God’s Dragnet
In this parable, often called “The Parable of the Dragnet,” Jesus opens a window for us into the future. He warns us of an event which is certain to take place at the end of time. All of this He does through a fishing scene which would have been very familiar to the disciples.
The fishermen in Jesus’ day would often use large dragnets to gather in their catch.
a. These nets had weights at the bottom of the net and floats at the top.
b. They would either . . .
1) Be pulled through the sea between two fishing boats, or
2) One end of the net would be taken out to sea by a single boat while the other end stayed on shore. The boat would then make a circle to another point on shore and the fishermen would begin the hard work of dragging the net toward the shore.
Nothing escaped — the net captured all different kinds of fish.
Once the net had been brought to land, the fishermen began the important job of sorting the fish:
a. Some of the fish were “keepers” while others were “junk fish” or too small to keep.
b. According to the Old Testament dietary laws, some fish (i.e., catfish) could not be eaten because they were considered unclean.
Thus the bad fish had to be separated from the good fish and thrown away.
Put another way, “the angels of heaven will come and separate the righteous from the unrighteous, the believers from the unbelievers, the saved from the unsaved.”