The Day is Coming
Parable of the Net,
Mt 13:47-50
I have an
opportunity to go to
There are great spiritual needs and
opportunities as people are looking for comfort, for hope, for answers.
At a training meeting, one pastor pointed out
how the church never looks as good as when it responds in action and compassion
to needs like this. And I’m thankful for
an opportunity to be a part of it.
I also think it’ll be a great opportunity for
me to meet different kinds of people, see different kinds of needs outside
these Emmanuel walls.
I appreciate your prayers.
If you’ve been with
us the last couple months, we were going through a series of Jesus’ Kingdom
Parables in Mt 13, then we took a little detour to look at the parables of Lk 15 (lost sheep, lost coin, the lost son), and now I want
to come back to Mt 13 and pick up the last of the 7 parables.
I remember as a kid my uncle took us and my
cousins fishing. I had never gone
fishing before, so it was something of an adventure for me. I don’t remember actually catching anything,
but I do remember sometimes after one of us caught a fish, my uncle would help
unhook the fish, and then sometimes, if the fish were too small, he’d throw the
fish back into the lake. And as a kid,
that seemed so pointless!
That’s kind of the scene we have in this
parable.
A fisherman goes out and lets down his net
and catches all kinds of fish.
In Jesus’ day fishermen would sometimes use dragnets, with floaters and
sinkers to stretch the net wide and catch all kinds of fish.
Afterward they would sort out the fish. Some would be too small, or would be unclean
for Jews to eat. Others were “clean” and
large enough. They’d separate out the
“edible” fish from the “unedible.” It was a very familiar scene.
Maybe today, Jesus might have said, The
Kingdom of Heaven is like a guy who goes to his computer and checks his email.
In comes dozens and dozens of emails.
He looks through his inbox and separates the good email from the junk
email. The junk emails he then deletes
and the good email he keeps.
The
Jesus said the net caught “all kinds of
fish.” The original word “genus” is more
commonly used for “race” or “tribe.” It
usually used to refer to kinds of people, not fish. The
What struck me about
this parable isn’t so much what it
said, but how much it is emphasized.
In Mt 13 alone, this parable of the Net
corresponds very closely to the parable of the wheat and the weeds. This parable doesn’t add a whole lot more to
what’s already been said.
In both there will be a separation of the
wheat and the weeds, the good fish and the bad fish, and in both, the wicked
are “thrown into a fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of
teeth” (42, 50). Judgment Day is coming.
This judgment is implied throughout this chapter. There are basically two kinds of people:
Those who produce fruit, and those who don’t
The wheat and the weeds
Those who’ve found the treasure and those who haven’t
The good fish from the bad fish
There is clear distinction between who a Kingdom Citizen is and isn’t.
In a world of greys,
the Bible uses stark black-and-whites. In a post-modern world of no
absolutes, the Bible not only claims absolutes, but says there are eternal consequences to those absolutes.
This is not a matter of opinion or preference. This is a God, there is a heaven, and there
is a hell. Jesus is saying, either you’re a kingdom citizen, or you’re not, either
you’re a wheat or a weed, a good fish or a bad fish, and there will be a
sorting of these two groups. This is not
politically correct language or inclusive language, but it’s what Jesus is
saying.
I’d like to point
out not just that this is said, but that this is emphasized.
Throughout the
Gospel of Matthew, there is this language of the day of
judgment.
I tell you the truth,
it will be more bearable for
But I tell you, it will be more
bearable for
But I tell you that men will have
to give account on the day of judgment for
every careless word they have spoken.
(Mt 12:36)
The men of
There are other passages that refer to this day of judgment without
using those words (Mt
I’d like us to turn to Mt 24-25; it’s all about the End, the Day of
Judgment
Signs of the End of the Age
Jesus talks about how difficulties and dangers will come at the end of
the age. There will be famines,
earthquakes, violence, wickedness, persecution and false teachers.
The Day and the Hour Unknown
“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord
will come.” (24:42)
Always be ready. He’ll return
like “a thief in the night.”
Chapter 25 has 3 parables about the Judgment: 10 Virgins, Talents, Sheep & Goat
Basically, the Parable of the 10 Virgins is telling us we need
to always be ready, even if we have to wait a long time.
The Parable of the Talents says we need to be faithful,
we need to be serving the master and advancing his cause. And there’s judgment for those who have shown
they are not faithful servants of the master.
The Parable of the Sheep and Goat says again, there will be a
judgment, and the basis of that judgment is on what you did or did not do.
Chapter 25, with these 3 parables, ties with Mt 13, with at least this
connection. It starts with:
“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who
took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.”
The
Maybe we’ve forgotten, maybe we don’t really think about it.
Kingdom Citizens live in light of that coming Day. It
defines their reality: they think about it, they prepare for it, they live
their lives with the perspective that the Judgment Day is coming. It brings focus and perspective to their
lives.
This parable was preached, not to the general
public, but to Jesus’ disciples.
This message is for believers.
It is a bigger emphasis in Scripture than it
is in our own lives. We act like there
is no judgment day. It doesn’t make a
big difference in our lives.
The
In some graduate classes, there are no
assignments, no quizzes, there’s just one final exam. Some students
go through their classes specifically mindful of the final exam. They listen to lecture and read their
assignments with the perspective that the final exam will come.
Some atheletes practice with the
understanding that the championship tournament is coming. They
will have to compete with the very best.
They will be tested.
Some parents
raise their kids knowing that their kids will one day leave home. One day Dad and Mom won’t be there to guide
or protect them. One day that kid will
face his own challenges and make his own decisions, and they raise their kids
seeing that coming Day.
Kingdom Citizens have that kind of
perspective. They see beyond today. They see that Christ is coming back and a Day
of Judgment will come.
I can’t say I’ve heard too many sermons about
Judgment Day, but I’d like to suggest that there is a lot of benefit from
understanding and meditating on this impending reality. Meditating on the reality of the Day of
Judgment, there will be a separation.
In the parable of the wheat and weeds, I believe Jesus (addressing his
disciples, then and here) was trying to comfort and encourage his disciples,
who will suffer for Christ for a season.
Friday, Friday them forces that oppress the poor and keep people down, them
forces that destroy people, them forces are in control and they’re going to
rule. But they don’t know. It’s only Friday. Friday. Sunday’s a coming.
Friday, Friday
people are saying, “Darkness is going to rule the world,
sadness is going to be everywhere.” But
they don’t know, it’s only Friday, Sunday’s a coming.
There is comfort for the righteous. The wicked may seem to have the day today,
but this day will end and a new one will come.
There’s another chapter to the story.
I saw articles about how some politicians and
businesses are getting big government contracts in the post-Katrina clean up
and recovery work. 60 some billions
dollars have already been approved, and some companies and politicians are
cashing in big. It’s Friday, but Sunday’s a coming.
There’s a big threat for some terrorist
activity in the NT subways system earlier this week. It’s
Friday, but Sunday’s a coming.
We’re bombarded with media and entertainment
that preaches materialism and comfort, and sometimes its
really hard to follow Christ, to go the narrow road. It’s
Friday, but Sunday’s a coming.
Mt 13 presumes that life will be hard for the followers of Christ today. The weeds attack, the righteous suffer. Earth has so much it seems to offer. Remember, the Day is coming. Christ is coming back. The followers of Jesus will be separated and
taken home—so stand firm!
There is a judgment for the wicked, but there
is also a judgment for the righteous.
We want to be clear that we believe that
because of Jesus, we are forgiven, we are declared righteous. On the judgment day, God will see us white as
snow, completely acceptable and loved.
There is no condemnation, no fear.
Yet, there is another sense in which we also
will be judged.
The interesting thing is that many times,
this warning of judgment day is directed to believers. And believers are to live with that mindset.
There is a sense of reward for the
righteous. It matters how we live. Is there fruit in our lives?
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of
Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in
the body, whether good or bad. (2 Cor
Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the
Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever
good he does, whether he is slave or free.
(Eph 6:7-8)
Then all the churches will know that I am he who
searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your
deeds. [addressed to
believers] (
Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and
I will give to everyone according to what he has done. (
It matters how we live. For believers, our judgment has no
condemnation. Rather, for us, our
judgment is about our reward.
And we are to be motivated by this hope of
reward, by this future judgment day.
It matters if we give a cup of water in
Jesus’ name.
It matters if we run the race to win the
prize.
It matters if we’re faithful with the talents
God has given us.
I want to hear, “Well done, good and faithful
servant.”
It matters if feed the hungry, clothe the
naked and visit the imprisoned
If we knew Katrina was going to hit and the levees were going to break,
wouldn’t we do something! So when Rita came,
how much less the devestation.
Something far more widespread and devastating is coming. And the Church has the early warning that the
end of the age is coming, that the Judgment day is coming.
Villager in
There will be a judgment, there is a heaven and there is a hell.
If you don’t know Christ, I want to be gentle
but clear: we believe there is a judgment, and the only thing that matters then
is whether you really are a good fish and not a bad fish, whether you are a
Kingdom Citizen or not.
It’s not about being a good person, doing
good things, it’s about finding Jesus.
The only thing that separates the good fish from the bad fish is
whether you trust in Jesus, whether you say, “Jesus I need you to forgive me of
my sins, to take away my guilt and shame.
Jesus, I believe that you love me, that you willingly offered yourself
to die in my place. And so now Lord, I
love you. I trust you. I follow you.”
Kingdom Citizens aren’t necessarily more righteous, more moral, more religious. They
simply cling to Jesus. Their
righteousness comes from Jesus.
I have a cousin who was in the marines at the time of the war in
And for those of us who believe that, there is an urgency to tell
others.
We’ve been saying, people
matter to God. God is chasing the lost sheep, on his hands
and knees looking for the lost coin, running toward his prodigal son.
The day is
coming. We need to live like we believe
that.
We’re going home. Don’t lose
focus, don’t get discouraged. Press on.
Be found faithful. It matters
how we live.
Bring others to the Kingdom as well.
We’ve got to tell.