Matthew 13:47-53
Matthew 13:47-53
Jesus said to the disciples: “The Kingdom of heaven
is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects
fish of every kind. When it is full they haul it
ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets.
What is bad they throw away. Thus it will be at the
end of the age. The angles will go out and separate
the wicked from the righteous and throw them into
the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and
grinding of teeth.
“Do you understand all these things?” They answered,
“Yes.” And he replied, “Then every scribe who has
been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven is like the
head of a household who brings from his storeroom
both the new and the old.” When Jesus finished these
parables, he went away from there.
“…The Kingdom of heaven is like…”
When Jesus refers to the Kingdom of heaven, He is
referring to a mystery which He fully understands
but we, in our limited human understanding, can only
understand it through our human culture. That is why
Jesus uses the human realities that are familiar to
His audience: net, fishing, fishes, buckets, etc.
By these metaphorical images, we are led by Jesus
to understand the mystery of the Kingdom of heaven
as one in which the reality of judgment will be
present. In a way, Jesus is telling us to be
vigilant and be alert, that we may always avoid
sin and evil and only do good. Otherwise, when
the end of the age comes, the evil in us will be
judged like those bad catch of fish that were thrown
away. However, if we live a life in the Spirit of
Jesus, we will be like the good fish that are placed
into buckets.
