‘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
Fishing with dragnets, or, as it’s known now, trawling, is deeply controversial. Wherever it’s been carried out nowadays it’s caused deep and lasting environmental damage.
And no wonder. Huge factory ships drag kilometers long weighted nets behind them that sink to the ocean floor and scoop up everything they catch. If they catch fish or mammals (such as porpoises, dolphins or even sharks) that are unwanted, they are simply thrown back into the ocean – often dead. This awful murderous waste is known as ‘bycatch’, and is itself a pollutant.
Now, I am not a fan of fish at all, but even I know that this is completely obscene.
This is absolutely not what Jesus is talking about here. Let me be clear about that.
Fishermen in Jesus’ day were not heartless, conscienceless conglomerates who don’t care about the mess they leave behind in the merciless pursuit of profit.
No, they were small-time fishermen who had a ‘hand-to-mouth’ existence.
Their nets were not as thin or as large as ours are nowadays. They were made of rope. In all likelihood, smaller fish would easily have escaped.
Neither were they fishing in an environment where larger mammals would have been affected – most of them fished in Lake Galilee.
So let’s not make the mistake that Jesus ia talking here about modern trawling. He is not.
But he is talking about a much smaller, weighted rope dragnet which, although it was much smaller than a modern trawler net, would have had a similar effect.
So what does he mean?
There are three phases to this parable that help us understand it.
Firstly, the fisherman puts down his net.
Well, obviously. That’s how he catches fish.
Or so you would think.
But I believe that this net is a picture of evangelism.
I have been in many churches that aren’t actively involved in evangelism in their community.
They are like a fisherman who doesn’t want to go into the lake in case he gets wet, and sits by the side of the Lake with a bucket, hoping the fish will jump into it.
It is plainly absurd. At least, I hope it is to you.
For a fisherman to catch fish he must take the risk to be in deep enough water and let down his net. Again, obviously. You wouldn’t catch many fish if you dropped your net onto a highway or a truck stop or a shopping mall.
You also have to be prepared to wait. It doesn’t always happen right away. Even after Jesus was raised, His disciples told Him they had been fishing all night and caught nothing (John 21:3,5). And they were experienced fishermen. It’s a case of being in the right position, being patient and persistent.
After the fisherman lets down his net, the fisherman catches fish. The shoal swims into his net.
Now, here is where there something we need to realise. Rod and line fishing is fundamentally different from net fishing.
Apart from only catching one fish at a time, you can change the bait on a fishing line to catch a particular type of fish.
But a net is different. A net catches all kinds of fish. It doesn’t differentiate. You catch all kinds of species and creatures, as well as flotsam and jetsam – floating debris and garbage.
So why did Jesus use a net here and not a rod to illustrate His point?
Because He is telling us that our evangelism should never be focused to attract only one kind of people. We should not hold events that are tightly focused on attracting the type of people we want to come to our church. We should put on events that attract all kinds of people.
I mean, let’s examine the disciples:
These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter), James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means ‘sons of thunder’), Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
Mark 3:16-19 NIVUK
They were a rough mix of fishermen, tax collectors, a Jewish nationalist and a thief-cum-betrayer.
Not exactly the ‘A’ Team.
Throughout Acts, as the church grew, God uses more and more interesting people: a persecutor, a young Greek lad, a servant of Herod, a North African... Many, many different people.
God still intends for His church to be as varied today. Because His church is a body (1 Corinthians 12), not a cult or a freak show. That is why the church cannot focus on certain types of people. And neither does it have the luxury of turning people away by being inhospitable or unreceptive.
We should accept all whom the Lord sends in our direction, without discrimination.
Now we have seen the fisherman let down his net and catch fish, we lastly see him sort his catch.
This is the part of the story that some people nowadays find a little unsettling, because it seems a little environmentally unfriendly. The fisherman has caught all kinds fish in his net, but now he has to sort through them to see the ones he will throw back – likely already dead by this time – and the ones he will keep.
Jesus is making a very big point here. The Kingdom of Heaven is not the fisherman. The Kingdom of Heaven is the net. There are many who get attracted and ‘caught up’ in the Kingdom of Heaven who are actually not there for the right reasons.
That was a fact when Jesus gather His disciples. Judas, for example, clearly had no intention whatsoever of following Jesus in His heart, but was only there for the prestige, power and money that it brought. As soon as Jesus’ teaching and way of life contradicted his desires, he handed Jesus over to the authorities (see Matthew 26:6-16).
And then there were the fickle crowds, who one minute were cheering Him to the rafters as He entered Jerusalem on a donkey, and the next were baying for Him to be crucified.
And then there is the Early Church. It’s clear that even they attracted bycatch, flotsam and jetsam. Ananias and Sapphire, for example (Acts 5:1-11). Or Simon the sorcerer (Acts 13:4-12). And the continual battle throughout the New Testament with hard-line Jewish elements and pagan background believers.
Jesus warned the disciples of this:
‘Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?” Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”
Matthew 7:21-23 NIVUK
‘For many are invited, but few are chosen.’
Matthew 22:14 NIVUK
But, again, we need to be clear on this: Jesus tells us that the angels figure out the good from the bad, not us. We do not, under any circumstance, have the right to determine who we feel is a genuine believer and who is not. If we did, then we would likely revert to doing so using human criteria, and that would not be good. It has to be, and can only be, the angels who carry out this deeply difficult procedure.
So what does the Parable of the Net tell us?
Our responsibility is not to aim for certain people or to discriminate against those who respond to the call. Our job instead is to be available to be launched out into the deep, share the Gospel with whoever comes our way and let God choose who respond.
We would do well to concentrate on the task we have been given.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I confess that I often get this wrong. I am not as available as I could be and I am often too choosy in who I speak to. Help me, dear Lord, to be available to you and to reach out willingly to whomever you send across my path. Amen.
Questions
1. What does the Parable of the Net teach us that Jesus wants us to do and not do?
2. Why should we be willing to accept whomever Jesus sends across our path?
3. How can you be more willing to be used as part of His net?
Commenti