Matthew 13:47-52 The Dragnet and the Disciples October 4, 2015pm

Transcription

1 Matthew 13 is filled with 8 parables that Jesus taught His Disciples. Jesus spoke more recorded parables in this setting than He did in any other. Remember, chapter 12 ends with Jesus declaring His closer allegiance to His followers than His own unbelieving family. That is a difficult passage that we have already discussed in The Sower and the Soil. Later that day, probably dusk, Jesus is sitting by the Sea of Galilee that is just outside the house that He is staying in, when He is swarmed by a multitude wanting to hear Him teach. Jesus gets into a near by boat and sets out into the sea. I think He does this often in His ministry for two reasons: 1. to set some distance between He and His audience Imagine how often He was interrupted in His sermons because of hecklers and debaters but also genuine followers wanting to be healed, to be near, to hear better. I was glad to have visited, Good Springs, one of our neighboring churches, to hear Dr. Paul Harrison preach. He said something in his sermon that made me pause and think. Every verse in the Bible is important, but they are not equally important. We can disagree with each other on end times prophecy. We can disagree with each other on some points in Genesis. But there are passages of Scripture upon which the whole of the Gospel hinge. Maybe I am reading into the text, but I believe Jesus is setting Himself apart in Matthew 13 so that there are no interruptions. 2. to reach a greater audience 1 of 8

2 He wants everyone to hear the parables of the Sower and the Seed, the Wheat and the Tares, the Mustard Seed and Leaven. After those four, however, He turns in for the evening, but the Disciples are staying up, eagerly asking Him the explanation of the Wheat and the Tares. Jesus takes His time explaining the short story in Afterwards, He continues with four more parables: The Hidden Treasure, The Pearl of Great Price, The Dragnet and The Householder. Picture the setting, lamp lit, all the Disciples huddled near Jesus, as He talks about giving up everything and becoming more wealthy than you could ever imagine. They knew He spoke of spiritual wealth above physical. Jesus then tells them the parable of the dragnet or fishing net. Do not miss the irony here. To Peter, Andrew, James and John who had once owned their own fishing business but left their nets (they gave up all of their financial stability) to follow Jesus, the story of the fishing net on the heels of the stories of men who gave up all their earthly possessions to buy the pearl or to buy the land where the treasure was, meant a great deal. He has particularly crafted this whole evening for their betterment. 13:47 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, 2 of 8

3 50 and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. This parable is very similar to the wheat and the tares: wheat (genuine believers) interact and often get entangled with tares (insincere followers). The two plants look identical, not even the professional farmer can decipher which of these plants that will produce fruit and which is just an empty hull. A time of judgement is promised. After the plant will grow no more, it is harvested and separated. The wheat is used. The weeds are burnt. The Parable of the Dragnet brings the message of reward/judgement even closer to home for the Disciples. The windows of the seaside Galilean house might be open and the smell of the sea is wafting in. A dragnet was a large type of fishing net. Fishermen employed three different means of catching fish in Jesus s day: a hook and line, a net and a dragnet. When Jesus tells Peter to go fishing and pick from the singular fish s mouth the coin to pay the temple tax, Peter uses a line. Later, Peter and John having returned to the fishing life following Jesus s death and resurrection, Jesus tells them to throw out their nets on the right side of the boat. So great was their catch that they could not haul it back into the craft. The dragnet was a little different from the other forms. While the others might be for pleasure or the weekend fisherman, the dragnet was the industrial form of fishing. It employed a great number of helpers and 3 of 8

4 took up an entire section of the lake. It was a very large net strung between two points (either the shore or another boat). In the case where it was fastened to shore, the boat would launch from shore and sweep across the sea taut until it accomplished a semicircular path to another part of shore further down the beach. It would catch EVERYTHING. In fact, the most difficult part of the dragnet was piecing through the huge net looking for good fish (size and kind) and tossing out the refuse. If I have my right understanding of the parable, it is solely about judgement. There is no direction to the Disciples to cast a wide net or anything similar. It speaks to those who have been caught up religious belief but have never truly come to Christ. In His explanation of the parable, Jesus says that at the end of the age. The angels will come forth and separate the wicked from the unjust My Thoughts Notice on what basis the nets are picked through: the fish and the debris/the good and the bad/the just and the wicked. There are a lot of people who get swept up into a net of religion. They are surrounded with those who are in the kingdom (in the story: fish/good/just), but they are neither of the three. They hear everything that the follower of Christ hears: all the sermons, songs and testimonies, but they cling to their own selfrighteousness or good behaviors. Without the transforming work of Christ in our lives, everything in the net is wicked. The angels, in the interpretation, do not separate based upon good and bad behavior, but upon the good of Christ (the justice of Christ) applied to our lives versus 4 of 8

5 the self-help goodness of religion or character modification with which so many churches get distracted. Our righteousness, our self-help religion, our character modification is as filthy rags. Hear what Isaiah says about us: 4 For since the beginning of the world Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, Nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who waits for Him 5 You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, Who remembers You in Your ways. You are indeed angry, for we have sinned In these ways we continue; And we need to be saved. 6 But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away. 7 And there is no one who calls on Your name, Who stirs himself up to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us, And have consumed us because of our iniquities. 8 But now, O Lord, You are our Father; 5 of 8

6 We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand. 9 Do not be furious, O Lord, Nor remember iniquity forever; Indeed, please look we all are Your people Those are the words of someone wicked who needs the justice of Christ, someone bad who needs the goodness only He can afford, the piece of trash swept up in the net who needs the transforming work of IXTHUS. I - Ιησούς Jesus X - Χριστός Christ TH - θεός God U - υιός Son S - σωτήρας Savior Hear me when I say this (I understand the harshness), the trash will be burnt. It serves no other purpose. There will be a judgement, a division, and God will do what any good Judge does judge. His sentencing is final. His decree cannot be overturned or appealed. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth More times are recorded of Jesus speaking on judgement and Hell specifically than is His speaking on love. There are consequences to living as Judas Iscariot who is in this close knit audience that night: caught in the net of the kingdom yet not a fish. 6 of 8

7 51 Jesus said to them, Have you understood all these things? They said to Him, Yes, Lord. 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 A Scribe was not just someone who wrote. A scribe was someone who knew the inner workings of the law. They were, in every sense of the words, the lawyers of Jesus s day, knowing large portions of the Old Testament. Jesus is saying that His followers have been made scribes. Instructed literally means discipled. In fact, if you have a ASB or NASB version of the Bible, yours is more close to the actual text. 52 And Jesus said to them, Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old. Sent out ones become like the owner of a house who is able to bring from his closets both the old and new clothes and give them to those in need. The reason we are ones who bring out the old and new is that we have the old covenant and the new to give to the community. A true disciple does not just sit at the feet of the Word and learn facts; they broadcast it throughout the community. Why? They are acutely aware that there is a day of reckoning. The dragnet is sweeping across time and space and picking up both genuine and fake. People are being swept up 7 of 8

8 in the net. Souls are looking all around them and seeing fish; therefore, they think they are fish. However, they are but refuse fake. 8 of 8