Jesus' Parable of the Dragnet
Matthew 13: 47-50

By Gary DeLashmutt

Teaching t08785

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Introduction

We are five weeks into a series on Jesus' parables of the kingdom of God—which are found in Matthew 13, 25. I noted that the seven parables in Matthew 13 have a common theme—“the mysteries of the kingdom” (13:11a). That is, they reveal a portion of God's kingdom that had not been revealed in the Old Testament. Before we go on to the next parables, let's briefly review some general observations about this important issue.

The Old Testament view of history was that we live in what one biblical author calls “this present evil age”—an age dominated by rebellion and evil. But God is sovereign over history, and one day he would replace this present evil age with his own righteous and loving reign. The event that separates these two periods of history is the coming of God's Messiah.

Jesus affirms the Old Testament view—but he adds some crucial additional information. What the Old Testament prophets called the coming of Messiah is actually his Second Coming. Prior to that time, Messiah would come—not as a reigning King but as suffering Servant—to die for the guilt of a rebellious humanity who God loves. His first coming would usher in an unanticipated form of God's kingdom that is different in important ways from the kingdom in its fullness. This is what Jesus calls “the mysteries of the kingdom” and describes through the seven parables in Matthew 13.

Through these parables, then, we learn about how God's kingdom is at work in the world today, and about how we can benefit from and cooperate with his activity. The key to understanding these parables is to ask: What do they teach about this “mystery” phase of God's kingdom that is different from its completed phase?

Explanation

Let's look at the final parable in Matthew 13 (read 13:47-50). This was a common scene along the Sea of Galilee. The dragnet was as much as a mile long. It was weighted on the bottom and had floats on the top. It would be spread in the shape of a huge semi-circle, and then dragged to shore. Then came the task of getting rid of the undesirable fish and getting the edible fish ready for market. No one has ever been invented a net that catches only edible fish.

What does this parable teach us about God's kingdom? What new information does it give us about the “mystery” phase?

There is nothing new about the fact that Jesus returns, he will separate (and judge) those who belong to God from those who don't (Isaiah 30:28 echoed by John in Matthew 3:12).

The new information is that in the “mystery” phase, the activity of God's kingdom will “gather up” even those who do not truly belong to Christ.¹ The dragnet is clearly a picture of the work of Jesus and his followers as they invite people to enter God's kingdom through faith in the gospel. Jesus often used this “fishing” analogy to describe his mission of outreach (Luke 5:10; Matthew 4:19). His own ministry illustrated this point: many who followed him for a time did not truly believe in him (John 2:23-24), and one of his own disciples was in fact an agent of Satan who betrayed him (John 13:2, 27). His point is that the worldwide movement he was inaugurating would inevitably include many that do not in fact belong to him.

Application

What is the practical importance of this parable? Understood in light of the rest of the New Testament, there are at least three important lessons we should take to heart . . . 

First of all, it warns us to be on the alert for false teachers and counterfeit versions of Christianity. The bad fish represent (in part at least) those (like Judas) who are planted in the net by God's enemy to disrupt and discredit his kingdom. Jesus warned his own followers of this danger (read Matthew 7:15), and he predicted that this danger would increase throughout the “mystery” phase of his kingdom (read Matthew 24:5, 10-11, 24-25). If you were the devil and you wanted to oppose the growth of Jesus' kingdom in this age, what better way to do this than by proliferating people who talk about Jesus, claim to speak for Jesus—but are perverting the truth about Jesus?

The first-century church saw an immediate outbreak of all kinds of false teachers. Virtually every New Testament letter warns against specific false teachings.²

As Jesus predicted, one of the major themes of church history is the continuous outbreak of false teachers—from Gnosticism (kind of a quasi-Christian New Age spirituality), to ritualistic legalism (2^nd & 3^rd century over-reaction to Gnosticism,³ peaking in the Middle Ages, still around today), to anti-supernatural theology (BULTMANN; JESUS SEMINAR), to wacky cult-leaders (RASPUTIN, JIM JONES, BRANCH DAVIDIANS), to flaky healers/evangelists who extract money and sexual favors from their followers, etc. They all claim to be spokesmen for Jesus, they all use the Bible—and they're all counterfeits who lead people astray and misrepresent Jesus.

How can you avoid this minefield? There is no protection in denominations, old groups, theological degrees, social approval, etc. The only sure protection against counterfeits is thorough familiarity with the real thing—God's written Word (see Acts 20:28-32; 2 Timothy 3:13-16). Jesus and the apostles presuppose that every Christian can learn God's Word well enough to discern truth from error (Hebrews 5:11-14). This is why the position that only designated leaders can properly interpret the Bible is especially pernicious . . . 

If you understand the first lesson, it also helps you to understand why church history contains so many divisions and atrocities.

Many people are stumbled by the fact that Christendom has so many denominations and sects. They reason that if Christianity is the truth, there should be only one church. But the truth is actually a little more complicated than this.

Some divisions are not bad at all, according to the New Testament. Jesus and the apostles never envisioned one organizational structure for the church. True Christians can be united by their common faith in Christ and love for one another even though they may work among different peoples in different groups (e.g., PAUL & PETER in Galatians 2:7-9).

Many divisions, however, are the result of false teachers and true Christians' faithfulness to Jesus and his teaching. If a false teacher is trying to infiltrate a truly Christian group, those Christians have an obligation to resist (and even remove) such people. If the Christians succeed, and the false teacher starts a new group, he will call it “Christian.” If, however, the false teacher gains power over the original group so that the true Christians leave, they will of course call their new group “Christian.” This is how you can get so many groups that call themselves “Christian” even though they do not believe in the Jesus of the New Testament. These kinds of divisions were happening even in the apostolic period, when false teachers whom the apostles kicked out started their own movements and called them Christian (Simon in Acts 8; Hymenaeus & Alexander in 1 Timothy 1:19-20; 2 Timothy 2:17-18; Gnostics in 1 John 2:19). The same thing has continued over the past 20 centuries. Many groups were started by false teachers who were rightfully removed from Christian groups. Others gradually took over Christian groups until Christians left that group to start new churches.

Many Christians (not to mention non-Christians) are stumbled by the horrors that have been perpetrated by the Church and people who claim to be Christians. The Church has had an especially terrible record in justifying anti-Semitism, for example.

“The medieval Roman church progressively stripped the Jewish people of legal rights . . . that had taken centuries to procure under the pagan Roman Empire. The decrees of the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215 under Pope Innocent III ordered Jews to wear distinctive garments, ostensibly to curtail intimate relationships between Jews and Christians.”⁴

Some of the most virulent anti-Semitic attitudes in Nazi Germany were approved and promoted by Protestant denominations. Consider this 1935 letter from a Lutheran pastor to Julius Streicher, editor of the hate magazine Der Sturmer: “ . . . As a Lutheran pastor, I must thank you for the courageous words with which you replied to the incredible statements of the Provincial Brethren Council [of the Confessing Church] in Saxony. We stand enthusiastically behind your struggle against the Jewish death watch beetles which are undermining our German nation. So too against those friends of Jewry which are to be found even in the ranks of the Protestant pastorate. We will fight alongside you and we will not give up until the struggle against all Jewry and against the murderers of our Savior has been brought to a victorious end, in the spirit of Christ and of Martin Luther. In true fellowship, I greet you with Heil Hitler!”⁵

How can Christianity be true if Jesus' followers are guilty of these atrocities? In general, the answer is: They weren't Christ's followers at all. Although true Christians are certainly capable of seriously misrepresenting Christ, the most shameful episodes (like the above) have usually been perpetrated by “bad fish”—nominal or counterfeit Christians. Over against this, true Christians (like Corrie Ten Boom, for example) have often been heroic in their efforts to save Jews.

Finally, it emphasizes the importance of realizing that affiliation with a church (including this church) doesn't ensure that you belong to Christ's kingdom. A famous Christian preacher from the early 20^th century expressed this truth this way: “Going into a church doesn't make you a Christian any more than going into a garage makes you a car.” The same can be said about church membership, being baptized and taking communion, reciting the Apostle's Creed, etc. You could do all of these things—and still be one of the bad fish! Or you could have done none of these things and be one of the good fish! This is because belonging to Christ and his kingdom requires making a personal decision to ask Christ to live in your heart.

In Revelation 3, Jesus spoke to people who were affiliated with the church in Laodecia, but who didn't belong to his kingdom. Even though they attended meetings and assented to the teachings, he loves them enough to tell them that they are still spiritually blind and naked. But he doesn't stop there—he also issues this invitation (read Revelation 3:20).

Have you made this decision? Have you called out to Jesus personally and asked him to come into your heart and forge a personal relationship between you and him? This is the step that takes you from being involved with Jesus' kingdom to actually belonging to him and his kingdom.

Footnotes

Kingdom Parables Teaching List

Teachings of Matthew