Setting: Contemporary Worship
Length: 36:05
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Title: Parable of the Net
Commentary: The message of this parable is similar to the Parable of the Wheat and Tares. It is worthwhile to compare the two.
Main Scripture: Matthew 13:47-52
Main Topics: parables, judgment, fishing, unbelief
As you listen, select, copy, and paste the following outline:
Review of Tip #1: Understand the basic style
There were 3 ways to fish
1. line and hook
-for example: the story of Peter and Jesus in Matt.17:24-27
2. amphiblestron or Cast net
-remember when Jesus called Peter and Andrew for the first time in Matthew 4:18-19
3. sagene or siene or dragnet
48 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.
-remember tip #1: the basic strategy was to use a familiar analogy to convey a spiritual point
-so, Jesus wastes no time in telling the spiritual point, He says…
49This is how it will be at the end of the age.
-Jesus compares the separation of good and bad fish to the final separation on judgment day...when the wicked and the righteous will be separated
-he says in v.49….The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous 50and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Does this sound familiar to you?
-It should, we just finished the parable of the wheat and tares
WHY
1. The message is the same, but the emphasis is different
The wheat and tares: judgment is delayed
The Net: judgment is definitive
2. The message is the same, but the explanation is given to different audiences
The wheat and tares: given privately to the disciples
The Net: given publicly to the people
3. The message is the same, but the function is different
The wheat and tares: to present a new worldview about the present and future judgment
The Net: to warn the people about the sudden future judgment
* and one more function: the parable of the net…it functions as a
closer
-by the way, do you see what we doing?
-we are comparing the 8 parables….
-organizing them as a set
-we are talking about parable #2: wheat and tares
-and comparing it to parable #7: the net
-and saying that #7 close the cove
-and that #8 is given privately to the disciples
-and so on and so on…
-and when we do this…we are interpreting God’s Word here in chapter 13 on an additional level
-a higher level….a bird’s eye view of the chapter
-sure you can extract one and study it independently and never thinking about its relationship to the others
-sure you can gain wisdom from each individual parable
-but a bird’s eye view gives you additional insight… insight into the master plan behind the 8 parables
-so, the comparing of parable #2 and #7 gives us a glimpse into Jesus’ strategy….that this is NOT a random collection, but an organized presentation
-that’s the big picture you need to see…
-and this will become even clearer when we backtrack and pick up 3, 4, 5, 6: mustard, yeast, treasure and pearl…
-so, in the big picture
#2 has it own unique position
#7 definitely has its own unique position as it emphasizes the definitive judgment of God
-sending the crowd home a bit disturbed as they heard a very dark conclusion
-but…that was his style
-take for example, the sermon on the mount
-what functioned as the closer?
-so, the closer is….a house crashing down
-and in Matthew 13, the closer is…weeping and gnashing of teeth
-and reality is…Sower’s Cove was not a happy place
-remember back in vvs.14-15, Jesus said
14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
“you will be ever hearing but never understanding;
You will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15 For this people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes
And hear with their ears
And understand with their hearts
And turn, and I would heal them
Tip #2:
Understand its double function: To reveal and to conceal
vs.6 But blessed are your eyes because they see and your ears because they hear.
Compare the Net to the Parable of the Wheat and Tares.
They have the same message, but have some important differences.
* The following traditional version contains perspective of "weeping and gnashing of teeth" that is not found in the sermon above.
The series of parables in Matthew 13 ends with a tragic event. Click to find out:
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