Tag: jesus

God’s Kingdom is Like…

We continue on in our God’s Kingdom is Like… series today with more from the Gospel of Matthew.

So far, we have lifted up the equity of God’s kingdom, the impossible hope of God’s kingdom, the patient work God’s kingdom requires, the value of God’s Kingdom, and what it takes to pursue it in truth. Today, we turn our attention to the discernment required for the kingdom, with a special emphasis on what is being discerned, by whom, and when.

A Net for Discernment

“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.

Matthew 13:47-51

Commentary

This is the final parable in this passage about the Kingdom of God from the Gospel of Matthew. After telling stories about the worth of the Kingdom, the impossible hope of the Kingdom, and the grace of the Kingdom, Jesus gives us this parable about fish being collected in a net, then kept or thrown away.

It’s a sentiment echoed throughout Jesus’ parables, perhaps most famously in the parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46), which tells of two categories of people – those who cared for the least of these and those who did not – and their respective fates, and its mention here feels like something of a shock after the beautiful teachings about the value of the Kingdom, the hope of what’s possible with the Kingdom, and the lessons about patience and grace which create the Kingdom.

Most people read this passage as yet another warning to live correctly, lest we be among those unlucky fish who are thrown away into the furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, yet this parable begins with the premise that this parable will teach us about God’s kingdom, which is quite different from the dangers of living unrighteously.

This parable does not compare the kingdom of God to the angels who discern which fish stay and which fish go, it starts with the phrase: “the Kingdom of heaven is like a net…”

That ‘net’ is cast by fishermen, and it catches all fish – the good, the bad, the ugly, and the in-between – and the discernment of whether or not they belong comes later after the fish have been caught and hauled onto shore.

The net casting and fish catching are their own matter; the discernment of which fish to keep are a separate matter. The kingdom of God is like the net that catches the fish, not the sorting from good to bad, and this matters greatly.

If we read this parable carelessly, we might come to the conclusion that part of our work in building God’s kingdom or praying for God’s kingdom to come is choosing which fish are good and which fish are bad, but the parable is explicit that this job falls not to humankind, but to the angels.

In reality, our job as Kingdom builders (or as fishers of men) is to cast the net and catch all the fish we can, to bring the good, the bad, the ugly, and all the rest into the reality of God’s Kingdom with us. From there, the choice of who belongs is a question for holier beings than us – and thank God for that!

Questions

As we congregate in our churches and worship together, are there people whom we exclude – either explicitly or without noticing? Where are the holes in our net, and how can we patch them up to create a space where all are welcome?

Some churches are explicit about who is not welcome in their community or how certain people have to change in order to belong in their net – before ever inviting them in. What does this parable offer by way of encouragement or correction to such churches? How can such churches more fully live into God’s kingdom or bring God’s kingdom to Earth?

A Blessing for Your Week

Beloved Child of God,

May your net be
A place to belong
A place to find help and comfort
A place for encouragement and accountability
May fish leap into your net
With joyful abandon
As you find that you’ve built
Heaven on Earth.

Amen.