THE PARABLE OF THE DRAGNET

-Matthew 13:47-50

-This parable teaches the same lesson as the Parable of the Tares – at the end of the

  world there will be a separation of good and evil.

-Notice, the emphasis is not placed on the net itself but in the gathering out of the net.

-Just like the Tares, this parable is not focusing on the activities within the church. 

  Instead, it is focusing on the eventual deliverance/separation of the church from evil

  at the end of the world.

          -vs 49 – “So shall it be at the end of the world…”

-The kingdom was going to spread throughout the world but not everybody would

  respond and have a place in the kingdom.  When the end of the world comes, those

  who are not a part of the kingdom will be cast away.

-In regards to this parable and the Parable of the Tares, Lightfoot says, “Fish are either

 good or bad.  What is not wheat is weeds.  Jesus teaches in these two parables that men

 are either good or bad and that there is no ‘in between’”. (p48)