“When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad.” Matthew 13:48 ESV1
Read Matthew 13:47-52
When I was parenting my children, I made a practice of saying yes whenever possible no matter how much sacrifice or inconvenience saying yes might require. I did this for one reason—so that when I had to say no, it meant something. I believe Jesus does the same thing; He says yes way more than He says no. But when He says no it is for a very important reason.
Shortly after Jesus began teaching the crowds in parables, He pulled His closest disciples away from the masses and shared with them a few personal parables. One of those parables was The Parable of the Dragnet. It went like this:
“‘The Kingdom of Heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. So, it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’” (Matthew 13:47-50).
In this parable, Jesus said several yeses. But He also included a couple of very important nos. These nos literally mean the difference between eternal life or death.
Yes, to a relationship with Him
When we hear “Kingdom of Heaven,” we may first think of something in the governmental or political realm where God is the Supreme Head. Or some pleasant place in the future for those who believe may come to mind. Though neither of these thoughts is inherently wrong, there is so much more to the Kingdom of Heaven. Whenever Jesus told one of His Kingdom of Heaven parables, He was ultimately sharing something vitally important concerning His relationship with humans. Because this parable was taught in private to His closest disciples, Jesus’ intent was to alert His followers, then and now, of a potential blind spot—a time when we might be tempted to think or say yes when our conclusion, like His, should be no.
Yes, to coming to Him
During the time in which Jesus walked the Earth, many people followed Him for a variety of reasons. There were people who came to Him for healing or deliverance from the demons who plagued them. Some came primarily to hear Him teach. Others came to see Jesus in hopes of receiving a free meal. Prideful ones came to argue with Him. While still others came to observe Jesus putting arrogant religious leaders to shame. Some were undoubtedly there merely to see a celebrity or to escape the monotony of daily life. Others wanted to become His devoted followers.
Many aspects of Christianity are appealing to a variety of people even today. The New Testament refers to the Church as The Body of Christ. For many, being actively involved in church is about being connected to Christ and operating through Him in the position in which He has placed them for His glory and the good of others. The Church is also called the Bride of Christ. Being in love with Christ and filled with His power, the Church is designed to strengthen Believers, to share the Gospel, to draw people to God, to love and care for people, and to disciple them to become all God intended them to be.
But people don’t always go to church, take part in the ministries of the church, or attend religious functions out of love for Jesus and what He desires; often the focus is more personal or selfish. Church activities are sometimes just a relatively safe place to send children to have some fun and get a little religion while the parents run errands or get a few hours of peace and quiet. Many churches are known for their ministries which provide a helping hand and, as such, draw those in need. Though those ministries may be intended to provide both physical and spiritual renewal, recipients are often only interested in alleviating physical distress. For those interested in being involved, the church is often a place to make oneself feel useful, use one’s natural skills, check off the box entitled good deeds, or feel like one is pleasing God.
Jesus doesn’t immediately say no to the latter group. Instead, He attempts to break through their problems and misguided beliefs to help them realize their need for Him. It is only if they repeatedly refuse Him that they will hear His no.
No, to self-centeredness
The Parable of the Dragnet is very similar to The Parable of the Wheat and Tares which Jesus told to a massive crowd earlier that day. It may have been easy for the disciples to assume, since they were in Jesus’ inner circle, that they were all wheat or good fish, but Jesus was, through this parable, saying, “Beware, there is a tare, a bad fish, even among you.” We know the whole story; Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus, sat among them that day. He definitely was a bad fish. But at the time, likely none of the other disciples would have recognized him as an enemy. Judas had been given charge of the money bag. Undoubtedly, the others would have assumed Judas was honest and trustworthy. Only later when the truth was revealed was it discovered that he was taking money out of the treasury for his personal use (see John 12:6). The potential of being in association with tares or of becoming a bad fish ourselves is a very real possibility.
Those searching for Jesus to get a free meal did so to easily meet their physical needs while ignoring their spiritual needs (see John 6:26-27). Judas Iscariot followed Jesus for his own benefit and consequently betrayed Jesus. Similarly, there are those who have or will align themselves with Jesus in some manner, not for His glory but their own. Sadly, the deception will be so deep that many, will end up deceiving themselves.
“‘Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in Heaven. On that Day many will say to Me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and do many mighty works in Your name?’ And then will I declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness”’” (Matthew 7:21-23).
Major W. Ian Thomas (1914-2007), a former member of the British Armed Forces and founder of the Capernwray Missionary Fellowship of Torchbearers, explains:
“The true Christian life can be explained only in terms of Jesus Christ, and if your life as a Christian can still be explained in terms of you—your personality, your willpower, your gifts, your talents, your money, your courage, your scholarship, your dedication, your sacrifice, or your anything—then although you may have a Christian life you are not yet living it.”2
“As far as God is concerned, Christ is the preacher, Christ is the missionary, Christ is the Christian worker, Christ is the witnessing Christian. Only what He is and what He does is righteous—and what He is and what He does is released through you only by your unrelenting attitude of dependence. This is called faith—and ‘whatsoever is not of faith is sin’ (Romans 14:23c).
It is a shock to discover that you can go up into the pulpit with a Bible in your hand, preach a sermon entirely scriptural in its content, and yet if this is done in anything other than an attitude of total dependence on Christ, in the very act of preaching you are committing sin.”3
Yes, to help from Him
Contemporary Christian singer and songwriter, Keith Green (1953-1982), once said,
“I don’t know what you think a Christian is. I’ve known so many people that think a Christian means goin’ to church a lot. You may have heard this before, but goin’ to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to McDonald’s makes you a hamburger! Sayin’ a prayer don’t make you a Christian; people in every religion pray. Even prayin’ to Jesus doesn’t make you a Christian. He says, ‘Many shall come in that day and say, “Lord, Lord.”’ He [will say], ‘Depart from Me, I never knew you.’ Having the gifts of the Spirit, or looking like you’ve got ’em, doesn’t make you a Christian. Jesus said, ‘Many shall come in that day and say, “Lord, did we not cast out demons, and heal the sick, and raise the dead and all kinds of stuff?” And He’ll say the same thing, “Depart from Me, I never knew you.” You know what a Christian is? I’ve got a really good definition: Someone who’s bananas for Jesus! Someone who loves the Lord, thy God with all his heart, all his soul, all his mind, and all his strength. Don’t forget the second part: and he loves everybody else as much as he loves himself.”4
One who is truly bananas for Jesus, loving God with one’s whole heart, soul, mind, and strength, and loving others as much as oneself, doesn’t get that way by one’s own strength and determination or with what one has available within oneself. Someone can only be bananas for Jesus, loving Him and loving like Him if he/she has had a spiritual heart transplant. All of whom he/she is and was must have been exchanged for all of who Jesus is. The Apostle Paul explained this exchange like this: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20).
The difference between being bananas for Jesus and glorifying oneself while seeming like one is serving Jesus is as subtle as the difference between working for Jesus and working with Jesus. It is as simple as the difference between being close to Christ and in Christ. But those small, often humanly unperceived differences, are as profound and eternally consequential as the difference between being merely near an airplane or in an airplane. If Jesus is the airplane, being in Him is the only way one can have the power to fly and go where Jesus is going—both here on Earth and into Heaven.
Yes, to those qualified, righting the wrongs
Because of hypocrisy and deceitfulness, a separation will be required. As humans, we often have difficulty distinguishing between pretense and integrity particularly among those in the church. From the outside, often what is done and said by different kinds of people with different sorts of intentions looks identical. That is why we are so hurt, baffled, and disillusioned when popular Christian leaders fall. If anyone is right with Jesus, we hope those, who influence so many, are. But that is exactly why the job of sorting good from bad is not ours.
The difference between being right or wrong with God is in one’s heart. “‘The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil’” (Luke 6:45). Only God can truly determine the state of one’s heart. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? ‘I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds’” (Jeremiah 17:9-10). That is why Jesus declared that the angels would come and do the separating.
Elsewhere, Jesus taught what this future separation would be like, saying:
“‘“Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed Me, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to Me.” Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, “Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? And when did we see You a stranger and welcome You, or naked and clothe You? And when did we see You sick or in prison and visit You?” And [Jesus] will answer them, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me.”’ (Matthew 25:34-40
“‘Then He will say to [the evil ones], “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave Me no food, I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome Me, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.” Then they also will answer, saying, “Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?” Then He will answer them, saying, “Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.” And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life’” (Matthew 25:41-46).
Though there will be a future division, as evidenced in this passage, the setting apart begins now. Those who are in Christ and working with Christ perform the works of Christ in His power among those to whom He draws to them. They are so in tune with Jesus and what He wants that they don’t consciously realize they are serving Him. They spend their lives doing the next right thing while loving Jesus and loving others in Jesus’ power. In the end, they will have honored Jesus in all they did and be exactly where He wants them to be.
No, to religious self-effort
Those who are merely near Christ will be busy doing all sorts of things too but in their own power. Some of those things will be amazing, as Matthew 7:22 indicates. “‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and do many mighty works in Your name?’” But what appears to have been for Christ will not be done in Christ, otherwise, these busy ones would be in step with Christ and, in His power, they would spend their time ministering to those to whom He intended them to serve instead of promoting themselves. In the end, they would receive His approval, not His rejection.
As much as I would like to say that everyone who is religious will be welcomed into an eternal paradise, that just isn’t true. As much as I would love to tell you that everyone who esteems Jesus and has tried their best to be good, will make it to Heaven, I cannot. As much as I want to agree that since God is loving, He forgives everyone’s sins and welcomes everyone into Eternal Life without requiring anything in return, I would be lying. There is only one way to God and that is through Jesus (see John 14:6 & Acts 4:12). And there is only one way for one’s religious activities to be worth anything and that is that they are done in Christ. The truth is everything else will fall short. Everything apart from being in Christ receives a no from Christ.
Yes, to purpose and power in Christ
The good news is that this separation isn’t all bad. There is a greater yes that goes along with this ultimate no. The Blue Letter Bible defines the Greek word for separate, aphorizō: “to mark off from others by boundaries, to limit, to separate; [it is] in a bad sense: to exclude as disreputable; [but also] in a good sense: to appoint, set apart for some purpose.”5
Being in Christ is to be set apart, separated from sin, self, and Satan, for God’s use and for His purposes not one’s own. Jesus went on to ask and to tell His disciples, “‘Have you understood all these things?’ They said to Him, ‘Yes.’ And He said to them, ‘Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the Kingdom of Heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old’” (Matthew 13:51-52).
Those who are separated in Christ—those who have been trained for the Kingdom of Heaven—will be about the Lord’s business. Those who are in Christ have been given the Holy Spirit. They are enabled to effectively use both old and new treasures. They can take that which is familiar and bring greater depth out of it. They are able to reveal what is hidden and bring it into the light. They can connect the old and new, because, in Christ, they themselves have become new.
On the Day of Pentecost in which Believers were first filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter, who just a short time before had denied Christ (see Luke 22:54-62), was able to boldly use what had been written hundreds of years before, first by the Prophet Joel to explain what was happening, and then by David, to prove that Jesus was the Messiah. The result—three thousand people repented from their sins and become Believers that day! (See Acts 2)
After receiving the Holy Spirit, John, who at one time wanted to call down fire from Heaven to consume those who had offended him (see Luke 9:54), was completely overcome by the love of God. He was able to take what had been the impossible-to-keep commandments to love God and one’s neighbor and, through his passionate love for the person of Jesus Christ, to teach, inspire, and help enable others to deeply love Jesus and love like Him.
Likewise, others, have been given this ability through the Holy Spirit. The writer of Hebrews, who was a learned Jew and probably not immediately on board with Jesus, through the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, was able to explain to the Jews in a new way, using the old sacrificial system, that Jesus was the fulfillment of all they had been practicing. And the Apostle Paul, a former Pharisee, passionate for the Law and persecuting of the Church, after his life was changed by Jesus, was able to fearlessly take all of the knowledge he had about the true God and lead those who had been far from God into an intimate relationship with Him.
Yes, to you having a choice
You too can be separated in Christ. You too can have the power to become new and use old and new treasures to glorify God and bring others closer to Him. To receive this power and gain this position, all you need to do is ask for it and be willing to exchange what you have been attempting to offer for that which Jesus offers. If you are separated in Christ, He has a job for you that includes the power to do it.
The difference between hearing Jesus’ yes or no is up to you. Have you let go of your self-centeredness and self-effort and have you allowed Christ to do His work through you in His power? Are you in Christ or just interested in Him? Are you, being indwelt by Him, working with Him, or, in your own efforts, are you working for Him? Does His Spirit testify to your spirit that you are a child of God (see Romans 8:16)? Everyone will be either be separated in Christ or separated from Him. Will you hear yes or no when it eternally matters?
1 Scripture quotations marked with ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All Scriptures are taken from the ESV unless otherwise noted. To aid in understanding, I have capitalized references to God.
2 Major W. Ian Thomas, The Indwelling Life of Christ All of Him in All of Me (The United States of America: Multnomah, 2006), 151-152.
3 Major W. Ian Thomas, The Saving Life of Christ (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1988), 103.
5 https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G873&t=ESV