Righteous? Or Wicked?

TWENTY-EIGHTH IN MY TEACHING SERIES ON THE PARABLES OF JESUS

The Parable Of The Net

“Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 13:47-50

While the religious authorities remained bent on maintaining the appearance of self-righteousness, Jesus had a very different mission in mind. Some even warned Jesus about the dangers of letting anyone into the kingdom without vetting the person a little better to see if they met the qualification standards. The Parable of the Net is how Jesus responded to that thought.

The Fish Were Separated

Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to a net that was let down into the lake and caught a huge number of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they put the good fish in baskets and threw the bad ones away. We’re told in this parable that this is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Ouch!

This parable is very similar to the Parable of the Weeds Among The Wheat that I wrote on in my October 20, 2022 blog posting. In summary, the farmer’s enemy secretly planted weeds among his wheat crop. When the farmer’s servants realized what had happened, they brought it to the master’s attention. The master told them not to worry about it until the harvest. That would be when it would be easiest to separate the valuable grain from the worthless weed. Any attempt to separate them too soon would mean throwing out the good with the bad.

In the Parable of the Net, fishermen scooped up fish with what was called a “dragnet.” That process caught fish they could sell to vendors as well as fish that are no good for anything. So when they finished fishing, they had both good and bad fish – those worth keeping and those that were not. In the same way, Jesus says in this parable that the angels will sit down and sort the wicked from the righteous.

Throw The Net Wide

It seems to me that the church of the 21st century is following the example Jesus spoke of in this parable. They are casting the net as widely as possible, inviting anyone who will listen into the kingdom. Now is certainly not the time for us to attempt to independently assess who is in and who is out. Now is the time to issue invitations, and to live our life from the reality of the freedom we’ve found in Jesus.

Will some people claim to follow Jesus when they don’t? Of course. It’s been that way since Jesus walked this earth. There will be some who are insincere and even those with evil intent that may think they know Jesus. Now is the time to invite them to repent and choose to follow Jesus from a sincere heart.

The Lord will make the final judgments about people’s eternal destiny. Nonetheless, we can certainly play a huge part in pointing others to the life-saving faith and hope found only in Jesus Christ.

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