Mat 13:49 | KingComments | STEP | In the parable of the dragnet, the Lord Jesus explains how the church, which He presented in the previous parables, is acquired. He makes it clear that this is done through the involvement of His servants who, over time, have pulled the dragnet of the gospel through the sea of nations. The Word of the kingdom is a dragnet through which all kinds of people come into the kingdom. It is the fishermen’s responsibility to separate the good from the bad. The good ones they put in containers. The bad they throw away. In the explanation, the evil are dealt with by angels. The servants are only concerned with the good. Unlike the parable of the tares, the servants are active here, while with the tares they only assess and are forbidden from separating the evil from the good. We cannot purge the evil from Christianity, but we can separate those who belong to that treasure and pearl from the others and gather them together. The practical teaching of this parable is that the good are separated from the evil and that the good are gathered in the same space. That has happened more than once. Many good are united everywhere into a whole in local churches. Here the sorting already takes place, while in the parable of the tares among the wheat sorting takes place at the end, because they have to grow up together until the harvest. The final distinction will be made by angels at the end of the age. They are concerned with the wicked, who they will separate from among the righteous and throw into the furnace of fire (see also ). In this way, the explanation goes further than the parable and adds facts.

‏ Matthew 13:49

The Dragnet

In the parable of the dragnet, the Lord Jesus explains how the church, which He presented in the previous parables, is acquired. He makes it clear that this is done through the involvement of His servants who, over time, have pulled the dragnet of the gospel through the sea of nations. The Word of the kingdom is a dragnet through which all kinds of people come into the kingdom. It is the fishermen’s responsibility to separate the good from the bad. The good ones they put in containers. The bad they throw away.

In the explanation, the evil are dealt with by angels. The servants are only concerned with the good. Unlike the parable of the tares, the servants are active here, while with the tares they only assess and are forbidden from separating the evil from the good. We cannot purge the evil from Christianity, but we can separate those who belong to that treasure and pearl from the others and gather them together.

The practical teaching of this parable is that the good are separated from the evil and that the good are gathered in the same space. That has happened more than once. Many good are united everywhere into a whole in local churches.

Here the sorting already takes place, while in the parable of the tares among the wheat sorting takes place at the end, because they have to grow up together until the harvest. The final distinction will be made by angels at the end of the age. They are concerned with the wicked, who they will separate from among the righteous and throw into the furnace of fire (see also Mt 13:42). In this way, the explanation goes further than the parable and adds facts.