Smoodock's Blog

We need to be careful, when reading these parables of Jesus, to keep from being too literal in our interpretation of them. A parable, remember contains symbols of reality, but they are not literal reality. In the Parable of the Sower the “seed” was the word of God, but in the Parable of the Weeds the seeds are men, children of Kingdom of heaven, vis-à-vis the good seed, and the children of the wicked, vis-à-vis the bad seed. So, not only could the same term mean different things in different contexts, similar themes, like the parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great value, can point to two entirely different conclusions. Therefore, it would be prudent for today’s Bible student to be careful how he or she reads these parables, allowing the terms found herein to speak of Biblical themes and terms and not force one’s modern perceptions of the terms and themes upon the ancient text.

Consider how Jesus describes the Kingdom of Heaven next (Matthew 13:47). He describes it as a “net,” which is cast into the “sea” and gathers fish of all kinds, and brings them to the shore where judgment is conducted. The good fish are placed into vessels, while the bad fish are cast away. In the context of this being Jewish fishermen in the first century AD, the good fish would be the ceremonially clean fish, and the bad would be the ceremonially unclean (cp. Leviticus 11:9-12; Deuteronomy 14:9-10). What does this mean in the context of the parable?

Jesus once referred to Herod as a fox, and unclean animal (Luke 13:31-32). When the Syrophoeneician woman came to Jesus, asking him to heal her daughter, he referred to her and her daughter as dogs, an unclean animal (Mark 7:24-27). So, the fish in the Parable of the Net refer to morally clean and unclean men and women. The “net” brings everyone to shore for judgment. However, what might the net be? What does it refer to?

The “net” seems to be an irresistible force that cannot be avoided. It is a power beyond the control of the fish, vis-à-vis men, and it brings all to shore for judgment. At the very beginning of his public ministry, Jesus called Peter, Andrew, James and John, who were fishermen and told them he would make them fishers of men (Matthew 4:18-22). So, Jesus’ later command to preach the Gospel to men of every nation, and those who believed would be “saved,” while those who didn’t would be judged (Mark 16:15-16). In this context, the “net” would be the Gospel. Life and death are determined by one’s response to the Gospel, the irresistible and uncontrollable force that brings folks to judgment. According to the Law, all gentiles were unclean and all Jews were children of the Kingdom. However, in the context of the net being the Gospel, the unclean are not determined by race but by one’s response to the Gospel. Therefore, when Jesus described the scribes and Pharisees as serpents (Matthew 23:2, 33), he was saying they were morally unclean, like the unclean fish that were cast away (Matthew 13:48).

Thus, it will be, according to Jesus at the “end of the world” (Matthew 13:49), meaning the end of the age (aion, G165, a time of indeterminate length). An “age” has no distinct limits, as to when it begins or ends, but we know when it has begun, and when it is all over. In the context of the net being the Gospel, men of all kinds are brought together, both adherents and those who oppose its message. They continue together, the one intimidating and oppressing the other, until the process is brought to an end by the Lord. The net is brought to shore, and the messengers, Jesus disciples who preach the Gospel, have separated men into the obedient and the persecutors and unbelievers. The one is “saved” while the other is “cast into the furnace of fire” (Matthew 13:50; vis-à-vis judgment; cp. 1Corinthians 3:13). Jesus claimed earlier that anyone who was not with him was against him, and anyone who wasn’t with Jesus at the “time of the end” would be scattered (Matthew 12:30; cp. 13:49). I’ve been explaining in these studies that the “time of the end” is the “latter days” when the Jews would corrupt themselves and behave morally like Sodom (Deuteronomy 31:29; 32:32). These same “latter days” were the “days” of Jesus’ public ministry (Hebrews 1:1-2), which culminated in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in AD 70. This was the judgment, whereby the good were saved alive and continued to bring the message of the Lord to the world, while the bad were cast into a furnace of fire, the Temple/Covenant was destroyed and the unbelieving Jews were scattered among the nations, where there was “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:50; cp. 12:30).