Parable Of The Dragnet

Remember dragnet? Joe Friday, "Just the facts." Well, this isn't that kind of dragnet! Jesus is using a fishing parable here. Though the police term "dragnet" comes from the world of fishing.

.

"Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. 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." Matthew 13:47-48
.

A dragnet was a net 750-1,000 ft long! It was 25 ft high. A dragnet had sinkers that would drop the net down, making a huge wall. This took team work! dragged to shore. Separate good/bad fish.

2nd Coming is like a huge net: covers the earth and everyone is caught in it. Can you see it? A Dragnet is drawn across the earth! Point: everyone will be accountable. There will be a separating -- Righteous and wicked. When Christ comes, do you want to be counted among the unGodly or the Godly?
.

1. The punishment for the wicked: "This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Matthew 13:49-50 (Also described hell that way)
.

Forecast for the wicked: Stormy. Bad. Warm. Notice that Jesus shows us what kind of a palce hell is:
–Place of Separation: Separated: taken from God, thrown out.
–Place of physical punishment: Fire. Physically painful.
–Place of emotional torment: Weeping: Something devastating has happened.
.

2. Reward for the righteous. This is from the parable of the wheat and the tares
"Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear." Matthew 13:43 Do you have an "ear" to hear? Do you have spiritual ears, connected spiritual eyes: This world is not all there is.
.

Forecast for the righteous: Awesome! Literally, shiny. Glowing. Radiant. Luminous.
Shine like the sun. . .
.

I was watching the film The Family Man. Nicholas Cage plays a busy business man, lives for work. An angel gives him a glimpse of what life could have been like if he’d focused on: Wife, kids. It changes everything. If God gave you a glimpse of the Kingdom, what do you think he’d show you? Pearly gates? Mansion? Gold streets? Throne? – I think he'd show you You. He woudl show you, You: Forgiven. YOuw ith no weight of guilt. You with no sin. You serving God in His Strength. You living up to God’s plan.