The Parable of the Dragnet

If you'd open up your Bibles to Matthew 13,

children, you're dismissed to go learn

about the building of a wall.

And for the rest of us,

would you open up your Bibles to Matthew 13?

We're going to be looking at one parable this morning.

It's the parable of the net.

Or the parable of the dragnet.

And it's in verses 47-50.

I'm going to read that for us now.

This is God's Word.

This is our Lord Jesus speaking.

Matthew 13, 47.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net

that was thrown into the sea

and gathered fish of every kind.

When it was full,

men drew it ashore and sat down

and sorted the good into containers

but threw away the bad.

Verse 49.

So it will be at the end of the age.

The angels will come out

and separate the evil from the righteous

and throw them into the fiery furnace.

In that place,

there will be weeping

and gnashing of teeth.

When you hear this parable read,

you know intuitively

that judgment is in the air.

that there is a sorting going on

in this parable

that should make us all pause.

On the day of final judgment,

when each of us in this room

and in this city

and on this planet,

when each of us stands

before the risen Christ,

He will judge us for everything

that we have done.

Everything.

Now here's what you're not going to care about

in that moment.

You're not going to care about

having the latest iPhone.

When you're standing before the risen Christ,

you're not going to care about

how many promotions and accolades

you got at work.

When you're standing before the risen Jesus,

it doesn't matter what house you lived in.

It doesn't matter what car you drove.

It doesn't matter what kind of clothes you wore,

the trips you took,

the kind of sex you enjoyed

or the sex you didn't get to enjoy.

It's not going to matter on that day.

It doesn't matter the number of followers

you have on Twitter.

It's not going to matter

how many likes you got on Facebook

on that day.

It won't matter.

Here's what will matter.

There was a former professional athlete

turned missionary.

His name is C.T. Studd.

And he wrote a poem.

I've read it before.

I'll just read you the first two stanzas.

Two little lines I heard one day

traveling along life's busy way,

bringing conviction to my heart

and from my mind would not depart.

Only one life which will soon be passed.

Only what's done for Christ will last.

Only one life.

Yes, only one.

Soon will its fleeting hours be done.

Then in that day,

my Lord to meet

and stand before His judgment seat.

Only one life which will soon be passed.

Only what's done for Christ will last.

This morning,

as we get our minds around this parable

of the dragnet,

you will soon realize

that Jesus is referring to that day.

The final day.

The day of judgment.

And this morning,

I just want to ask you,

are you aware of that day?

Do you know it's coming?

Do you need to act

in light of that day?

Are you afraid of that day?

Are you ashamed of that day?

The aim of this parable

is to emphasize

what's going to happen

at the end of the age.

Verse 49.

So it will be at the end of the age.

It's a day in which

all humankind is moving towards.

The reality of that day

should inject a sobriety

into how we prioritize

this day.

We live this day

in light of that day.

And so,

this morning,

here's what I'd like to do.

We're going to look at

the parable detailed.

I'm just going to walk you through

verses 47 and 48.

And Jesus,

as the classic teacher,

uncomparable,

I'm just going to walk you

through the parable.

And then in 49 and 50,

Jesus explains it.

He explains the parable for us.

And so,

we're going to walk through

the parable explained.

And in that section,

I'm going to ask

a series of questions

about the final judgment.

And then,

we're going to wrap up

by applying the parable.

So,

parable detailed,

parable explained,

parable applied.

This is a parable

that is emphasizing

what will happen

at the end of the age.

We live this day

in light of that day.

So,

would you look at

verses 47 and 48?

Let's look at this

parable of the dragnet

that came from

the very lips

of Jesus Himself.

Now,

I want to remind you

that Matthew 13,

3-53,

it's known as

the parabolic discourse.

It's one of five

extended teachings

by Jesus

in the Gospel of Matthew.

And they form

the backbone

of the Gospel itself.

Well,

in this discourse,

there are eight parables.

The first four

are spoken to crowds

on a seashore.

And the last four

are spoken to

Jesus' disciples

in a house.

The house

that was on a waterfront

that Jesus initially

came out of

in verse 1.

And so,

the parable of the dragnet

is the seventh

of these eight parables.

And He's speaking

this parable

to His disciples.

Now,

just a quick reminder

of Jesus' use

of the parables.

Two words,

vertical blinds.

Jesus would use

parables

like vertical blinds.

And so,

depending on someone's

posture of heart

towards Jesus

would determine

whether this parable

would open up

the truth of the kingdom

or not.

And so,

here's how it would work.

So,

Jesus would proclaim

a parable

and depending on

those who received it,

if that person's heart

was tender

and teachable

towards Jesus,

the parable

would open up

and the mystery

of the kingdom of heaven

would be revealed.

It might take

some more explaining,

but it was revealed.

Now,

for those

who had a hardened heart

towards Jesus,

those who were not

willing to learn

from the Savior,

the parable

actually concealed

the mystery

of the kingdom.

Their hearts

were hard.

They were unable

to see.

And so,

a parable

reveals the kingdom

to those

with a tender heart

and it conceals

the kingdom

to those

with a hardened heart.

And these parables

in Matthew 13,

they're all teaching

about the kingdom

of heaven.

Every parable,

the word kingdom

shows up.

Each one is about

the kingdom

of heaven.

And that's a big

concept in our Bibles.

It's also synonymous

with the phrase

kingdom of God.

And so,

what it refers to

is the active

saving reign

of God

to bring

as many sinners

under the reign

of Jesus.

It's a reign

of salvation.

It's a reign

of grace.

On this Mother Day,

I just want to remind you

that when you were born,

you were not born

into the kingdom

of heaven.

You were born

into the domain

of darkness.

You were living

for your sin.

You were following

the prince of the power

of the air.

The Bible

does not

paint pretty pictures

of human beings

before they encounter

Jesus.

But God,

in His mercy

and grace,

He did something

amazing.

He sent Jesus,

the Messiah King,

and He inaugurated

a whole new kingdom.

One that was

a reign of grace.

And so,

what happens is

when someone

sees Jesus

for who He is

and they

humble themselves,

they are brought

into the kingdom.

And so,

what characterizes

a citizen

of the kingdom

is a reverence

for King Jesus

and an obedience

to do His will.

That's what makes us

distinguished

from the rest

of the world.

And so,

all these parables

are helping us

see different aspects

of this kingdom,

of the saving reign

of God on earth.

a reign in which

God delivers sinners

from the domain

of darkness

into the gracious

kingdom of Jesus.

And so,

the question that

we need to be asking

ourselves in light

of verses 47-50

is,

what is Jesus

comparing the kingdom

of heaven to

in this parable?

What is He emphasizing?

And what we see

is that He's comparing

it to

catching fish

in the first century.

So now,

let's look at the

parable itself.

In verse 47,

we see this.

The kingdom of heaven

is like a net

that was thrown

into the sea.

Now,

what you've got to

understand is

there are two

different kinds

of fishing

at the Sea of Galilee

in the first century.

There was the casting

of a net,

and basically,

that was around

smaller net

and around the

circumference of the net

were these little weights

and it was a one-man

operation

and the guy would

throw it out

into the Sea of Galilee

and it would sink down

and he would pull on a rope

and it would pull in

some fish.

But that's not the kind

of fishing Jesus

is talking about.

Jesus is talking about

drag netting.

And what drag netting was

is,

have you guys seen

a tennis court?

You know the

tennis net?

It's basically

a drag net.

And what would happen

is they would

take this net

that looked like

a big fence

and it would be

weighted on the

bottom of the net.

and on top of the net

would be extended

ropes.

And so what would

happen is two boats

would go out into the

sea,

they would throw

this big net in,

it would drop to

the bottom,

and the boats

would take both

ends of the rope

and either circle

a bunch of fish

and kind of

go around them

and pull them up

on the boat,

or they would

bring the ends

of the ropes

to shore

and there would be

men on the shore

who would use

the shoreline

to pull up

the net

and pull up

a catch.

That's what Jesus

is talking about here.

It was more of a

commercial operation

when it came to

fishing on the

Sea of Galilee.

And so you can

imagine

it was a bigger

catch in a drag

net than in

this casting net.

But it doesn't

end with

the casting

of this net,

this throwing

out of this

drag net.

It was

gathering fish

of every kind.

Did you see that?

Verse 47.

Now, when you

read that,

and if you're

kind of like me,

you're always

looking for a

God's heart

for the whole

world.

People from

every tribe,

tongue,

and nation.

And when you

see this phrase

fish of every

kind, you can

start thinking,

well, he's

talking about

every person

from the world.

And in fact,

there's 20

different kinds

of fish swimming

right now in

the Sea of Galilee.

But that's not

the point of

what Jesus is

talking about.

Jesus is

talking about

basically two

groups of

fish.

The fish of

every kind is

pointing to the

fact that this

huge catch is

going to need

to be sorted.

It's a mixed

catch.

That's the point.

Remember in the

parable of the

weeds and the

wheat, that it

was a mixed

harvest?

That among the

wheat was

planted weeds?

That's what

Jesus is getting

at here.

Our time on

earth, we live

among a people

some are

following Jesus,

others are

not.

Some are in

the kingdom,

some are not.

And the point

is that this

huge catch of

fish of every

kind, it's

going to need

to be sorted.

It's a mixed

group.

But notice

that this

parable doesn't

end with just

this kind of

gathering of

all these

fish.

Look at

verse 48.

When it was

full, men

drew it ashore

and sat down.

It was drawn

ashore when it

was full.

And there is a

subtle nuance

here.

it's unseen.

It's at the

bottom of the

sea.

They would feel

the weight of

the fish in it

of course, but

could they see

it?

It's not until

this net was

drawn ashore

that you could

see the catch.

There is a

hiddenness theme

all throughout

the parables in

Matthew 13.

all the

kingdom of

heaven is

hidden until

it is finally

realized on

that day.

On that

day, the

kingdom of

God will be

fully seen

for what it

really is.

But what I

just want you

to see there

is there was

a hiddenness

to it.

Well, it's

brought up on

shore in

verse 48,

and these

men sit down,

which must

have been the

common way of

sorting fish

that day, and

they sorted

the fish.

Now, if you

fish, you

abide by the

Wisconsin DNR

regulations of

fishing.

I don't fish.

I don't like

fish looking at

me in the face

wanting to kiss

me.

That's not my

deal.

I'm not

interested in

that.

But I do get

the guidelines

that there is a

time and a

place to fish

for certain

fish.

There's a

season.

There's a

size.

And there's

even an

amount.

There's

regulations.

And so, when

you go fishing,

you've got to

sort accordingly.

Remember that

Jesus is

speaking not to

Wisconsinites

living in the

21st century.

He's speaking to

Jewish fishermen.

He's making

an appeal to

Jews at the

time.

And what you

need to know

is that Jews

would have

sorted this

catch of fish

according to a

certain verse

in your Bible.

people.

It's in

Leviticus

Leviticus 11:9–12

chapter 11

verses 9

through 12.

It's a section

that talks about

clean and

unclean animals.

Animals that

Jews could

eat and

could not

eat.

And it was

applied to

fishing.

And so, if

they went

fishing, they

would have to

sort the

catch based

on the

requirements of

Leviticus 11.

And this

is what it

was.

If a fish

had fins and

scales, you

could keep it.

But if the

fish did not

have fins or

scales, you

had to discard

it.

One was clean,

one was

unclean.

The standard

was given.

The judgment

was made.

It was clear.

And what all

this means is

that eels and

catfish were to

be thrown away

because they

didn't have fish

or didn't have

fins and scales.

They were too

snake-like.

But this

parable doesn't

end with a

sorting.

Look at the

rest of verse

48.

The good

into containers

but threw

away the bad.

The sorting

goes beyond

just a

sort.

there are

two

destinations.

The good

fish are kept

in good

containers

but the bad

fish are thrown

away.

They're discarded.

So this

parable ends

with the big

catch of fish

either in a

good container

or thrown

away and

we're left

asking a

question.

You should

be asking

the question

which fish

am I?

But we're

also asking

the question

Jesus what

are you

getting at?

What's the

point of the

parable?

What do

you want us

to know about

the kingdom

of heaven

or the

saving reign

of God?

And for

that answer

we now look

at verses

49 and

50 because

Jesus himself

explains the

parable.

So let's

look at

verses 49

and 50.

What you

need to see

first is in

verse 49

you have

that first

sentence is

an interpretive

key that

unlocks the

parable and

opens it to

us.

And so what

Jesus says in

verse 49

that first

sentence is

this.

So it will

be at the

end of the

age.

All of a

sudden we're

no longer on

the seashore of

the Sea of

Galilee.

All of a

sudden Jesus

is talking

about this

big picture

time when

all things are

coming to

ahead.

Jesus is

interpreting

the parable

for us.

And what

he is saying

is that this

parable points

to the

end of

time.

Now when

you hear that

word end

of time

be thinking

culmination.

The coming

together of

something big.

God's plan

of salvation

being manifest.

Being brought

into sight.

What Jesus

is comparing

this dragnet

to.

The saving

reign of God

is not just

a dragnet.

What Jesus

is saying

is that this

parable is

comparing the

saving reign

of God

with the

whole process

from throwing

the dragnet

in to

pulling it

up on shore

to sorting

it out

and to

placing

some fish

here and

some fish

there.

It is an

overview

of salvation

history.

In

verse 39

Jesus

already talked

about the

end of the

age and

his

explanation

of the

wheat

and the

tares.

The harvest

is the

end of

the age

he says.

In other

words

in that

parable

he's

comparing

God's

work of

salvation

to a

process

climaxing

and sowing

growing

and reaping.

The mustard

seed starts

small and

hidden

and then

culminates

into fruition

into a

large and

highly visible

tree in

verses 31

and 32.

In

verse 33

the leaven

starts small

it's

concentrated

it's

hidden

and then

it culminates

in being

spread

through a

large

quantity

of

flour

that

is

seen

because

it

gives

rise

to

the

whole

thing.

So

what Jesus

is helping

us see

is this

the kingdom

of heaven

is on

the move

but it's

not this

kind of

narrow line

that ends

in a

period.

The

kingdom

of heaven

is expanding

fullness

moving towards

an end

point

that's

an

exclamation

point.

The saving

reign of God

is God's

active

progressive

work of

salvation

that's

moving through

time towards

a very

public

culmination.

A final

judgment

in which

all will

be seen.

one

implication

is this

despite

what you

may feel

sometimes

despite

what you

hear on

the news

despite

what you

read in

the papers

God

is at

work.

He is

sovereignly

orchestrating

all things

towards

one

great

day.

Furthermore

the emphasis

of this

parable

is not

so much

of what

happens

in the

water

but what

happens

on the

shore

what is

seen.

It's the

culmination

the end

of the

age

that

sorting

that

separating

out

that

judgment.

What Jesus

does here

is in

verses

49 and

50

he

emphasizes

two

end

time

realities.

In

verse 49

he

emphasizes

the

judgment

final

judgment

and in

verse 50

he

emphasizes

hell.

Now

what I'd

like to

do now

is ask

a series

of

questions

of

what we

see

in

verses

49

and

50

and

then

look

to

the

rest

of

the

scriptures

to

help

us

understand

what

God

means

by

final

judgment

and

what

about

hell.

Is

hell

harsh?

Oh yeah

it is.

The question

I want to

ask this

morning is

is hell

just?

So this

parable

is about

the end

of the

age.

It's

about

final

judgment.

So let's

ask this.

Basic

question

number

one.

Will

there

be

a

final

judgment?

Well

according

to

this

verse

this

parable

the

answer

is

yes

there

will

be

a

final

judgment.

Jesus

believed

that

time

is

moving

to

a

point

in

which

all

people

will

be

gathered

before

the

judge

and

all

will

be

judged.

And

that

judgment

will

be

a

judgment

of

perfect

justice.

Complete

justice.

Will

there

be a

final

judgment?

Well

Jesus

is

saying

well

yeah.

He's

talking

about

it

as

a

final

sort

a

final

separating

of

fish.

The

next

question

I

want

to

ask

is

who

will

be

judged

on

that

day

who

will

be

judged?

All

people

who

have

ever

lived

on

the

face

of

this

planet

since

Adam

and

Eve

will

be

judged.

Everyone.

That

includes

me.

That

includes

you.

That

includes

everyone

in this

room.

That

includes

everyone

in our

city.

That

includes

everyone

in your

family.

Everyone

will be

judged.

Now I

want you

to flip

back

to

Matthew

Matthew 25 · chapter mention

chapter

25

in your

Bible.

This

is

the

last

discourse

that

Jesus

is

speaking.

And

in

verse

31

and

32

I

want

you

to

hear

what

Jesus

has

to

say.

Again

he's

speaking

about

the

end

times.

When

the

Son of

Man

comes

in

his

glory.

This

is

verse

31

of

chapter

25.

When

the

Son of

Man

comes

in

his

glory.

Now

that

should

ring

a

bell.

The

Son

of

Man

is

Jesus'

choice

designation

of

himself.

He's

pulling

back

to

Daniel

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

chapter

7

and

it's

fulfillment.

God

has

given

him

a

kingdom.

An

everlasting

one.

And

he

says

when

the

Son

of

Man

comes

in

his

glory

and

all

the

angels

with

him

then

he

will

sit

on

his

glorious

throne.

Before

him

will

be

gathered

do

you

see

it

in

your

Bible?

Before

him

will

be

gathered

all

the

nations

all

people

from

all

time.

Look

at

Acts

Acts 17 · chapter mention

chapter

17.

Flip

to your

right.

Keep

on

going.

You'll

pass

John.

You'll

run

into

the

book

of

Acts

and

go

to

Acts

17.

Paul

is

in

Athens

and

Paul

is

preaching

at

the

Areopagus

and

he's

preaching

to

some

well

educated

people

and

he

says

this

verses

30

through

32

the

times

of

ignorance

God

overlooked

but

now

he

commands

all

people

everywhere

to

repent

because

he's

fixed

a day

on

which

he

will

judge

the

world

in

righteousness

Revelation

Revelation 20 · chapter mention

chapter

20

11

through

12

there's

this

great

resurrection

from the

dead

of all

people

who will

stand

before

the

throne

and

they

will

be

judged

every

one

of

them

Romans

Romans 14 · chapter mention

chapter

14

10

through

12

why do

you

pass

judgment

on

your

brother

he's

speaking

to

Christians

or

you

why do

you

despise

your

brother

for

we

will

all

stand

before

the

judgment

seat

of

God

for

it

is

risen

as I

live

says

the

Lord

every

knee

shall

bow

to

me

and

every

tongue

shall

confess

to

God

verse

12

so

then

each

of

us

will

give

an

account

of

himself

to

God

it's

not

just

everybody

who's

going to

be

standing

before

the

throne

on

that

day

you

will

stand

before

the

throne

on

that

day

2nd

Corinthians

5

10

we

must

all

appear

before

the

judgment

seat

of

Christ

who

will

be

judged

on

that

day

everyone

all

of

us

everyone

whether

you

revere

King

Jesus

and

obey

him

or

you

reject

King

Jesus

and

don't

give

a rip

of what

he

has

to

say

all

will

be

judged

let's

ask

another

question

on

that

day

of

judgment

what

will

we

be

judged

for

what

standard

what

standard

will

this

judgment

be

made

I

mean

the

fish

on

the

shore

in

the

parable

they

were

judged

according

to

Leviticus

11

when

you

go

fishing

in

Wisconsin

you

kind

of

working

with

Wisconsin

D&R

guidelines

will

the

judge

at

the

final

judgment

determine

his

judgments

on

you

and

on

me

based

upon

the

morality

of

our

culture

no

will

he

base

his

judgments

on

us

and

the

law

of

the

land

no

on

what

grounds

will

God

judge

you

and

me

and

the

rest

of

mankind

well

he

says

in

act

17

he

will

judge

the

world

in

righteousness

you

remember

the

psalm

I

opened

up

the

service

with

it's

psalm

96

let

the heavens

be

glad

and let

the

earth

rejoice

let

the

sea

roar

and

all

that

fills

it

let

the

field

exult

and

everything

in

it

then

shall

all

the

trees

of

the

forest

sing

for

joy

before

the

Lord

for

he

comes

for

he

comes

to

judge

the

earth

he

will

judge

the

world

in

righteousness

this

righteousness

is not

some

arbitrary

righteousness

this is

what I

feel like

today

but it's

a righteousness

that is

established

on the

very

unchanging

character

of God

himself

it's a

right way

of loving

it's a

right way

of thinking

it's a

right way

of feeling

it's a

right way

of speaking

it's a

right way

of neighboring

on that

day

we're going

to be

held

accountable

for the

way that

we

interact

with

others

around

us

do you

want to

know what

God requires

of you

do you

remember

Matthew

Matthew 5:48

chapter 5

verse 48

Jesus

says

be

perfect

as your

heavenly

father is

perfect

that should