Title: “Parables of the Kingdom Part V – The Dragnet” Script: Mt. 13:47-50
Type: Series/expos. Where: GNBC 2-25-24
Intro: If you were a child in the 1960’s you most likely remember the tv series that introduced the world to Sgt. Joe Friday and his faithful assistant, officer Bill Gannon. “Dragnet” ran for 4 seasons, from 1967-1970. “The best-known quote from the TV series Dragnet was never actually said by Sgt. Joe Friday…or at least not quite. It was used in a pseudo-parody movie with Dan Aykroyd adapting the phrase from two similar statements: “All we want are the facts, ma’am” and “All we know are the facts, ma’am.” (SA, 10-1-12). Well, today we are looking at the final of the Kingdom Parables in Mt. 13, although there is one more parable in Mt. 13, although it is a parable of application for Jesus’ audience. There is a lot of speculation amongst Christians when it comes to eschatology (end times) with a lot of interesting conclusions made from what Jesus did or didn’t say. As we wrap up these parables of the Kingdom of Heaven, we see that Jesus makes some very clear statements about its consummation. So, per the advice of Sgt. Friday, it is our intention to “Know the facts, ma’am.”
Prop: Exam Mt. 13, we’ll recognize 3 pertinent facts pertaining to the consummation of the KOH.
BG: 1. This is the 7th of the parables of the KOH in Mt. 13.
2. The author of this Gospel, Matthew, was referred to as “Levi” by Luke and Mark. Tax collector.
3. No easy way around it. This parable is a parable of judgment. Christ is concluding His parables of the KOH and is now stating a concerning truth:
Prop: Looking at Mt. 13 we’ll notice 3 pertinent facts pertaining to the consummation of the KOH.
I. Preparation for Final Judgment v. 47
A. This Final Parable of the KOH relates to the Consummation of the Age.
1. This parable relates to judgment at the end of the age.
a. I want you to notice a similarity herein to the parable of “The Wheat and the Tares”. However, the emphasis herein in on the end of the Age. In the parable of “The Wheat and the Tares”, the sower sowing suggests the beginning of the age. The net being dragged to shore suggests the end/the consummation of the Age. As we have seen in the 7 parables the emphasis moves from the advent of the KOH to its dynamic value, an understanding of its incredible value, to now, its consummation.
b. When one considers a passage we often look at those passages independently of one another, but Matthew 13 is an excellent example of why we must look at Scripture in the context of Scripture. Each of these parables, arguably, stands alone, however, they must be seen as combining together to contribute to an entire message that Jesus was teaching His disciples (Us today!) as to the Advent, Growth, Value, and Consummation of the Kingdom.
2. This Parable is built around the image of a common fishing implement: A dragnet.
a. Illust: As a boy I fished a lot. We sometimes used a landing net if we knew there was a potential of catching very large fish that could break the lines (Channel Cats and Spoonbill Carp), However, I can only remember one time, as a very little boy watch my grandfather and an uncle us a large net to catch smelt in Michigan. In my memory I would guess the nets were 20-30’ long, My grandfather waded out several feet from shore and then he and my uncle would pull the net towards shore. That even they caught the tiny smelt by the gunny sack full! One type of net helped to catch one specific fish. The other type of net gathered all its path.
b. Certainly Peter, Andrew, James, and John, were all listening intently as Jesus made reference to an important tool of their trade. There were actually two types of nets used by fishermen in the time of Christ. The one being alluded to here was the “sagene” or “seine net” with floats on the top edges and weights at the bottom. In deep water fishing, two or three boats would work together to set up a net between them and chase fish into the net. These nets covered an immense area of lake surface, and encircled and naturally indiscriminately gathered all types of fish.
B. The KOH, like a Dragnet, indiscriminately gathers in all types of people.
1.The Dragnet is illustrative of the influence of the KOH.
a. v.47 – gathering fish of every kind (ek pantos genous). Most scholars agree that the exaggerated inclusiveness of this phrase may be an intentional reflection on the universality of the invitation to accept the Good News of the KOH. Isn’t this what is being taught by our Lord when Jesus tells the parable of the Wedding Feast later, in Mt. 22. There again, Jesus is speaking of the KOH, and how the King is inviting His citizens (The Jews) to come to the wedding feast of His Son. However, they refuse to come, so the King sends out His slaves. In fact, these invited guests reject and mistreat and even kill the King’s emissaries. So an army is sent by the King to destroy the city and punish these evil doers. Then, He commands His messengers to go out to the highways, inviting all they could find, “both evil and good and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests.” (Mt. 22:10). Good and evil were invited in. No distinction was made as to the invitation. The dragnet was cast without discrimination into the waters. Friend, we are to preach the Gospel to everyone! We are not to make distinctions. It is not our business to. The Kings servants went out inviting all to the banquet. The fishermen throw the dragnet into the deep. The very nature of the enormous dragnet makes it impossible to attempt to specifically catch just one type of fish. You and I are called today to preach the Good News of the Kingdom of Heaven to every man, woman, and child, and every ethnic group in the world. No choice.
b. So, whereas the parable of the Wheat and Tares may have only implied a mixture of the unrighteous and the righteous in the Church, the Parable of the Dragnet makes this point abundantly clear. The Church will have true believers and false believers.
2. We are to proclaim the KOH indiscriminately.
a. In proclaiming the KOH the disciples had fulfilled Christ’s calling that they would become “Fishers of Men” (Mt. 4:19). Did all persevere in their initial commitment? No! Were there those who did not live up to the standards of the church? Of course! But v.48 holds the key to this passage that we’ll explore more deeply in a few moments: “when it was filled”. This hints at the end of the Age. It points to the eschatological fulfillment of v. 49. This points to the present reality of the mixture of both good and evil in the Kingdom in this age. There are and will continue to be a mixture of peoples represented in the Church and there is not a hint of suggestion in this or any of the previous parables of the KOH in Mt. 13, that the good will get better and the evil lessen to the point of its elimination from earth. Quite the contrary, all will remain the same until the 2nd coming of Christ, at the end of Age, where the ultimate separation will take place.
b. How does this relate to our ministry vision for 2024? We are to preach the Gospel to see people Redeemed. We are to disciple and counsel to see people Restored to the full potential they have in Christ. We are to Recruit these growing believers to various ministries in the KOH. And finally, we are to Release them upon the attainment of a level of maturity into ministry to the Body w/in the KOH. And in 35 yrs of ministry I have seen people succeed at every one of those 4 points and I have also seen people flounder, flail, and fail at every one of those four points.
C. Applic: The first main point of this parable that we see is Preparation for the Final Judgment.
II. Preservation of the Righteous v. 48
A. The Gospel of the KOH Involves Invitation as well as Separation.
1. The Gospel of the KOH Involves Invitation.
a. The Gospel is a message of invitation that will be received by multitudes. This picture gives us incredible insight into how the kingdom, like the net, gathers all kinds of people up in it. In fact we know from the book of Revelation that John saw a glimpse of the end times community of believers. He said; “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.” Revelation 7:9 An uncountable multitude. Every nation, tribe, people, and language. All standing before the throne, ready to worship.
b. Those who have come into Christ’s Kingdom have believed and received His invitation. Christ knows His own.
2. The Gospel of the KOH Involves both Invitation and Separation/Discrimination.
a. One of those is a word we don’t like to use today in our tolerant and inclusive society. Friend, let me tell you something: God didn’t get that memo from HR or from the office of diversity and inclusiveness. The disciples, especially the fishermen of the group, were familiar with these nets and readily understood the imagery. This net caught all varieties of fish. Once the net was full, men working in boats or on shore dragged the net in and sorted the fish. God’s net, here God’s call to judgment, will gather every person and the angels will divide them into two groups (Wilkins 489), those who followed Jesus and those did not.
b. Illust: Men on the shore had the task of going thru the catch and separating the good from the bad. There were no game wardens and PETA was nowhere to be found…it was simply man having dominion over the earth and making a living. It was discrimination which led to separation. This parable reveals to us what God is doing among lost people today. The gospel of the kingdom involves two things: invitation, but it also clearly involves separation.
B. As Believers We Will Continue and Persevere, Knowing Christ Preserves the Righteous
1. The main stress in this story is on the future, when the net is pulled up on shore. This brings this parable in line with the parable of the weeds, in which everything is left until the time of the harvest. The pulling up of the net, when the world comes to its last day, is identical to the harvest. That makes this parable a worthy conclusion of the series, because it draws our gaze to the future to the goal to be reached. We still live in the days when the net is in the water, but the time will come when it is pulled ashore.
2. God still preserves the righteous today. Illust: Nichelle Nichols played Uhura in the original Star Trek TV series and 6 movies. She was one of the first black women regularly featured on a national television broadcast. As a black woman, Nichols faced many challenges. Studio executives diminished her part in scripts. The studio even withheld fan mail from her. At one point, she told Gene Roddenberry, the series producer, that she was fed up and ready to quit. She was already an extremely talented professional singer and dancer and thought it might be better to pursue her performing career. The producer, Roddenberry begged her to stay, and a little-known fan, by the name of Dr. ML King Jr., told Nichols that she had to stay on the show because she was a positive role model for young black girls! The rest, as you know, is history. Nichols became a permanent fixture on Star Trek and a sci-fi starlet known the world over. You see, by giving up her own plans and by pushing thru her doubts and fears, by persevering, she succeeded more than imaginable. As Christians, only when we die to ourselves – only when we die to our own affections and persevere in the faith – may we be assured of something far more important – entrance into the KOH! (CP, Creech, 4-17-21)
C. Applic: The message of the dragnet is that although Christ’s visible Church is infiltrated with false believers, He knows His own.
III. Punishment of the Wicked vv.49-50
A. The Parable Concludes with the Sober Warning of Judgment at the End of the Age.
1. The Parable Focuses on The Reality of Judgment at the End of the Age.
a. *Illust – In 1986 The glam metal band, “Europe” released the song, “The Final Countdown”, was a monster hit, reaching #1 in 25 nations, including the UK, and topping out at #8 on the US’s Billboard top 100. It is still one of the iconic songs of that decade. Now if you are able to remember 1986 you may recall that it was a year marked by the tragedy of Chernobyl, and the Challenger disaster, and heightening Cold War tensions. The song speaks somewhat apocalyptically about leaving earth and optimistically about flying in a spacecraft to Venus. The theme of the song was one of escape.
b. Vv.49-50 let’s us all now that the band Europe’s hope is but a pipe dream. There is no escape. V.49 – The determinative clause is found in v. 49 “So it will be then at the end of the age.” The cry of many has been: “Why doesn’t God judge evil?” “Why is evil allowed to exist?” “Why do the wicked prosper?” And the secularists and sometimes even the saved assume one of two false conclusions: 1. God is not powerful enough to defeat evil. 2. God is not concerned. Illust: Friends, not too long ago my wife and I were planning to book some airline tickets for an upcoming flight. Her date of proposed travel and my date didn’t match up. She was insistent that the day of the week and month was X and I insisted it was “Y”. Do you think it mattered that I was looking at an old planning calendar from 2023? Sure! And so friend, you who want to question why God doesn’t judge evil, may I gently tell you that you are looking at the wrong calendar! Look at God’s timetable. Not man’s. Not yours. He knows best and He is going to judge!
2. Judgment will come to all who reject Christ and who choose to live in opposition to Christ.
a. There is a lot of talk today in American evangelicalism about Christian Deconstructionism. Faith deconstruction, deconstructing faith, evangelical deconstruction, the deconstruction movement, or simply deconstruction, is a phenomenon within evangelicalism in which Christians rethink their faith and jettison previously held beliefs, sometimes to the point of no longer identifying as Christians. Josh Harris. Marty Sampson, Paul Maxwell, Abraham Piper, Dave Gass, Greg Boyd, etc. “Deconstruction” is simply a more culturally pleasing way of saying two words that most churches refuse to say of individuals who walk away from the faith or walk away from sound doctrine: 1. Apostate. 2. Heretic. (The Big Eva in America calls for little commitment, no doctrinal affirmation, and lifestyles completely contrary to the clarion call of Scripture. We don’t want to hear the judgment of conscience; we want to destroy the judgment of conscience. That’s our nature. The only antidote is knowing the mind of Christ.
b. John MacArthur said there are two items of importance in relation to the net. 1. It is immense in its size. 2. It brings in everything in its catch – a conglomerate and inclusive catch. Men live in this world imagining themselves to be free, moving about, fulfilling their own desires, going here and going there as they will, with little knowledge that the net comes closer and closer and closer. People float about in the liberty of the wide deep sea of life, not knowing the invisible lines of judgment move closer and closer and closer. And each time they are touched by it, they move a little further away. And they’re touched again and they move a little further away. But in the end, they are caught and they face judgment: Heb. 9:27-28 declares: “For it is appointed to man to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.” Notice again…judgment for some whereas salvation for others at the coming of Christ!
B. Many Who Assume they are in the KOH will in fact not be.
1. That is the essence of this parable.
a. All sorts of fish have been “caught up” in the capturing influence of the dragnet. Certainly, all type of people, for all types of reasons associate with Christ’s Church. Many have the purest of motives. Sadly, many do not.
b. Because of its large character, the net collects a multitude of different kinds of fish, described in the text as “every kind.” Nets of this size were too large to empty into a boat and had to be drawn to shore. Here the fish were sorted. Those that were bad, or for any reason unusable, were cast back into the sea. The good fish were gathered into the vessel.
2.
a. This familiar operation on the shores of the Sea of Galilee was compared to the judgment at the end of the age. Angels were described as separating those who are wicked from among the righteous, the wicked being described as wailing and gnashing their teeth as they were cast into the furnace of fire (Mt 13:50)
b. Illust: Crossroads Church in Cincinnati, OH. Boasts 34,000 in attendance in its multiple campus church. Superbowl Sunday had their annual “Superbowl of Preaching Sunday”. On that Sunday all pastors wore favorite team jerseys. Instead of hymns or worship songs sang such theologically inspirational songs as: Garth Brook’s “I got Friends in low Places (Whisky flows and bear chases. Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” and Miley’s Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball” The highlight of this service where staff declares: “Church should be fun.” Was when the Bible was kicked on stage not 1 but 2 times to the high fives of the pastoral staff. Don’t care 1000’s going. Satan can always get an audience. I would recommend that the staff should do a devotional, for the next month, in this passage.
C. Applic: The main stress in this story is on the future, when the net is pulled up on shore. This brings this parable in line with the parable of the weeds, in which everything is left until the time of the harvest. The pulling up of the net, when the world comes to its last day, is identical to the harvest. This parable draws our gaze to the future to the goal to be reached. We still live in the days when the net is in the water, but the time will come when it is pulled ashore and eternal separation takes place.
