The Net

Jesus has many parables, sayings in which he throws a spiritual concept out alongside a more familiar circumstance. He often leaves us to draw the connections. Many times people didn't get the point he was trying to make. They heard with their ears but did not understand. I have often been in their shoes.

But that somewhat cryptic (or at least obscure) quality of the parables is part of what makes them special. We have to keep coming back to them and looking at them afresh. Our job is not just to say, "I got that one" and move on. We get to repeatedly explore the comparisons that Jesus made. I think that's one reason He spoke in this manner.

Recently I heard my favorite teacher, Roger Forster, interpret the parable of the net. Before I share his interpretation, here's the parable:

The Parable of the Net
Matthew 13
47"Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. 48When 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. 49This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous 50and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
51"Have you understood all these things?" Jesus asked.
"Yes," they replied.

I had always just kind of taken this parable at face value. There will be a judgment, a harvest, an end. It happens when the net is full. There are all kinds of fish. Just because you're in the net doesn't mean you're a keeper! The bad fish will be thrown away (burned). No catch and release here.

But Forster focuses on the composition of the net. He supposes that the individual knots of the net are church congregations and the ropes that connect the knots are the Holy Spirit. That really struck me. This is how people come to the Lord--through the Lord's Body, the Church. And what does that say about church unity? We are bound to one another more than we realize. We're not just separate gatherings or denominations functioning independently of one another (or, worse, competing or even judging one another). There is a unity in the Spirit that is a vital part of our role in the harvest. Jesus prayed that we would be one so that the world may believe in Him (John 17:20-21).

If the Church's unity is threatened, the net's structural integrity is damaged. Thankfully, not only are we "fishers of men," but we have a great Fisher of Men, the Lord Jesus. What were several of the disciples doing when they were called? They were "mending their nets." Perhaps this is not just a throw-away detail. Could it possibly be a picture of what Jesus is doing even now--preserving the unity of His Church...mending His Net?

I don't know that Forster's take on this parable is the right one, but it sure is thought provoking. It makes tons of sense to me, too. I'll keep that image of the Fisherman caring for His Church by mending the net, along with the Gardener pruning the Vine and the Builder building His house. In my mind, it's a good one.