Sermon Tone Analysis

Parables of the Kingdom - The Dragnet

Matthew 13:47–52 (NIV84)

“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 fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

“Have you understood all these things?”

Jesus asked.

“Yes,” they replied.

He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”

The parables of the Kingdom are designed to aid the understanding of those who have “ears to hear” which is a coded way of saying, they make sense to those who can spiritually discern their meaning.

When Jesus was preaching the good news of the Kingdom of Heaven, many people heard him but not many followed Him.

In fact, some were angry with him and rejected and persecuted him.

It was tempting to think that this was due to something about Jesus and His message, but it was not the case as the Parable of the Sower explains the problem is not with the messenger or the message, the seed of God's Word.

It has all the potential to bring forth abundant fruit.

Sow it in the right soil and it brings forth thirty-fold, sixty-fold, hundred-fold.

Nothing wrong with the message!

So what is the problem?

The heart has a barrier that prevents the proper reception of the seed of God's Word.

As the Parable fo the Sower explains, there are four kinds of soils that describes four kinds of hearing.

Some hear, but to no effect because they are hardened and this ia a barrier that prevents the seed from being internalized.

Some hear, superficially, they have a very superficial layer of soil and when the sun comes up the seed that spouts in the shallow soil, dies.

Likewise there are some who are careless hearers, represented by the ground filled with lots of thorns and weeds that chokd up the seed of God's Word.

Finally, there is a good soil, a cultivated soil, a cultivated heart, that the seed of God's Word will bring forth abundant fruit.

So the point that Jesus is making, is that: There is nothing wrong with the message.

It has all the power to save!

The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes.

The problem lies not in the word.

The problem lies in our hearts.

And that's why God's people need to hear God's Word well.

It is not just sound waves bouncing off your eardrums.

it is hearing with a heart and commitment and intention not only to know but to obey and to do His will.

As Deuteronomy 6:4-6 says, “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One!

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul and all your mind and all your strength.”

Listen with the intention of doing something!

Of obeying and loving God in active service!

The 6 parables that follow are:

The WEEDS which shows how the Kingdom grows in the world, but its external manifestation contains both true believers and those who are only believers by name and it is not easy to tell them apart, and they have and always will co-exist in the Church, only the Judgment Day will separate the true from the false!

The MUSTARD SEED and YEAST speak of Kingdom growth.

The mustard seed is very small and the amount of leaven in bread is relatively small compared to the loaf it produces as it permeates the dough.

The Kingdom of Heaven is at work in the world and it is growing and influening society for the better.

The HIDDEN TREASURE and the PEARL are about the value or worth of the Kingdom!

He's teaching that people who belong to God, are people who see the all surpassing worth of knowing God through Jesus Christ.

The amazing worth of being forgiven of our sins, inheriting eternal life and being reconciled with God.

The deep joy that inspires us to give up all, to follow God, willing to deny ourselves and take up the cross to follow him.

This demonstrates for us the reality of our adoption as children of God, seeing the all surpassing worth of the Kingdom.

I.

The Parable Explained:

Today’s Parable has a modern sound to it - The Parable of the Net - but read carefully, not the Parable of the Internet but the Parable of the Dragnet!:

It's the last of the 7 parables recorded here by Matthew and it serves to highlight an important moment of discernment for Jesus and His disciples - “Have you understood all these things?”

Jesus asked.

“Yes,” they replied.

He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”(Matt

13:51-52).

Being “instructed about the Kingdom of Heaven” is the gateway entrance into a deeper understanding of the truths of God’s word.

We don’t want to be superficial about our understanding of the the truth of God’s word, we want to grow in it; to deepen our awareness of it; to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

This parable is about fishing!

in those days fishing was carried out via three main methods.

The hook and a line(see Matthew 17:27) that Peter used to hook the fish that helped him find his “four drachma coin” to pay for his and Jesus’ tax.

The small handheld net, a one-man casting net called an amphiblēstron was that which Peter and his brother Andrew were “casting” when Jesus called them to become “fishers of men” (Matt.

4:18–19).

This was a net which was small enough to be folded and carried over the fisherman’s shoulder as he waded in shallow water looking for fish near enough, to be caught.

This could be thrown so that it opened into a large circle and came down over the fish.

Weights around the perimeter of the net caused it to sink and trap the fish.

The fisherman then pulled on the cord, which was attached to the center of the net and drew it around the fish like a sack.

When the net had been pulled closed, the fisherman would haul his catch to shore.

Here in Matthew 13:47, the Greek word sagēnē, refers to a gigantic ‘net’ which is pulled by ships or boats, “the large ‘dragnet’ which is drawn between two boats or by ropes from the shore, collecting all fish and other creatures within the area covered, which must then be sorted out to remove the bad, i.e. those unsuitable for eating we would refer to trawling nets”(R T France) which would be captured by the net, hence the statement - “a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish.”

And note that Jesus is saying, “not everything caught in this net is good.”

A dragnet will catch some fish and squid and prawns, but it will also catch stones and vegetation and discarded junk so that once the net is full, you bring it to shore and the sorting process begins where the good is retained and the bad is cast away!

The idea here is that Jesus is saying that the Kingdom of God is like a gigantic net that underneath the surface of the water is silently but effectively gathering up people from the sea of humanity, capturing in the net, those who hear the Gospel and are exposed to Christian truth.

The Kingdom of Heaven is on the move and doing its job until “it was full” and the time came for the “fishermen” to pull it up to “shore” to be sorted - “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 fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into the containers but threw away the bad.” [Matthew 13:48-52).

II.

The Parable Applied:

1.

Not everyone exposed to the Gospel message is converted by the Gospel message!

Not everyone who hears Biblical teaching or preaching or attends church or professes to be a Christian will be saved.

It is not what people say they are; it is the quality and character of their lifestyle - are they “righteous” or “wicked”?

- “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 fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”(Matt

13:49-50).

Actions and lifestyle determine the children of God!

They are “righteous” and you see this in their behaviours - “by their fruit you will recongise them”

They are not sinless but they SIN LESS than they did!They are becoming more like Jesus; they are changing as a result of being “born again” of the Spirit of God and this is the evidence of their authenmticity!

It’s not enough to be just in the net!

I'm glad you're in the net; delighted that you're hearing God's Word but I am praying that you will not only be in the net but become part of the Kingdom of Heaven beecause one day, “The angels will come and separate the evil from the righteous.

[Matthew 13:49] and those who remain unchanged by the Gospel will be “thrown into the fiery furnace and that place will be where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

[Matthew 13:50]

There's nothing more tragic that you should hear God's Word and not repent, not believe and one day end up there!

You are privileged to hear God's Word today and have an opportunity to repent and believe in Him, please take it!

2. Those who truly understand the Gospel Message will be Changed by the Gospel message!

The KEY QUESTION asked here by Jesus is this - “Have you understood all these things?”(Matt

13:51).

It’s really important that we do!

As it tests our true identity as children of God and compels us to evaluate outselves - NOT OTHERS - with the test of God’s word.

Listen to Peter in 2 Peter 1:1-10: “This letter is from Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ.

I am writing to you who share the same precious faith we have.

This faith was given to you because of the justice and fairnessb of Jesus Christ, our God and Savior.

May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord.

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.

We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.

And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises.