Matthew 13:47 – 52

The Parable of the Dragnet

47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind,

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

49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just,

50 and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

51 Jesus said to them, “Have you understood all these things?”

52 Then He said to them, “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”

In the days of Christ, commercial fishing used the same methods as today, only the boats were wind powered or human powered and not diesel powered, it was on a smaller scale because it was men who cast the nets over the side of the boats and hauled them in by hand without the use of an electric winch.

Jesus said His kingdom is like the net which is cast into the sea, it gathers all kinds of fish and creatures into the net. We can see the relationship in this parable. The kingdom of Christ is given to all of mankind. The Gospel is thrown to all of mankind. All people of all nations are exposed to the Gospel. The ones who accept the gospel are within the net. We are like the fishermen, we cannot read the hearts of the ones who profess to accept the Gospel.

When the net is gathered onto the shore all of the fish are separated, the good fish and the others, The bad were destroyed.

This represents the judgment and the angels are the ones who will be separating the good from the bad.

The ones who are cast off enter an eternal time of continual pain, suffering, and torment.

Jesus was speaking only to His disciples, the multitudes had been dismissed in verse 36, so it was appropriate for him to ask if they understood what He was teaching. The messages for the people were who were not ready for the full understanding of the Gospel was left in parable form, but the disciples were to be learning the full meaning of the Kingdom and its teachings.

The disciples said “Yes Lord.”

In verse 52 a very important key word is used, scribe. In the days of Christ and before the only way to copy important books such as the books of the scripture was to write them by hand. Any differentiation of words or of punctuation could change the meanings of commandments, histories, exhortations, or prophecy. These men should have been fully understanding of the Kingdom and its teaching. By knowing this they would have treasures both of the old writings and of the prophecies regarding the coming of Christ and the kingdom.