Matthew 13:47-52 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. “Have you understood all these things?” Jesus asked. “Yes,” they replied. He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”
In the parable of the weeds and in the above parable, Jesus expresses a horrifying end for the unrighteous. In the weed parable, As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13:40-42) And with the fish, 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. However, Jesus juxtaposes this disastrous ending of fire for the ungodly with a glorious future for the redeemed. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. In Malachi we also have a description of the end of time with a similar positive existence for those who live upright lives. A scroll of remembrance was written concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name. “On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.” (Malachi 3:16-18) In today’s parable, Jesus reminds the people of the certainty of a judgment day. The kingdom of heaven is like a net over all God has made. As a net in a lake, his authority will delve into even the deepest parts of existence, pulling up all people ever created. The angels will analyze the quality of the fish. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous. The sad conclusion of this parable is that the wicked will be judged with unending fire, for they have been found worthless to God’s kingdom. Such end time parables are hard for our ears, for we also know Jesus asks us to forgive seventy times seventy—a perfect number. But this parable as with the others talks about a constant eternal rebellion solidified in the hearts of men and women. The evil one planted this hardness in men’s hearts at the beginning of time. God used this hardness with Pharaoh who would not let the Israelites go, displaying his power over Pharaoh’s stubbornness by performing many miracles detrimental to Egypt. Pharaoh was a weed or an unclean fish that God used to bring glory to himself. As humans we are caught in our perspective of enduring love. Therefore, when we hear Jesus speak of pending judgment for all unbelievers, we question the harshness of this sentence. But rebellion is a cancer to the harmony of eternal existence. The book of Revelation clearly describes the unending struggle of mankind against the authority of God. Eternal love demands justice, and complete justice was epitomized by Christ on the cross. The cross is the power of God to wipe away every trace of sin. But accepting Jesus’ work is a choice, for we are not automatons but have a will of our own or we would not sin. Genesis shows the tower of Babel as a threat to God. Whether you see this as a mythical story or as a true incident matters not, for the story reveals man’s rebellious desire to be as God is as with Adam and Eve in the Garden. So we see God saying, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” (Genesis 11:6-7) As God’s created entities, we are extremely powerful and dangerous. Laws and commandments by God and by man himself have been as a bit in mankind’s mouth; yet, man’s uncontrollable spirit has shattered every mouthpiece with wars, murders, thievery, discontent, rape, slavery, and the like. Consequently, judgment day will come, for justice demands it. At his coming, we will stand in God’s presence either with the cloak of righteousness won for us through the cross or we will stand before him in the weakness of our own efforts to be good. Our own efforts to be spotless are not inclusive enough. As James wrote, even if we prefer one person above another in a congregational setting, we are sinning. We might as well have broken all of Moses’ commandments if we break one, for we are guilty of them all. We need a Savior, a way to be in right standing with God. The word salvation ranks high in scripture, for it implies that humans need to be saved from the judgment fire of the Holy One. Does all this mean that God is not love. No, never! God is a just God; Jesus came for those who needed justice. He came for the lame, sick, blind, and the dead. He came for the poor, the hurting, the despised. Of course, that means He came for all of us, for whosoever would believe on his name. Justice will reign on judgment day.
Jesus asked his disciples if they understood what He was saying. They said, yes. Jesus compliments them on their response by saying, Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old. By their understanding of what will happen in the last day, they will be energized to know more about God and more about the needs of mankind. They will begin to discover from God’s storehouse new treasures of wisdom and knowledge as the Spirit reveals them. The best example of Jesus’ statement is the apostle Paul, a teacher of the law. When Peter addresses the last days he refers to Paul. Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. (2 Peter 3:15-16) Paul’s writings can be hard to understand in an Old Testament context, but they are new treasures out of God’s storehouse of wisdom. Another teacher of the law is Apollo, a Jewish scholar from Alexandria in Egypt. In Ephesus he taught about Jesus with an enthusiastic spirit and with accuracy. But he knew only about John’s baptism of repentance and of turning towards the Lord. His understanding of Jesus as the Messiah and his knowledge of the Holy Spirit in believers probably needed more accuracy. Because, when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately. (Acts 18:26) Because of his understanding of the law, Apollo was able to debate the Jewish scholars, convincing them of the validity of the Good News, bringing forth new treasure from the wisdom of God. But Jesus reiterates that those who have ears should hear. When Apollo first taught of Christ, he did not understand fully the works of God’s Spirit. In fact, the knowledge about the Spirit of God was probably absent from his teaching. Later after Priscilla and Aquila’s instruction, he accepted this part of the Good News. But we see Paul entering Ephesus after Apollo departed to the Corinthian church. Paul meets some believers, probably products of Apollo’s teaching and asks them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied. Paul instructs them about the reality of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Then he placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. (See Acts 19:2-6) Paul presents these men with new treasure from the household of God. Apollo as with Paul was a scholar, a disciple of the kingdom of Heaven. He understood the treasures in the Old Testament, presenting these treasures in a new way, so forcefully that even unbelieving Jews were convinced of the Good News he was teaching. Paul and Apollo in their teachings were like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.
Jesus’ words remain true—always fulfilled. Often the words of Jesus are rationalized when we read them. We say, Jesus probably did not say or mean exactly that. When we taught the red letter words (the words of Jesus) in Sunday school, people sometimes qualified or interpreted them in a way more palatable to them. In their rationalizations, they said, we do not believe Jesus would hurt or destroy people. We do not believe Jesus actually said we must be perfect as God is perfect. We do not believe Jesus said we must lose our lives to save our lives. Of course by saying these things, they implied, we do not believe in a just and righteous God who cannot even look upon sin. The words of judgment in the Bible are hard to accept, probably because we have made allowances for sin in our lives. Mankind tries to control sin by laws and regulations. Individuals try to control our sin by saying we will make a better effort next time. But we must know eternity is a spotless existence, and only spotless people, cleansed by Jesus, will inherit a place with a spotless God as citizens of his household. In Jesus’ discussion with the disciples about disasters of that time, He seemed unconcerned about the individuals involved. Instead, he turns these horrible happenings to a teaching moment about repentance. Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” (Luke 13:1-5) Jesus quickly points to the necessity of being right with God or they will perish. He is talking about an eternal judgment, one that will last forever. Perishing on earth is bad, sorrowful, but perishing eternally represents disaster. Jesus knows the scroll of the redeemed will someday be read by God. He knows those with names not written on the scroll are in great danger if they do not repent now. The names that are written on the scroll are God’s people: the wheat, the good fish. The Kingdom of God is his kingdom, his creation, and his will is to be done in his kingdom. Anything other than his will needs repentance and a clearing away of sin. JUDGMENT DAY WILL COME! Will we be hidden IN CHRIST or will we come before God in our uncleanness? The latter will definitely receive the horrible judgment of God, for eternity demands perfection. Only Christ is perfect, only He is sinless. Think of the old gospel hymn: Are you washed in the blood? FOR YOU DIED, AND YOUR LIFE IS NOW HIDDEN WITH CHRIST IN GOD. WHEN CHRIST, WHO IS YOUR LIFE, APPEARS, THEN YOU ALSO WILL APPEAR WITH HIM IN GLORY. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:1-4) To live in God’s presence we must be in his image inside and out. All rebellion to his authority must be gone. This is the new treasure as well as the old treasure that has come out of God’s storehouse. This new treasure was hidden from the great men of old, but now in the last days it has been revealed to us. GLORY TO GOD!
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