hughes did not know. Then, with an evident desire to enlighten Hughes further, he continued, Thems the soldiers, the Roman soldiers, and with a sigh, that woman there cryin is His mother. He waited for Hughes to question him further. Then, with his hands in his pockets, he said, They killed Him, Sir! Yes, sir, they killed Him. Hughes says, I looked at the little dirty fellow, and said, Where did you learn all this? At the mission Sunday School, he said. I had walked away about a block, leaving him still looking at the picture, when I heard him calling, and with a triumphant sound in his voice, he said, I just wanted to tell you, sir, that He rose again. Yes, mister, He rose again!

It is the Evangel of the Risen Christ; it is the good news to a dying world, that One had conquered death and been triumphant over the grave. But there is a better Gospel still, namely the Gospel of the Kingdom, and that is the Gospel to which these parables refer. That is the Gospel I bring to you today, and I want to tell you that He who rose, ascending to the right hand of God the Father, where this morning He fills His office of intercessor, will descend, and that He who went will come again, and that He who conquered against death and the grave will one day conquer against the adversary himself, the author of death, the digger of every grave, the despoiler of every life, the agent of all sin! The sway of His scepter shall be felt from sea to sea, and from the rivers to the ends of the earth, and there the righteousness shall shine forth as though seen in the Kingdom of the Father! There is no complete Gospel until one knows about the Coming King and His Kingdom!

Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley

B. THE PROBLEM OF EVIL IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD: THE TRIALS OF TRUTH
2. THE PARABLE OF THE DRAGNET
TEXT: 13:4750

47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: 48 which, when it was filled, they drew up on the beach; and they sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but the bad they cast away. 49 So shall it be in the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the righteous, 50 and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS

a.

What is God planning to do about all the hypocrites in the Church?

b.

For whom was this parable originally planned? What would this fact have to do with its interpretation?

c.

Is there any similarity between this parable and that of the Weeds? If so, what features are similar? If not, what differences exclude their consideration as parallel stories speaking to the same problem?

d.

Since Jesus gave a partial interpretation without defining precisely the kingdom of heaven, what phase of the Kingdom was foremost in His mind, and how would you go about deciding that?

e.

Where do you think Jesus got this story? By direct inspiration from God or out of His personal, human encounter with real life in the midst of the daily business of living? Where was Jesus when He told this story?

PARAPHRASE

From another point of view, Jesus went on, Gods Kingdom is similar to a fishermans dragnet which, when lowered into the sea, brings in a haul of all kinds of fish. When it is full, the fishermen haul it ashore. There they sit down to sort the good fish into containers and throw the unusable away. This is how it will be at the end of the world. The angels will come and divide the wicked from the righteous. Then they will throw the wicked into hell, where they will know sorrow and impotent anger.

SUMMARY

The grand scope of the Kingdom of God takes in the whole world, a fact, of course, that means the inclusion of many wicked people. Nevertheless, the final judgment will definitively separate these from Gods people.

NOTES

While covering essentially the same ground as the Parable of the Weeds, slight differences of emphasis are traceable. While the latter story sets forth the present mixture of good and evil and the necessity of allowing this mixture to stand until judgment, the Dragnet story acknowledges the mixture, but gives more emphasis to the ultimate separation. Coming, as Matthew lists it, almost on the heels of Jesus interpretation of the Weeds Parable, this illustration is its perfect complement and parallel.

Mat. 13:47 The word for net (sagne) pictures an enormous, crescent-shaped seine (from the same Greek word) utilized much like a huge fence lowered into the water between two boats. With floats fastened to the top of the fence and weights at the bottom so the lower part would trail over the lakefloor, these large dragnets were then slowly towed toward shore, entrapping any fish in its path. Once near the shore the fishermen could then haul this heavy, fish-ladden fence close enough to drag it out of the water. At this point they could easily divide the unusable rejects from the good fish.

But to what aspect of the Kingdom does the net refer?

1.

The Gospel and its effect in the world? The visible Church? Lenski (Matthew, 547, 549) so pictures it;

This net is the gospel, The sea is the world, and of every kind means some (partitive ek) of every kind, race, type, social and intellectual grade of men. Being the gospel, the net belongs to God or Christ and, of course, is handled by all who promulgate the gospel, i.e., the church. But the parable omits mention of these, as not belonging in the picture at this time. To bring them in, nevertheless, spoils the whole comparison for all the members and pastors of the church are also the fish caught in the net . . . the whole of it is one great sweep of the net through the waters of the sea. The picture is not that of repeated casting . . . The parable deals with all those who are caught by the great gospel net. All kinds and conditions of men are swept into its meshes, but these are of two classes. Here on earth both are mixed together in the outward body of the church . . . They all confess and profess faith, but not all are vere credentes and thus pronounced righteous by the divine Judge . . . Church discipline cannot eliminate them, for we cannot judge mens hearts.

Trench (Notes, 51) takes a similar view.

However, Lenskis admission that to mention the evangelizing Church as part of the parable, in that she manages the Gospel-net, spoils the comparison, is really fatal to this too-exclusive interpretation. In fact, it ignores Jesus own explanation that the fishermen who separate the fish represent the angels, who, it may be supposed, superintend the entire operation, (See below on angels, Mat. 13:49.)

Also his interpretation of ek as exclusively partitive in the sense of some of every kind, as if Jesus did not mean ALL of every kind, too arbitrarily sets aside the significant class of uses of ek denoting the origin, family, race, city, people, etc., from which someone or something comes, hence, the kind to which he belongs. The idea of each fishs belonging to a kind, here, completely overshadows the idea of its separation from the group of his own kind. The attentive reader will notice that the translators have rightly added, not (some) of every kind, but (fish) of every kind.

2.

He refers, rather, to the Rule of God over the world. The net, in this case, is not the visible Church in the world nor the mixed catch its true and false members. The net is the invincible power of the Kingdom of God itself. The sea is the world in which the net begins almost invisibly to exert its influence. Gradually, almost imperceptibly, but ever more certainly the Rule of God closes in on humanity bringing men ever closer to judgment. This interpretation has the advantage of including the former, in the sense that the Church and its Gospel are subsumed under the prejudgment activities of that portion of humanity under Gods dominion that, in the end, will be declared righteous. It is, in fact, the Churchs proclamation of the Gospel that makes good men good, and prepared for that happy conclusion prepared for them. Nevertheless, this is but one aspect of Gods Kingdom, and must not be made to overshadow what God is doing to tighten His grip on the greater majority of mankind which rejects His benign rule and so will be rejected. (Cf. Mat. 7:13-14)

It is a fact that while the net is yet in the sea, the quality of character of its catch is yet unknown, since the fish are still free to swim around in its ever smaller radius. What they are is hidden from view until the haul is brought out onto the bank. Is this, too, part of Jesus thought? If so, it is perfectly parallel with the striking similarity between the wheat and the tares in the companion parable. In fact, it is not until judgment that the formerly invisible distinctions in men come to light. So long as men are left together until judgment, for the present, at least, it often appears to make little difference whether a man sees the truth and goes all out to possess it. The big fish gobble the small fry, the rich get richer and the poor get trampled. It becomes an especially strong temptation to play the fool and say that truth and righteousness do not matter. (Study Psalms 73 : Asaph felt this keenly.) But after the time together, the great separation will reveal what had so often been hidden before, i.e., the chasmic difference in the final destiny of men who saw, understood and made the rule of God their own, and that of those who did not.

Mat. 13:48 They sat down and gathered the good into vessels. This refers to nothing other than what, in other descriptive expressions, is termed the granary for the wheat (Mat. 13:30; Mat. 3:12), the many dwelling places (Joh. 14:2), the bosom of Abraham (Luk. 16:22), eternal habitations (Luk. 16:9), the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God (Heb. 11:10), a homeland; a better, heavenly country; a city (Heb. 11:14-16).

Mat. 13:49-50 This is practically a repetition of Mat. 13:39-42 on which see notes.

The angels shall come forth. How could Jesus have affirmed the express activities of angels, if such beings did not exist? The skeptics who see in His teaching nothing more than accommodation to the traditional superstitions then current among the Jews will have to give this same down-grading to a wide range of situations in which He affirms their certain existence and activity. (Cf. Mat. 16:26; Mat. 18:10; Mat. 22:30; Mat. 24:31; Mat. 24:36; Mat. 25:31; Mat. 25:41; Mat. 26:53) Their reality stands (or falls) on the same basis as anything else about whose existence we cannot know otherwise than because He tells us. These heavenly ministers of God will proceed to do what His earthly ministers dare not begin: they carry out the actual work of severing the wicked from among the righteous. (Cf. Mat. 13:30) The great, fundamental concept of Gods Kingdom pictured in this illustration is the final and full realization of its holiness. The Kingdom may be temporarily forced to tolerate the existence of the moral uncleanness and vileness forced upon it by its self-chosen commitment to use every means available to bring about the conversion to Christ of unclean, vile men. But this temporary, longsuffering toleration must never be mistaken for the final goal or confused for secret compromise with evil, for the threatened separation WILL come.

This parable, like that about the tares, is Jesus simple, unphilosophical revelation about Gods ultimate answer to the problem of pain and evil in the world. Since the fundamental assumption is that the world is Gods domain, this illustration deals with all evil in the Kingdom: God is neither powerless nor unconcerned about these seemingly insurmountable problems. In fact, Jesus is here shouting for all to hear that Gods mercy and longsuffering gives sinners thousands of opportunities to know the truth and change before the net gets to shore. But it is also abundantly clear that God shall have the last word. The Lord SHALL judge His people, bringing all the present confusion to an end by separating the precious from the worthless and vile. (Cf. Psa. 1:5; Heb. 10:30; Mat. 25:32; Mat. 13:39 ff)

Furnace of fire is a picture of horrible suffering, arising perhaps from some terrible historical realities like Nebuchadnezzers burning fiery furnace (Dan. 3:6) developed into a figure of Gehenna contrasted with Paradise in later Judaism. (Cf. IV Ezra 7 :36) See Notes on Mat. 13:42; Mat. 3:12; Mat. 8:12.

AN INTERESTING COINCIDENCE?

The prophet Habakkuk, inspired to prophesy the horror-provoking Babylonian invasion of Israel, and shocked by the ruthlessness and violence of those pagans rolling over the people of God, felt driven to protest. In his complaint against this apparent injustice his prayer took the form of a comparison:
Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One?

We shall not die.

O Lord, thou hast ordained them as a judgment;

and thou, O Rock, hast established them for chastisement.

Thou who art of purer eyes than to behold evil

and canst not look on wrong,

Why dost thou look on faithless men,

and art silent when the wicked swallows up
the man more righteous than he?

For thou makest men like the fish of the sea,

like crawling things that have no ruler.

He (the Chaldean) brings all of them up with a hook,

he drags them out with his net,

He gathers them in his seine;

so he rejoices and exults.

Therefore he sacrifices to his net

and burns incense to his seine;

for by them he lives in luxury,

and his food is rich.

Is he then to keep on emptying his net,

and mercilessly slaying nations for ever? (Hab. 1:12-17)

To the prophet the Kingdom of God was being twisted all out of shape. The victory of evil over good was too real, screwing mens faith down to the very limits of endurance. Nevertheless, Gods response to his perplexity demanded that he live by his faith. (Hab. 2:4)

Foreseeing that godly men would ever be perplexed by the apparent weakness and failure of the Kingdom of God, as they judge its progress in a chaotic world before the appointed time for judgment, did Jesus just take Habakkuks illustration of the net and turn it right side out? The real net is not in the hands of evil men or godless empires endlessly gobbling up defenseless people, good and bad alike. The true seine is in the hands of the living God whose government slowly, solemnly draws all men closer into His control, some to their everlasting destruction, others to the eternal life of God itself. And Jesus Parable of the Dragnet, like Gods answer to Habakkuk, while revealing the final victory of Jehovah, demands that the believer bow in humble submission to His rule, even if he does not understand it all nor can see the outcome on the horizon.

FACT QUESTIONS

1.

In what way is the Parable of the Dragnet similar to the Parable of the Tares? List the various points of resemblance.

2.

Summarize in one sharply pointed sentence the teaching of this story.

3.

Describe the net used by Jesus to create this illustration and then indicate the way it is used in fishing.

4.

Explain how this parable illustrates the Kingdom of God.

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(47) The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net.The net in this case is not the hand-net of Mat. 4:18, but the sagen, or great drag-net, which drew in a larger haul of fishes. The days teaching in the method of parables ends, as it were, in an easy lesson, which the former experience of the disciples would enable them to understand. Still, as in the parable of the Tares, the main thoughts are, (1) the mingling of the evil with the good in the visible kingdom of Christ on earth, and (2) the ultimate separation of the two, that each may receive according to the divine law of retribution. Here, as there, the parable perforce passes over the fact that in the actual work of the kingdom the very casting of the net may change, and is meant to change, the nature of the fish that are taken in its meshes, and, therefore, that those that remain bad are so in the end by the result of their own will.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

SEVENTH PARABLE The Fish Net, 47-49.

The net is the Gospel dispensation. The fish are the members of the Church; the fishermen are the divine agencies. The good fish are the true; the bad, the false professors of Christianity.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

47. Net The drag net, which sweeps the bottom of the fish pool. It is extended far into the sea, corked at the upper edge and loaded at the bottom, so as to intercept the fishes at the entire depth. The ends are then brought together so as to encompass them, and the whole are drawn in. Every kind Men of every rank, class, nation, and colour obtain places in the comprehension of the Gospel.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

“Again, the kingly rule of heaven is like to a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind, which, when it was filled, they drew up on the beach; and they sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but the bad they cast away.”

The dragnet would be flung from a boat and be dragged along by the boat, or by two boats working together, being designed to form a cone so that it could then enclose any fish caught within it. It would gather many types of fish without discrimination. In this case it was manoeuvred by angels, and when it was filled it was brought ashore, and then the fish within it were divided up between what was useful and edible, and what was rubbish, or ritually forbidden. The edible fish were put into vessels for carrying away to the market. They were the harvest. The ‘bad’ fish were seemingly thrown onto fires on the beach, or possibly were simply tossed back into the sea. Thus it is a picture of the final judgment.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The Parable of the Dragnet (13:47-49).

This parable parallels that of the good and the bad seed, the wheat and the darnel (Mat 13:24-30). But whereas in the explanation of the first parable there is a period of activity followed by a final emphasis on the glory that awaits those who are in the Kingly Rule of Heaven (Mat 13:43), the emphasis in this parable is on the final acts of angels in judgment and on the fire that awaits those who are not in the Kingly Rule of Heaven (Mat 13:50), and will therefore face that judgment. Both include the awful fact of judgment described in similar ways (Mat 13:42; Mat 13:50), and both include the idea of the vindication and blessing of the righteous (Mat 13:43; Mat 13:48), but the emphases are in different places. There the emphasis was on the blessing of the righteous, here, though the righteous are gathered into vessels, the emphasis is on the punishment of the evil. In a similar way the blessings on the righteous are the more contained in the first part of Matthew (Mat 5:3-9) and the woes on the unrighteous come in the second part of Matthew (Mat 13:23).

a “Again, the kingly rule of heaven is like to a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind” (Mat 13:47).

b “Which, when it was filled, they drew up on the beach, and they sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but the bad they cast away” (Mat 13:48).

b “So will it be in the end of the world (age), the angels will come forth, and sever the evil from among the righteous” (Mat 13:49 a).

a “And will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth” (Mat 13:49 b).

Note that in ‘a’ the net is cast into the sea, and in the parallel the evil are cast into the fire. In ‘b’ the fish are divided up, and in the parallel the wicked are severed from among the righteous.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Parable of the net:

v. 47. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind;

v. 48. which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.

v. 49. So shall it be at the end of the world: The angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just,

v. 50. and shall cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

This parable offers a picture with which the disciples were very familiar. A large net, as used for deep-sea fishing, is cast into the sea and compasses a great number of fish of various kinds, good and bad, edible and unwholesome. Although the entire net full is drawn to the shore, the value of the catch is in the good fish, the rest being separated by a careful sorting and thrown away. They are not really counted as belonging to the catch. The kingdom of heaven, in the form in which it appears here on earth, is like such a net. The working of the Gospel-preaching results in an outward collection of such as are really members of the Kingdom and such as merely bear the semblance of such membership, but have not accepted the Gospel. The latter add to the bulk, but do not belong to the essence. On the last day the separation will take place, and the sorting will result in the eternal condemnation of those that were merely feigning membership, who care nothing for faith and salvation.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

Mat 13:47-50. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net This parable intimates, that by the preaching of the Gospel a visible church should be gathered on earth, consistingboth of good and bad men, mingled in such a manner, that it would be difficult to make a proper distinction between them; but that at the end of the world the bad shall be separated from the good, and cast into hell; which the parable represents under the image of casting them into the furnace of fire, because that was the most terrible punishment known in the Eastern countries. See Dan 3:6. This parable will appear peculiarly proper, if we consider that it was spoken to fishermen, who had been called from their employments with a promise that they should catch men. Ch. Mat 4:19. It differs from the parable of the tares in its extent, representing the final state and judgment of wicked men in general; whereas that of the tares describes more particularly the miserable end of hypocrites and apostates. The word , rendered bad, Mat 13:48 generally signifies corrupt or putrid, and seems an allusion to the drawing up of some dead fish in the net with the living. It has been observed, that this in the strongest terms represents the hopeless state of sinners at last. See Herbery’s Discourse of future Punishment.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Mat 13:47 ff. For , see note on Act 27:39 .

and ] the good, i.e . the good fish, such as were fit for use, and the putrid ones (comp. note on Mat 7:17 ), which, already dead and putrefying, are yet enclosed in the (large drag-net, Luc. Pisc . 51, Tim . 22; Plut. de solert. an . p. 977 F) along with the others. The men took them out of the net ( ) and cast them away.

The aorists in Mat 13:47-48 are to be understood in a historical sense, not as expressing what was the practice, but merely as narrating what took place on the occasion, just as in Mat 13:44-46 .

Observe further, that the net encloses fish of every , i.e . of every species (that is, according to the literal meaning, out of every nation); yet no , as such, is cast away, but only the putrid fish belonging to each , and that not before the end of the world (in answer to the whole Donatist view).

Mat 13:50 . Closing refrain, as in Mat 13:42 .

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

DISCOURSE: 1366
THE NET

Mat 13:47-50. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: which, when it urns full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

MEN are forcibly impressed by similes taken from things with which they are well acquainted. Hence the various parables are suited to those classes of the community, who are conversant in the occupations to which they relate. The greater part of them refer to the different employments of husbandry, because our Lord sojourned chiefly among persons engaged in agricultural pursuits. But he was also frequently called to instruct fishermen; to whose more immediate use he adapted the parable before us.
In order to elucidate the text we observe that,

I.

variety of persons are gathered by the Gospel into the visible Church

The Gospel is preached promiscuously to all
[When a net is cast into the sea, the fisherman knows not what success he shall have: he may toil all the night and catch nothing; or may inclose a number that can with difficulty be drawn to shore [Note: Luk 5:5-6.]. However skilful he may be in his trade, he is dependent wholly on the good providence of God.

Thus the Gospel is published to all without any respect of persons. Nor can the preachers of it command success: if Paul or Apollos labour, it is God alone that can render their endeavours effectual to the salvation of men [Note: 1Co 3:7.].]

There are however many, for the most part, brought by means of it to a profession of religion
[Where nothing but morality is preached, the people all remain stupid and unconcerned about their souls: but where Christ is truly exalted, some will feel the constraining influence of the word [Note: Jer 23:22.], and he drawn out of the vain world to an attendance on the duties of religion. But of these there will be various kinds: some will go no further than the mere form of godliness [Note: 2Ti 3:5.]; others will seem to enjoy somewhat of its life and power, while in reality they have no stability in the ways of God [Note: ver. 20, 21.], or, though they persevere in their profession of religion, they do not walk worthy of their high calling [Note: ver. 22.] There will be others, however, who are truly upright before God, and who adorn the Gospel of God our Saviour in all things.

All these persons will be collected into a visible Church; all will profess an attachment to the Gospel: and all will feel some kind of confidence respecting their final acceptance before God.]
But,

II.

Of those that are so gathered, there will be an awful separation in the day of judgment

Fishermen will not encumber themselves with fishes that are worthless; nor will God receive to himself all that are gathered by the Gospel.
There will be a separation made in the day of judgment
[God makes use of men to collect persons into the visible Church; but he will employ angels as his agents to separate the bad from the good. Nor will they, when action under the direction of the Most High, be liable to the smallest error. They will see with one glance of their eye, who have been justified in Christ Jesus, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. No fisherman can distinguish between the most different sorts of fish more clearly than the angels will, between the weakest of the saints, and the most refined of hypocrites. Not one that is truly good, shall be cast away; nor one that is really bad, be preserved.]
That separation will be inexpressibly awful
[Here the parable was inadequate to convey the truth; and therefore our Lord added a further explanation of it. Fishes that are cast away suffer no otherwise than in meeting death a little sooner than those that are reserved in vessels. But it is not thus with souls that are cast away; for they shall be cast into a furnace of fire, where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth for ever O fearful end! how inconceivably different from that of those who shall be treasured up in vessels as meet for their Masters use! ]

Infer,
1.

How diligently should we attend the ordinances of the Gospel!

[Ministers are made fishers of men; and their one employment is to catch men [Note: Mat 4:19. Luk 5:10.]. (This, my brethren, is the office which I am executing for God at this very moment: I am labouring to catch your souls for God.) Now it is in the ordinances that they go forth to cast their net: and if persons do not attend the ordinances, there is no probability of their ever being drawn to God [Note: Rom 10:17.]. Let not any trifling matters then be suffered to detain us from the house of God; for we cannot tell the precise time at which God has designed to enclose us in his net. And what a loss should we sustain, if through absence we deprived ourselves of that benefit! Let us then not only come to the house of God, but beg him to instruct his servants how to cast the net in the most advantageous manner [Note: Joh 21:6.], benefit, and for his glory.]

2.

How careful should we be not to rest in an unsound profession of religion!

[It is not every one that is gathered by the Gospel, that shall enjoy its saving benefits. Many there are who approve of the truth, and take pleasure in hearing it proclaimed [Note: Eze 33:31-32.], who yet shall never enter into the kingdom of heaven. Let all then judge themselves by the marks exhibited in the Holy Scriptures. Let them inquire whether, if the separation were at this instant to be made, they should be found amongst the good or the bad, among those that are truly alive to God, or those who, though they have a name to live, are really dead before God [Note: Rev 3:1.]. Let it be remembered that the net is now spread, and that we are now enclosed in it; and, though we do not immediately perceive it, the net is at this moment drawing to shore. My dear brethren, I tremble to think how many of us will ere long be irrecoverably cast into a furnace of fire, and with what bitter wailings, and self-condemning gnashing of their teeth, they will look back upon the warnings they have despised, and the opportunities they have lost. Speedily, speedily will the scrutiny be made; and then the final separation. May God of his infinite mercy prepare us all for that awful day, by renewing our natures, and accepting us in his beloved Son; that so we may be numbered with the good, and be approved of our God for ever and ever!]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

Chapter 56

A Double Aspect of the Kingdom

Mat 13:33 , Mat 13:47-50

Let me try to reveal the kingdom of heaven today under two aspects. It has already come before us under the image of the sower, the parable of the tares, the grain of mustard seed, the treasure hid in a field, the pearl of great price by this time surely we ought to be well acquainted with this kingdom of heaven, yet it is the eternal mystery as surely as it is the eternal revelation. Jesus Christ now gives us two more opportunities of knowing still more clearly what his great kingdom is. He condescends to paint two more pictures, a woman hiding leaven in three measures of meal, and a man casting a net into the sea.

“The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.” It follows then that the kingdom of heaven, like all other truth, is penetrating in its influence. It goes forward to its work little by little: it never rests it cannot rest until it has covered the whole space of its opportunity. It can never give in all things must go down before it, not violently, but certainly. No great or true idea can be in the human mind without penetrating that mind through and through, and passing on to other minds and completing the same subduing process there.

Not only is it penetrating, but it is gradual in its process and advancement. Great ideas do not seize the mind all at once and rule it with undisputed domination. One by one, little by little, a man here and a man there such is the rule of this gradualness. But it never goes back, though appearances may seem sometimes to indicate the contrary. The movement of truth is always forward. The truth was never so fully, broadly, and benignly established in the human mind as it is this day. You can quote a thousand instances to indicate the badness of the race, its love of error and its pursuit of corruption, and every instance that is quoted may be perfectly right, within its own limits. Nevertheless the kingdom moves, the penetrating influence gradually asserts itself. How long will it continue to assert itself? Till the whole is leavened. The time is fixed in the parable, the date is here marked down in plain figures, if we have eyes to read it. This is a dated promise, and the date is “till the whole is leavened.”

Have we any parallels in our own life that will enable us to seize, more completely, the gracious and generous meaning of this parable? We have a parallel, certainly, in the education of the mind. No mind is educated in one day: education is not something thrust upon a man which he can seize in a moment and make his own without a long transaction. You cannot tell how you were educated: there is no specific day in our human life upon which we can say we were then educated, in any complete or final sense of the term. We may have vivid memories of certain days, but education is not a day’s work, it is not a time work, it is an eternal process. How the light came upon the mind, how the new idea seemed to strike us with instancy and startling suddenness yet when we came carefully to look into it we found that it was the culminating point of a long process, and that but for the process the culmination never could have supervened. Watch your child’s progress in letters, and it will be impossible for you to indicate any time at which he became a scholar. Jesus Christ says, “Just the same in my kingdom: it is not one sermon, one book, one act of prayer, but the repetition of many a process through the whole space of the lifetime. It is not one shower that makes the summer, it is shower upon shower, baptism following baptism in gracious intermission and yet in gracious persistency.” It is thus we grow.

We have a parallel not only in education, but in the deepening and ripening of all great convictions. If you will search into the history of your mind, you will find that some of your convictions have taken a long time to form: there were prejudices to be overcome, there were defects to be made up, there was information to be gained, there were experiments to be conducted for a long time you wondered and hesitated, you oscillated between two opposite points, you knew not to which point you would at last gravitate and where you would “finally” settle, and yet there did come a point in your thinking and deliberation at which you said, “This is right, I see it at length, and for ever I will take my stand here.”

It was so in your appreciation of character, it was so in your decisions of a literary and commercial kind, it was so in the election of your companionships, it was so in the change of your most profound and solemn opinions; it was so, too, in that grandest act of life for which there is no better term than the old word conversion. You remember your being converted, turned round, set in a homeward direction, taken from the wrong road, and placed in the right one: without cant or whine or mocking pretence, you are not ashamed to say that you were converted.

You have a parallel also in the formation of character. No man makes a character in a day. He may destroy a character in a moment, but it takes a lifetime to build one. Many of you are in the time of blossom and of promise, but not of character. Many who now hear me are young, and they, as we say, shape well, but we do not pronounce anything like a final judgment upon them at this time. No young man can have such a character as is possible to old age if that old age has been reached by the right processes. It would be impertinence for thirty to compare itself with sixty or with seventy, if on the part of the elder there has been a lifelong endeavour after truth and purity and perfectness.

“Till the whole was leavened.” Do not say that the right leaven is not in us because the end has not been reached. Judge nothing before the time. You complain of the unripeness and unmellowness, the superficiality of many a young character, and the incompleteness and imperfectness of many a young career. Consider and see how foolish you are in pronouncing such judgment. The leaven may just have been hid in the three measures of meal: the leaven has not yet had time to work: the leaven has been in you for half a century, but it has only been in your son for half a month or half a year it would therefore be unwise on your part to condemn the young because of their imperfectness, incompleteness, immaturity. It is right for youth to be imperfect, but for you at your ripe seventy to be as childish, foolish, worldly as the youth of twenty, that would be double crime, redoubled, multiplied by many an aggravation, and carried up to a point of black blasphemy against every law of growth and right and divinity.

Whilst I thus speak a word on your behalf, young hearers and young Christians, understand that you owe my defensive advocacy wholly to the fact that you are young. That which applies to you today will have no application whatever in twenty years. Then some other preacher must defend some other generation. Do not interrupt the working of this good ministry in your hearts: do not imagine that that ministry has completed itself in your life; you will expose yourself to just and bitter taunting if you give your elders the idea that the leaven of the gospel has worked out its whole influence in your spirit and career at a time when it has just begun to move in penetrating and subduing influence.

The kingdom of heaven is not only penetrating and gradual, it is silent in its ministry. The leaven makes no noise, it works quietly. Do not measure progress by violence: the kingdom of heaven cometh not with observation. There is a subtle as well as an ostentatious working. You have got to learn the full scope and value of this most simple fact. A vulgar age talks as if aggressiveness had but one form and one method only as we are making a noise, organising great bodies and forces, publishing programmes in blood-red ink and beating a thousand drums; it is thought that we are making no announcement. My symbol of progress is neither a hammer nor a sword, it is the shining light, the growing seed, the coming summer: no crash of wheels, no blare of trumpets, no fluttering of banners driven by the wind, but silent, solemn, irresistible day, spreading its conquering light over all the spaces of darkness, awaking all living things to labour and to song, and leaving behind it a benediction that shall be no burden. Fussy, fussing little man, trumpeter and drummer, and gifted with making nothing but noises, learn from thy great parabolical Master this day that the kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened a penetrating, gradual, secret, silent process, but a process that never ended till the work was done.

On the other hand, let no man mistake the parable, and by a mischievous perversion of its teaching cover his own indifference and neglect. Do not say that you are silent because there is no virtue in silence itself; you must not be silent only, but penetrating, progressive. Not only is the figure negative, it is positive; quietness may be taken as the negative side, but penetration is the active and positive aspect.

What about your kingdom of heaven is it a thing locked up in a safe, well shut in, deposited within an inner door, on which you turn twenty cunningly-formed keys? It is a kingdom, mayhap, but it is not the kingdom of heaven, it is not the divine thought, it is not the life that cometh down from heaven; that life is not demonstrative, ostentatious, aggressive in any offensive sense of the term, but it is penetrating, subtle in its influence, always moving, always conquering, never resting till the whole is leavened. Be such influence yours and mine.

Take the next parable for one moment: “The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea and gathered of every kind.” There was nothing discriminating in the net itself. The Church is a net that holds all sorts of people. Have we no parallels to this idea in our own courses of imperial, civil, and social action? Truly we have a thousand parallels. The kingdom of patriotism is like unto a net that was cast into the sea and gathered of every kind. Do you suppose that all who have gathered themselves together in the people’s House of Parliament are patriots of the divine sort, men who have no ulterior object of a selfish kind, men who have spent thousands upon thousands of pounds to go into Parliament, that they might die as pure martyrs on the altar of their country? Are you no further advanced in your study of human nature than to believe such to be the case? The House of Commons is as a net cast into the sea that has gathered of every kind. There are in all Houses of Parliament, all over the world, noble men, high-spirited patriots, incorruptible spirits that devote themselves to the noblest interests of their country; there are others who, perhaps, were never moved by a noble impulse in any direction, and to whom the country is nothing but a gigantic money-producing machine. Shall we, therefore, revile patriotism, and run down great national institutions, and hurl indiscriminating epithets against forms of civilisation to which we owe so much? It would be not only unwise and rash, but unjust and inexcusable.

The kingdom of philanthropy is also like a net cast into the sea, and which gathered of every kind. Do you suppose that all persons who wear the name of philanthropists are philanthropic in heart? There are men who make a trade of philanthropy; there are those who live upon the charitable dispositions of others; there are men who coin the tears of sympathy into wealth for their own using. On the other hand, there are philanthropists without whom the world would be poor, who have great, broad, soft hands that lay upon the world’s weakness a grip that helps it, and that give to the world’s poverty donations which make it forget its destitution. But because there are all sorts of persons in the kingdom of philanthropy shall we say that there is no philanthropy of a pure and noble sort? He would be a foolish and an unjust man who would bring any such wild accusation against the philanthropic spirit of the age.

Then, again, the kingdom of general society is like a net cast into the sea, which gathered of every kind. When your house-parties gather, do you suppose that every man in the little crowd is a friend of yours, sincere, true, genuine, disinterested? You are not so weak. Do you judge men wholly by their clothes because they have respectable coats, have they therefore respectable characters? Because they have had good schooling in the head, have they had a thorough education in the heart? You know the answer to these searching inquiries. Shall we, therefore; go round and condemn society, and regard all fellowship and communion as an organised lie? We shall stoop to no such folly.

It was inevitable that the kingdom of heaven should draw within itself every kind. The Church has its bad members as well as its good ones. I do not wonder the Church is an excellent lodging. To be in the Church is to look well; to have a pew in church is to begin on the right list; to make a profession of the most popular religion is, at all events, to have a card of introduction to very large sections of honourable society. Shall we, therefore, say there is no kingdom of heaven because of the insincere, the unworthy, and the hypocritical? You would not allow me to say so about patriotism, philanthropy, and social institutions, and therefore, faithful to your own wise reasoning, I must protest against any man’s arising to bring a wild and indiscriminating accusation against what is known as the Christian Church.

Observe, Christ does not hide the fact of a mixture. Christ never hides any ugly facts; Christ makes more of his own failures than any other man could make of them. He cries over them, he drenches them with tears, he lifts up his voice and fills the whole space of the firmament with his moan. He acknowledges that he would, but the cities would not. You will observe, also, that the bad is a testimony and compliment to the good. The children of this world are not unwise in their generation. They know where to cross the stream, they know the best form and attitude to assume in order to attract the friendly attention of the world; they are learned men in their own policies and methods, and if some of them have counterfeited the metal, it was because it was the metal of heaven that it was counterfeited.

And observe that the bad do not succeed in hiding themselves. There is no impenetrable secrecy in character. Every bad fish was found in the net and cast out. We may be in the visible church and not in the invisible. The Church is a mystical body. Not who was baptized with water, but who has been baptized with fire, is the deciding question. Not who preached with infinite eloquence, but who lived with blameless consistency, is the determining, penetrating question. Not who professed, but who carried out, will be the rule of judgment. But observe and here with a sharp knife I cut off the pleasures of a thousand clitics it was the angels that had to perform the work of discrimination and separation, and not the fellow-members of the Church. It was not the good fish that expelled the bad; the angels came forth and severed the wicked from among the just. So shall it be at the end of the age, so shall it be with the tares and the wheat. The question was, “Shall we go and root out the tares?” and the answer was, “No, lest in pulling up the tares ye pull up the wheat also.” It is not my business to find out your badness; it is not your business to find out my corruption. When one or the other becomes so exposed and evident and mischievous as to admit of no dispute and no palliation, I say not that action may not be taken under such conclusive circumstances; but when the question is one of difficulty the decision should be one of charity. I would expel no man unless driven to it by evidence that not only convinced me, but that blinded me by its dazzling light. And why not expel any human soul? Because the good may be larger than the bad in that very soul. It would be easy for me to condemn any man who practises a sin for which I have no liking but what of my own sin? Who are we that we shall judge one another, except nobly and hopefully? We shall be much deceived and disappointed in so doing; still it may be better to be disappointed and deceived in large applications of charitable criticism than to be confirmed, and to have our judgment approved, by some narrow, selfish, unworthy judgment.

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:

Ver. 47. Again the kingdom, &c. ] Christ is an incessant teacher: learn then, for shame, lest he turn us off for non-proficients. Let one sermon peg in another; and every second potion set the first to work.

Is like unto a net, &c. ] An elegant comparison, wherein the fishers are the ministers, the sea the world, the net the word, the ship the church the fishes the hearers. Basil, comparing the gospel to a net, makes fear to be the lead that sinketh it, and keeps it steady; and hope to be the cork, which keepeth it always above water. Without the lead of fear, saith he, it would be carried hither and thither; as without the cork of hope, it would utterly sink down.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

47 52. ] SEVENTH PARABLE. THE DRAW-NET. Peculiar to Matthew .

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

47. ] is a drag, or draw-net , drawn over the bottom of the water, and permitting nothing to escape it. The leading idea of this parable is the ultimate separation of the holy and unholy in the Church, with a view to the selection of the former for the master’s use. We may notice that the fishermen are kept out of view and never mentioned: the comparison not extending to them. A net is cast into the sea and gathers of every kind (of fish: not of things , as mud, weeds, &c., as Stier supposes); when this is full, it is drawn to shore, and the good collected into vessels, while the bad (the legally unclean, those out of season, those putrid or maimed) are cast away. This net is the Church gathering from the sea (a common Scripture similitude for nations: see Rev 17:15 ; Isa 8:7 ; Psa 65:7 ) of the world, all kinds (see Rev 7:9 ); and when it is full, it is drawn to the bank (the limit of the ocean, as the is the limit of the ), and the angels (not the same as the fishers, as Olshausen maintains; for in the parable of the tares the servants and reapers are clearly distinguished) shall gather out the wicked from among the just, and cast them into everlasting punishment. It is plain that the comparison must not be strained beyond its limits, as our Lord shews us that the earthly here gives but a faint outline of the heavenly. Compare the mere of the one, with the fearful antitype of Mat 13:49-50 . On . . . see note on ch. Mat 8:12 .

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Mat 13:47-50 . The Net . , vide on Mat 4:21 . .: a matter of course, not intended but inevitable; large movements influence all sorts of people.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat 13:47-50

47″Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind; 48and 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. 49So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, 50and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Mat 13:47-50 The parable of the dragnet is unique to Matthew. Its meaning is similar to the parable of the tares, which is that there will be an end-time separation of the believers and unbelievers (cf. Mat 25:31-46).

Mat 13:48 This verse describes the end time division of people based on their response to Jesus and the gospel (cf. Mat 25:31-46; Rev 20:11-15).

Mat 13:49 “at the end of the age” The Jews viewed reality as two ages: the current evil age and the age to come (see Special Topic at Mat 12:31). They believed that God would empower a human leader to inaugurate the new age by force. From the New Testament we now know these ages have overlapped, from Incarnation at Bethlehem to the Second Coming. This verse speaks of eschatological judgment (cf. Mat 25:31-46; Revelation 20).

Mat 13:50 “and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” See Mat 13:30; Mat 13:42; Mat 13:50; Mat 8:12; Mat 25:31 ff. Jesus often spoke of Hell!

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

a net = a drag-net, or seine. Greek. sagene. Occurs only here.

of = out of. Greek. ek. App-104.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

47-52.] SEVENTH PARABLE. THE DRAW-NET. Peculiar to Matthew.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Mat 13:47. , of every hind) See Joh 21:11, and Gnomon thereon.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Chapter 31

The Dragnet and the Householder

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord. Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.

(Mat 13:47-52)

Matthew 13 contains the parables of the kingdom. Each parable is intended to convey a single specific spiritual truth. They are earthly illustrations of spiritual things, of things relating to the kingdom of heaven, that kingdom into which sinners are born when they are born again by God the Holy Spirit.

The parable of the sower (Mat 13:3-23) illustrates the various effects the preaching of the gospel has upon those who hear it.

The parable of the wheat and the tares (Mat 13:24-30; Mat 13:37-43) illustrates the fact that Gods visible church is a mixed multitude in this world, true believers and carnal professors.

The parable of the mustard seed (Mat 13:31-32) is a picture of faith, beginning as a very small thing, but growing into a strong and fruitful grace.

The parable of the leaven hidden in meal (Mat 13:33) portrays the gradual spread and influence of the gospel, both in the hearts and lives of Gods elect and in the world.

The parable of the treasure hidden in a field (Mat 13:44) illustrates the love of Christ for his church, his elect bride.

The parable of the pearl of great price (Mat 13:45-46) displays the love of every believer for the Lord Jesus Christ Unto you therefore which believe, he is precious!

The last two of the eight parables of the kingdom given in this chapter illustrate the separation and judgment of unbelievers from the saints of God and the responsibility of Gods servants in the work of the gospel ministry.

The parable of the dragnet (Mat 13:47-50) is a warning of judgment, illustrating the separation of the wicked from Gods elect and their everlasting destruction in the day of judgment.

The parable of the householder (Mat 13:51-52) shows us what Gods servants are responsible to do as the ministers of Christ and stewards of the gospel.

The Dragnet

First, in Mat 13:47-50 our Lord declares the parable of the dragnet.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. (Mat 13:47-50)

In this parable, our Savior warns us that things will not always continue as they now are. Soon the kingdom of heaven will be full, the church of God will be complete, and there will be a day of judgment in which God will forever separate the righteous from the wicked. This parable is intended to be a warning to all men of the certainty of Gods wrath and of the day of judgment.

To illustrate Gods judgment our Lord used an activity which all who heard him would surely understand Fishing. It was a common, everyday activity around the Sea of Galilee. There were three basic methods of fishing employed in that day, just as there are today. A line and a hook were used to catch one fish at a time. That is the kind of fishing the Lord sent Peter to do when money was needed to pay taxes (Mat 17:24-27). One man fishing by himself might use a one-man casting net. Peter and his brother Andrew were taking turns casting this kind of net when the Lord Jesus called them to be fishers of men (Mat 4:18-19). These small nets were used in shallow water. A man would wade out in the water. When a school of fish came near, he would cast the net upon the water. As the nets weights carried it down over the fish, he would draw it together and hall his catch to shore.

The third type of fishing was done by the use of a huge dragnet. A dragnet might be stretched out to cover as much as one half square mile. It required the labor of a team of fishermen. The dragnet was pulled in a giant circle by two boats, or by one boat if one end could be anchored to the shore. Floats were attached to the top of the net and weights to the sides, so that when it was cast, the dragnet formed a huge wall around everything it encompassed. Because the net permitted nothing to escape, it swept everything in its path to shore, fish of every kind, both good and bad. When the net was full, it would be drug to shore by a huge team of men. At the end of the day, they gathered the good fish into containers to carry home or to the market. And the bad fish, they simply discarded with all the useless trash that had been caught in their net. When our Lord said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, the word that he used specifically means dragnet.

Explanation

The fishermen in the parable are gospel preachers. The sea is the world. The net is the gospel we preach. The ship into which the fish are gathered is the church of God. The good fish are true believers. The bad fish are the false professors. The time of separation is the end of the world.

The preaching of the gospel is the means of gathering souls to Christ, and into his churches. Those that are gathered into a visible gospel church are of every kind, of all nations in the world, Jews and Gentiles, all ranks and degrees of men, high and low, rich and poor, bond and free, all sorts of sinners, men good and bad. Some have the truth of grace in them. Others, that are only hypocrites,have nothing but a form of godliness, and a name to live, and are dead. (John Gill)

We are to preach the gospel freely and indiscriminately to all men, as God gives us opportunity (Mat 28:18-20; Rom 1:15-16; 2Co 5:18-21). As long as we are in this world the visible church of God will be like the ark that Noah built, containing all kinds of creatures, both clean and unclean.

Three times, in the parable of the sower, in the parable of the wheat and the tares, and again in this parable, our Lord tells us that his church in this world is a mixed congregation. He intends for us to learn and remember this lesson.

Separation

There is a day of separation coming! (Mat 13:49-50). When the fullness of the Gentiles has been brought in, when the last chosen, redeemed sinner has been saved, the Lord Jesus Christ will come again in judgment. In that day he will separate the bad fish from the good (Rom 11:25-26; Rev 20:11-15; Joh 5:28-29; Act 17:31).

Nothing in the Bible is more difficult to accept than the fact of hell. Nothing more difficult to talk or write about. But we cannot ignore it. We must not ignore it. It is clearly and constantly set before us in the Word of God. It was spoken of more often by the Lord Jesus than any other subject. He talked much more about hell and divine judgment than he did about the love of God (Mat 5:22; Mat 5:29-30; Mat 8:12; Mat 11:23; Mat 18:8-9; Mat 23:33; Mar 3:29; Mar 9:43; Luk 10:15; Luk 12:9-10; Luk 12:46; Luke 16:33, Joh 5:29; Joh 15:6).

Hell is not merely the state of forever being separated from all that is good. It is not merely going out into nothingness. I do not pretend to know what hell is. The human mind simply cannot conceive the horrors of hell. Even the biblical representations of hell are only suggestive. Men argue about literal fire in hell. But the fire of Gods wrath is infinitely more horrible than any inferno we ever imagined! No words can describe and no mind can imagine the pain, the agony, the torment of that furnace of fire where there is both weeping and gnashing of teeth forever.

This much is certain. Hell is a place of constant torment, misery, and pain (Mat 22:13; Mar 9:43). The torments of hell will involve both body and soul. It is a place where the worm dieth not (Mar 9:44 Mat 11:22-23; Heb 10:28-29; Luk 12:47-48). John Gerstner wrote, Hell will have such severe degrees that a sinner, were he able, would give the whole world if his sins could be but one less! And hell is forever! It is a state of total, eternal hopelessness (Mat 25:46). John Bunyan wrote, Forever! will be the most tormenting word known in hell! And C. H. Spurgeon said

In hell thou shalt have none but a company of damned souls with an innumerable company of devils to keep company with thee. While thou art in this world the very thought of the devils appearing to thee makes thy flesh to tremble and thine hair ready to stand upright on thy head Oh, what wilt thou do when all the devils of hell be with thee howling, roaring, and screeching in such a hideous manner that thou wilt be even at thy wits end and ready to run stark mad again for anguish and torment? If after ten thousand years an end should come, there would be comfort. But here is thy misery: here thou must be forever!

The Householder

The parable of the householder portrays the great worth and importance of the gospel ministry.

Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord. Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old. (Mat 13:51-52)

The question of Mat 13:52 was put directly to our Lords disciples Have ye understood all these things? While the reference may include all that he had spoken in parables, I think it is best to see this question as referring to what he had spoken immediately before in Mat 13:47-50 regarding the preaching of the gospel, the gathering of sinners to Christ, and the judgment to come.

Understanding these things, a great weight of responsibility is upon the shoulders of every believer and particularly upon the shoulders of all who are scribes in the kingdom, those men who are gifted and called by God as preachers of the gospel (2Co 5:1-21). They are men who have been instructed into the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, the gospel of the grace of God. These men, Gods servants, gospel pastors and preachers, are householders under Christ. They are responsible for the feeding of the family (Act 20:28; Jer 3:15), the rule of the family (Heb 13:7; Heb 13:17), and the care and protection of the family of God (2Ti 4:12-16).

Gospel ministers are deputies and stewards under him, and under him preside over the household, and have the government of it, provide food for it, and protect and defend it; all which require large gifts and abilities, great love and affection, both to Christ and his people; much wisdom, prudence, and knowledge; and great faithfulness and integrity, courage and firmness of mind. (John Gill)

Like a faithful husband and father, who is a good provider for his family, lays up stores for his household, and brings them forth as needed, so the faithful pastor, by diligent labor in study and prayer, lays up good things for the family of God and brings them out as needed for their souls good, comfort, and edification. The treasury from which we bring forth things old and new as they are needed is the Word of God. Every faithful gospel preacher knows that he carries the treasure of the gospel in an earthen vessel (2Co 4:7), and is humbled by the realization of that fact (Eph 3:8). Yet, like Elihu, he is full of the matter (Job 32:19). Like Jeremiah, he cannot forbear (Jer 20:9). Like David, his tongue is the pen of a ready writer (Psa 45:1).

But what does our Lord mean by things new and old? He certainly is not suggesting that the gospel preacher brings forth old doctrines and new. Someone once accurately stated, with regard to doctrine, If it is new it is not true; and if it is true it is not new. By things new and old, our Lord is referring to truths that are old in themselves, but newly made known to and experienced by his servants as they study the Scriptures. To cite Gill again, this refers to every new acquisition of knowledge and experience, added to the former stock and fund. The phrase seems to denote the plenty and variety of Gospel provisions, which the ministers of it are to bring forth, suited to the various cases of such who are under their care.

Some things are laid up to ripen in our hearts to be brought out in due season. Other things, like fresh vegetables gathered from the garden, are best served up immediately. But the faithful man keeps nothing back. He does not confine his provision for the family of God to a single aspect of gospel truth, but sets forth Christ crucified by declaring all the counsel of God. He is neither weary of the old, nor afraid of the new. Old truth is made new by a living experience; and the faithful man brings forth the old, old truths of Holy Scripture as new things, because he has experienced them new in his own soul.

The word new means fresh. Faithful preachers do not serve up leftovers. They diligently seek Gods message for his people, that they might feed them with knowledge and understanding. C. H. Spurgeons comments on Mat 13:52, in my opinion, precisely convey our Lords intent.

We must in our instruction of others cultivate variety, but we must not aim at it by poisoning the children with deadly drugs for the sake of giving them novel dishes. Only things worth putting into a treasury are worth bringing forth to the household. That scribe had need be well instructed who has to keep on handing out a variety of precious truth throughout a long life.

Lord, make us sufficient for these things. Instruct as, that we may instruct our household. May we make no reserve for self, but bring out for thy people all that which thou hast put in our charge. Oh, to be accepted of thee in the day of thy return, because found faithful to our trust!

Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible

the kingdom of heaven

The parable of the Net (Greek – -net) presents another view from that of the wheat and tares of the mysteries of the kingdom as the sphere of profession, but with this difference: there Satan was the active agent; here the admixture is more the result of the tendency of a movement to gather to itself that which is not really of it). The kingdom of heaven is like a net which, cast into the sea of humanity, gathers of every kind, good and bad, and these remain together in the net (Mat 13:49) and not merely in the sea, until the end of the age. It is not even a converted net, much less a converted sea. Infinite violence has been done to sound exegesis by the notion that the world is to be converted in this age. Against that notion stands our Lord’s own interpretation of the parables of the Sower, the Wheat and Tares, and the Net.

Such, then, is the mystery form of the kingdom. (See Scofield “Mat 3:2”). See Scofield “Mat 6:33”. It is the sphere of Christian profession during this age. It is a mingled body of true and false, wheat and tares, good and bad. It is defiled by formalism, doubt, and worldliness. But within it Christ sees the true children of the true kingdom who, at the end, are to “shine forth as the sun.” In the great field, the world, He sees the redeemed of all ages, but especially His hidden Israel, yet to be restored and blessed, Also, in this form of the kingdom, so unlike that which is to be, He sees the Church, His body and bride, and for joy He sells all that He has 2Co 8:9 and buys the field, the treasure, and the pearl.

heaven (See Scofield “Mat 3:2”)

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

a net: Mat 4:19, Mar 1:17, Luk 5:10

and gathered: Mat 13:26-30, Mat 22:9, Mat 22:10, Mat 25:1-4, Luk 14:21-23, Joh 15:2, Joh 15:6, Act 5:1-10, Act 8:18-22, Act 20:30, 1Co 5:1-6, 1Co 10:1-12, 1Co 11:19, 2Co 11:13-15, 2Co 11:26, 2Co 12:20, 2Co 12:21, Gal 2:4, 2Ti 3:2-5, 2Ti 4:3, 2Ti 4:4, Tit 1:9-11, 2Pe 2:1-3, 2Pe 2:13-22, 1Jo 2:18, 1Jo 2:19, 1Jo 4:1-6, Jud 1:4, Jud 1:5, Rev 3:1, Rev 3:15-17

Reciprocal: Eze 17:23 – under Eze 47:10 – fishers Mat 3:2 – for Mat 4:17 – kingdom Mat 13:24 – The kingdom Mat 18:23 – is Mat 20:1 – the kingdom Mat 25:2 – General Act 10:11 – and a

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

3:47

When a man casts a net into the water he does not know what may be taken because he cannot see the fish until the net is drawn out. Likewise, no man can read the mind of another, and when he offers the Gospel to the world he cannot see the hearts of those who profess to accept it.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Mat 13:47. A net, that was cast into the sea. A drag-net or seine is meant. Appropriate for an audience largely made up of fishermen. The parable resembles that of the tares; that, however, represented the two developments of good and evil, side by side in the world (and in the church); this one is applicable rather to the missionary effort of the Church. The sea is a Scriptural figure for the nations (Rev 17:15; Isa 8:7; Psa 65:7).Gathered of every kind. This predicted result of Christian effort is sufficiently evident at all times.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

The design and scope of this parable also is to set forth the state of the gospel church, which is like a floor, where chaff is mixed with wheat; a field, where tares are mixed with good corn; a net, where bad fishes are involved with the good. As the wheat must not be removed out of the floor before the time of winnowing; nor the tares gathered out of the field before the time of reaping; nor the good fishes break through the net to get from the bad before the time of separation; so must not Christians forsake a church’s communion, because of the present mixture of good and bad in the church. For a mixed communion, in the church, and the good Christians communicating with the bad, do neither defile the ordinances of Christ, nor pollute those that sincerely join in them.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Mat 13:47-50. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, &c. The gospel preached to the world may be compared to a net cast into the sea, and gathering fishes of all kinds. For by the preaching of it congregations are gathered, and a visible church is formed, and both good and bad men are brought to profess themselves members of it, and are mingled together in such a manner, that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to make a proper distinction between them: Christian discipline, however, and strong, close exhortation, in all well-regulated churches, or properly-constituted Christian societies, begin that separation in this world which shall be accomplished by the angels of God in the world to come. This parable will appear peculiarly proper, if we consider that it was spoken to fishermen, who had been called from their employments, with a promise that they should catch men, Mat 4:19. It differs from the parable of the tares in its extent, representing the gathering of wicked men in general into the visible church along with the good, by means of the preaching of the gospel, together with the final judgment and state of the wicked; whereas the parable of the tares represents the introduction and punishment of hypocrites in particular. Macknight.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

13:47 {8} Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:

(8) There are many in the Church who nevertheless are not of the Church, and therefore at length will be cast out: but the full and perfect cleansing of them is deferred to the last day.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

The parable of the dragnet 13:47-48

This parable has a meaning similar to the parable of the weeds (Mat 13:24-30) that is its opposite in the chiastic structure of the discourse. However the focus here is on the judgment at the end of the kingdom rather than the mixed citizens of the kingdom. In both parables there are good and bad elements, believers and unbelievers. Jesus will separate these individuals at the end of His messianic (millennial) reign. They will all fall into one of two categories: the good (believers) or the bad (unbelievers).

The Greek word for dragnet, sagene, occurs only here in the New Testament. It describes a large net fishermen drew to shore between two boats. Sometimes they tied one end to the shore and the other end to a boat. Then they would sweep an area of the lake with it, possible a half mile long, drawing as many fish as possible to the shore with it. [Note: Lenski, p. 547.] Then they would separate the fish that they could sell from those that they could not.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)