Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a fishing net that was thrown into the water and caught fish of every kind. when the net was full, they dragged it up onto the shore, sat down, and sorted the good fish into crates, but threw the bad ones away. That is the way it will be at the end of the world. The angels will come and separate the wicked people from the righteous, throwing the wicked into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Do you understand all these things?”

“Yes,” they replied, “we do.”

Then he added, “Every teacher of religious law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a homeowner who brings from his storeroom new gems of truth as well as old.”

Matthew 13:47-52

In reading through the Matthean parables, there is a recurring theme of a coming separation, a distinction being made between the righteous and the unrighteous, the wicked and the good. Here in chapter 13, Jesus uses this theme several times as he refers to separating the “weeds from the wheat” (verses 24-29; 36-42) and in our focus passage, the “good fish from the bad fish.”

Of at least twenty-four species of fish in the Lake of Galilee, many were unclean or completely inedible. Fishermen’s nets were not able to discriminate the clean from the unclean fish in their catch. So, once the haul was brought in from the sea, the fishermen would have to manually sift through the load and separate the good from the bad, the edible from the inedible.

Jesus is using this parable to illustrate the dividing line that is already in place and will one day be revealed to all, the dividing line on which there will be only two sides: those who are in Christ and those who are not. The Kingdom of God carries a standard by which all of mankind will be measured, and depending on our actions and adherence to the Kingdom’s standards, we will either be categorized among the righteous or “cast away” among the unrighteous.

Mankind is the sea, and the Kingdom of God is the Net. Until the final day, the day when Jesus draws in the Net, He will continue to seek and save the lost. He will continue providing opportunities for people to hear His voice, to respond to His calling, and to accept the gift of eternal life He offers through Jesus’ atonement for our sins on the cross. But, once the Net is gathered in and the separating process is completed, the line of demarcation will be drawn across the world, as well as the church. Those who have never accepted Christ as their Savior will be tossed into the fiery furnace (Hell) where they will spend eternity separated from God. Also, those who professed God with their lips but not with their hearts and lives will find themselves revealed at the final sifting as well. While this parable probably primarily refers to the world, it is not inaccurate to apply it to the church as well, because the same line (The Net, The Kingdom of God) that separates the wicked from the righteous will also ultimately divide Jesus’ true disciples from the merely professing ones. This begs the question for us to consider, “When the four corners of the Net are drawn in and God’s eternal Kingdom is revealed, will we be found among the ‘keepers’ or tossed out among the ‘non-keepers?’”

The time is now for us to decide, for us to be making the wise choice to live our lives for God so we can spend eternity with Him. The Net is not something for us to fear, but rather something to be respected, to be revered, to willingly be caught up in. We should want to be captured by the Kingdom of God, recognizing it as our safe passage to an eternity spent with God, not an encumbrance to be avoid be tangled up in. The Net, God’s Kingdom, is our salvation. It is the vehicle that God created to provide eternal life for His true disciples, His beloved children. This world will one day cease to exist, but God’s Kingdom will last forever. Being in it is our only hope for eternal life and our only guarantee of being found among the righteous when the day of reckoning arrives.

All of humanity will be “caught” by the Net, there is no doubt about that. The only question is, when Jesus reaches in and pulls us out of it, what will He say? Will He say, “This one’s with me for eternity” because of the obedience He sees in our lives, or will He be forced to toss us away from Him because of our rejection of the gift He offered us?

prayer

Jesus, I know there is a day coming when I will face my eternal destiny, a day when I will either enter into the rest and joy that You have prepared for me or the eternal separation and darkness that is prepared for those who don’t know You. I don’t want there to be any doubt that I’ll spend eternity anywhere else but with You, so I want to make the right choices here and now. Father, thank You for the gift of salvation provided to me through Jesus’ death and the blood He shed on the cross for my sins. I confess to You that I am a sinner and that I need Your forgiveness. Thank You for dying for me and for taking the punishment that I deserved. Please come into my life, fill me with Your power, and help me live for You from this day forward. Please help me to make You the first and highest priority in my life and help me grow in my knowledge and understanding of You as I study Your Word, pray, and learn about You from others who love You. Please help me to fulfill Your calling on my life to make sure others who are drawn into the Net will know you too and spend forever with You as well. I love You, Jesus, and I thank You for saving me. In Your name I pray and believe, Amen.