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The import of this parable is similar to that of the tares, though perhaps of wider application. The theatre of the earlier parable is the land, which in prophecy designates the Hebrew people, while the sea, in the latter, points to the Gentile nations (cf. Isaiah 5:30; Daniel 7:2, 3; Revelation 13:1; Revelation 17:1, 15). The kingdom of heaven was first offered to the Jews, and when they rejected it, it was then carried to the Gentiles (cf. Matthew 21:43; Acts 13:46, 47). Note -

I. THE DISCIPLES OF JESUS ARE FISHERS OF MEN.

1. To this service they are called.

(1) Some of the first disciples were literally fishermen (Matthew 4:17-22). The distinction of Christ's servants is spiritual rather than social.

(2) From the lower they were promoted to the higher fishing grounds. In calling them to become fishers of men Jesus said practically, "The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net." Their call was a parable, a prophecy, and a sermon.

(3) Jesus found the fishermen diligent in their humble calling and promoted them. It is a dishonour to the gospel to send the weaklings of a family into the Church.

2. For this service they were equipped.

(1) Christ gave them his dragnet. This is the "Word of the kingdom." This is a dragnet that sweeps all before it.

(2) He taught them how to use it. They heard his preaching. They went forth under his commission and preached.

(3) His almighty energy went with them. The physical miracles they wrought exemplified the corresponding moral power of the truth they preached.

(4) He gave them remarkable pledges of future success. Conspicuous amongst these was the miraculous draught of fishes. That was a prophetic anticipation of the work on the Day of Pentecost.

II. THE MEN THEY GATHER ARE "OF EVERY KIND."

1. The good are enclosed in the Church.

(1) These were the fish recognized as clean according to the Law, Viz. such as have both "fins and scales" (see Leviticus 11:9, 10). By means of their fins they rise to the surface and swim in the purer water and under the clearer light of the heavens. The metallic lustre of their scales suggests the "armour of light."

(2) Anciently, the clean creatures represented the Hebrew people, who were the people of the covenant, in contradistinction to the unclean Gentiles, who were "aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenant of promise, being without hope and atheists in the world."

(3) Now they stand for the morally good as opposed to the wicked. "For in every nation he that feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted of him."

(4) Of the good among men, as among fishes, there are many varieties. Religion does not destroy individuality. But they have the common marks of Christian discipleship.

2. The bad also are included.

(1) these are represented by the unclean fish; those without fins or scales, as the eel, whose habits are foul, writhing in the mud. We say of cunning men that they "wriggle like eels." They may have fins like the shark, but if they have not also scales they are unclean. Men of rapacious dispositions we still call "sharks."

(2) Anciently, the unclean creatures denoted the "sinners of the Gentiles," as opposed to the "saints" or "holy people" of Israel.

(3) Now, since national distinctions in religion are abolished, the unclean are the unbelievers of every nation, Jew as well as Gentile.

3. The visible Church is therefore imperfect.

(1) The world is a vast sea, and the sons of men are "in it things creeping innumerable both small and great" (Psalm 104:25). Men in their natural state are "like fishes in the sea, and moving things that have no ruler over them" (Habakkuk 1:14).

(2) From this mass multitudes are gathered into the net of the Church. Some of the evil becomes transformed by true conversion. Others are converted only in semblance.

(3) This mixed state of things is evident in wide Christendom. It is no less real, though not equally evident, amongst communicants.

III. THE GOOD AND THE WICKED ARE DESTINED TO A FINAL SEPARATION.

1. The wicked will be separated to destruction.

(1) They are "severed," separated with violence, as by cutting or rending. They will with reluctance yield to this final separation from the good and from their hopes.

(2) They will be severed by the "angels." The angels of heaven can distinguish between the hypocrite and the true man, which the angels of the Church cannot do. As the tares among the wheat in the Jewish field, so are the bad fish among the good in the Gentile net (cf. vers. 28-30, 41).

(3) "And shall cast them into the furnace of fire." This is in allusion to the Eastern punishment of burning alive. If figures do not come up to the reality, the punishment of the sinner must be fearful in the extreme. Note: The furnace of fire is reserved for unworthy members of Churches.

(4) "There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." The agony of despair. The distress of impotent resentment. This, after the burning, shows that the burning of the wicked is not their consumption. Destruction, in Scripture, differs from annihilation.

2. The good will be separated to salvation.

(1) Salvation from the associations of the wicked. Those associations are now uncongenial. They are contaminating. They are damaging to the better reputation. In the new earth there will be "no more sea" (Revelation 21:1). There will be no more Gentiles in wickedness; all will be Israelites in goodness.

(2) The good will be "gathered into vessels." Are not these the antitheses of the "bundles" into which the wicked are gathered, as in the corresponding parable of the tares? Does not this suggest order and class in heavenly society?

(3) The time of this separation is when the net shall be "filled." The gospel must first fulfil its commission in witnessing to all the world (cf. Isaiah 55:10, 11; Matthew 24:14). - J.A.M.

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KJV: Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:

WEB: "Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a dragnet, that was cast into the sea, and gathered some fish of every kind,