View of the fishing net

Sorting and picking is a familiar thing for all of us. In the material realm, we sort things, we get rid of the bad or worse things, we put them away, we destroy them… and, conversely, we keep the good. We also encounter picking and choosing according to certain criteria in various auditions and admissions. And we know that the criteria can be differently thought out; there can be unfairness, dishonesty, favoritism, and so on…
In the area of faith, too, there is talk of sorting.

In the Gospel, we are told the parable of the fisherman’s net, which catches different kinds of fish. When it is complete, they haul it ashore, sit down, pick the good fish into containers, and throw the bad ones out.

The Lord Jesus also gives a proper interpretation to the parable: “So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and shall separate the wicked from the righteous, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Mt. 13:49).
The net parable follows the warning already given in the parable of the tares among the wheat that evil Christians will not escape God’s punishment. We see that the Lord Jesus speaks plainly, and yet, despite this, many have failed to do the will of God as it was explained to them. Therefore, they will be cast out of the net, that is, out of the Church, in the end. This parable was close to the hearers of the Lord Jesus, for many were fishermen. Fishing was their daily occupation. These fishermen convinced themselves that they would often get different kinds of fish in their nets. And to such a fisherman’s net, cast into the sea, the Lord Jesus compares the kingdom of God.

After the fishermen’s net was drawn in, the fish sorting followed. The Lord Jesus has one great truth to declare; so shall it be at the world’s end. There God will separate the good from the bad because God is a righteous Judge who rewards the good and punishes the bad.
Jesus also tells this parable to the apostles to emphasize the role of the apostle and their successors. The mission of an apostle is likened to the work of a fisherman. Fishing symbolizes the job done to save people. Just as both bad and good fish get caught in the net, so the apostles and their successors embrace all with Christ’s teaching. Thus, both the good and the unworthy are caught in the net of the kingdom of heaven. But the end will come. A lot of the righteous are not mentioned here. But it is clear from the parable. Many wicked are the same as the tares among the wheat (cf. Mt. 13:24-30). The goal of the parable teaches us that we are to accept all who claim Christ. Our mission is not to judge but to witness. Only a final judgment, similar to the parable of the tares among the wheat, will resolve the question of who belongs to the kingdom of heaven and who does not.

As a boy, the famous Persian poet Saudi sat by his father’s bedside and read the Koran. Everyone in the house was asleep except the two of them. Saudi said to his father: “They are all asleep, no one prays, no one reads the holy books, they are like the dead.” But his father replied: “It would be better if you too were asleep than to condemn people.”

So we should not judge people who come to Christ’s Church. We have no right to condemn even the greatest sinner. Instead, the Church counsels us to pray for them. After all, the Lord Jesus came into the world for this very purpose, to seek and to save what seemed to be lost. He is the Good Shepherd who seeks even the lost sheep. We cannot begrudge Him in this.

We already understand the purpose of the Gospel, that we are to help the Lord Jesus find our brothers and sisters, to catch them in the net. And there is no limit to our ability to do that. Our example and prayer is a great thing that the blood of Christ may not be shed in vain, but that through our instrumentality it may also bear abundant fruit so that there may be fewer and fewer of the wicked who will be cast into the fiery furnace.

Pope John Paul I, the Pope of Smiles, although he was Pope for a very short time, only 33 days, said in 1978: “May each one of us strive to be good, may we strive to infect others with the goodness and love that the Lord Jesus taught…”

As for ourselves, let us not trust ourselves too much. Today we stand firm; tomorrow, we may fall. David was a man of holy living, and he fell… Therefore, the prayer for steadfastness in goodness and faithfulness in God’s service be lifted from our lips. Just belonging to the Church will not save us, for there will still be sorting. Let the sorting and the choosing, as well as the auditions and the admissions, remind us of the last one at the world’s end.

In the Gospel, we are told the parable of the fisherman’s net, which catches different kinds of fish. When it is complete, they haul it

The Lord Jesus also gives a proper interpretation to the parable: “So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and shall separate the wicked from the righteous, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Mt. 13:49).
The net parable follows the warning already given in the parable of the tares among the wheat that evil Christians will not escape God’s punishment. We see that the Lord Jesus speaks plainly, and yet, in spite of this, many have failed to do the will of God as it was explained to them. Therefore, they will be cast out of the net, that is, out of the Church, in the end. This parable was close to the hearers of the Lord Jesus, for many were fishermen. Fishing was their daily occupation. These fishermen convinced themselves that they would often get different kinds of fish in their nets. And to such a fisherman’s net, cast into the sea, the Lord Jesus compares the kingdom of God.

After the fishermen’s net was drawn in, the fish sorting followed. The Lord Jesus has one great truth to declare; so shall it be at the world’s end. There God will separate the good from the bad, and this is because God is a righteous Judge who rewards the good and punishes the bad.
Jesus also tells this parable to the apostles to emphasize the role of the apostle and their successors. The mission of an apostle is likened to the work of a fisherman. Fishing symbolizes the work done to save people. Just as both bad and good fish get caught in the net, so the apostles and their successors embrace all with Christ’s teaching. Thus both the good and the unworthy are caught in the net of the kingdom of heaven. But the end will come. A lot of the righteous are not mentioned here. But it is clear from the parable. A lot of the wicked is the same as the tares among the wheat (cf. Mt. 13:24-30).

The goal of the parable teaches us that we are to accept all who claim Christ. Our mission is not to judge but to witness. Only a final judgment, similar to the parable of the tares among the wheat, will resolve the question of who belongs to the kingdom of heaven and who does not.

As a boy, the famous Persian poet Saadi sat by his father’s bedside and read the Koran. Everyone in the house was asleep except the two of them. Saadi said to his father: “They are all asleep, no one prays, no one reads the holy books, they are like the dead.” But his father replied: “It would be better if you too were asleep than to condemn people.”

So we should not judge people who come to Christ’s Church. We have no right to condemn even the greatest sinner. Instead, the Church counsels us to pray for them. After all, the Lord Jesus came into the world for this very purpose, to seek and save what seemed to be lost. He is the Good Shepherd who seeks even the lost sheep. We cannot begrudge Him in this.