The Parable of the Net

Matthew 13:47-50

The parable of the net is like the parable of the wheat and the weeds as in both cases good and bad are at first together and then later sorted and separated. In the explanation of this parable we are told that the throwing away of the bad fish illustrates the final judgement and the punishment of the wicked.

When the disciples were called and told that Jesus, the master disciple maker, would make them fishers of people, He did not indicate that they would only catch certain types of fish. In the parable the net gathers every kind of fish. The Great Commission also tells us that we are to disciple all nations, not just certain nations, as Heaven is to be populated with people from every tribe, every ethnic group, and every language.

The fishing net or drag net as some call it was usually pulled in between two boats or between an anchor on the shore and a boat out on the lake. Once it was on dry land, the fishermen would sort the fish, separating either the unclean from the clean (Leviticus 11:9-12) or the edible from the inedible.

Unlike the parable of the wheat and weeds, the final destination of the righteous is not made clear. But the final destination of the wicked is described using the exact same language as in 13:42. It has often been said that if we followers of Jesus truly believed what He said about hell we would be far more passionate and urgent in our preaching to the lost. However, note that it is not ours to separate the good fish from the bad fish...that is up to God. Our task is to fish for people and if we do our task well, we won’t have the time to sit and ponder on things that only God knows, like what is going on in another person’s heart.

Judgement, in the New Testament, seems to be presented to us as a process. The first coming of Jesus started this process as the acceptance of His way of life sharply divides people one from the other…sheep from goats, wheat from weeds, and good fish from bad fish. This process of division continued through the first generation of Jewish believers and culminated in the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70…the believers had been warned by Jesus to flee from the city when they saw certain things happening (cf. Luke 21:20-24), while those who rejected the warnings of Jesus remained and were ultimately destroyed in the conflagration and the fire.

This process continues to this day and will continue until the Second Coming of Jesus.

The parables of Jesus challenge us on two levels: knowing and doing. Knowing something without doing something is unproductive and could be selfish, whereas doing something without knowledge is exasperating and exhausting. We are faced with decisions…what does it mean and what do I need to do about it?

The Parable of the Weeds Explained

Matthew 13:36-43

A young lady was once asked if she had an opinion on how the country could save on electricity usage. She replied that they ought to turn off the lights in the middle of the road. Understandably confused, the interviewer asked, “What lights?” What she meant were the “cat’s eyes”, the retro-reflective safety devices placed in the middle of most major roads. Now, we may have a good giggle at her expense, but her misunderstanding of how these devices work is a good illustration of how the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father at the end of the age. Humans were made to reflect the glory of God as beings made in His image. Sin has dulled our shine, but whenever humans come into the Presence of God, they reflect His radiance, like Moses on Mount Sinai.

But the reflective splendour is reserved for a time yet to come. For now, we live in the world, yet not of the world…the contrast between those of the light and those of the darkness is not as clear as it will be in the future. For now both wheat and weeds stand side by side in the kingdom, growing together until the time for the harvest.

It is at this juncture where Jesus turns away from the crowds and begins to spend more quality time with His disciples. This is critical for any disciple making movement because if they are to duplicate the work of the disciple maker they must be brought to a place of deeper and clearer understanding with regard to the truths of the Gospel. Blind people ought not to lead blind people else both will fall in the ditch, Jesus once said. Disciple makers must be mature if they are to bring unbelievers or immature believers to maturity.

This is an explanation of the parable we have already examined, the parable of the wheat and the weeds. It is very interesting to note that Jesus does not say the Church is the force by which the kingdom is advanced in the world; rather He says that He is the power behind the extension of the Kingdom. We must always remember that while it is our obligation to make disciples, we can only do so because He has been given authority in both heaven and earth and He promises to be with us in our fulfilment of our task at hand. Without Him we cannot advance the kingdom. Just as the retro-reflective safety devices have no power of their own, so we too need the infilling power of the Holy Spirit Jesus promised to give us.

But the worldwide mission of the Church will bring about an environment in which saints and sinners are neighbours…and rightly so. If the salt remains in the saltshaker, how will the food ever be seasoned? In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 Pauls lists various people who will not inherit the kingdom of God, but then in verse 11 he says, “Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” Paul followed the example of the Lord Jesus and spent most of his ministry time out in the market place and other venues where people gathered. He rubbed shoulders with the weeds with the hope of turning them to wheat. However, we are now going beyond what the parable teaches…

There are three interesting allusions to the prophet Daniel. The first is the glorified Son of Man. In Daniel He receives the Kingdom as He ascends to the Father (Daniel 7:13-14)…and according to Paul, there He will reign until all His enemies are placed under His feet (1 Corinthians 15:25), thus bringing world history to a close.

The second is the fiery furnace into which the wicked are thrown. This may be a reverse image of King Nebuchadnezzar’s fate for those who refused to worship his golden image (Daniel 3). The imagery is rather graphic and awful, but whatever ones view of the final destination for those who refuse to bow the knee to Jesus, we can be absolutely certain that our God is just and altogether righteous in His every decision.

The third image is one we already examined…the righteous shining like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. In the final chapter of the book bearing his name, Daniel wrote about a time that was yet to come in which the wise will shine as bright as the sky and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever (Daniel 12:3). Daniel lived and served faithfully in a pagan setting, never compromising his righteousness and no doubt challenging those around him through his shining example. So, we too ought to shine in the darkness of this world as lights that reflect the holy glory and purity of our God.

Jesus charged His disciples to listen carefully to His teaching. One day He would charge them to teach their own disciples to obey all that He had commanded them.

Like cat’s eyes, we too can only shine in the presence of Jesus. If we are to make disciples as Jesus made disciples we too will need to walk with Him wherever we go, as it is only through Him that our labour in the field will bring a bumper crop at the time of the harvest.

The Parable of the Leavened Loaf

Matthew 13:33-35; Mark 4:33-34

When we lived in the United States, a friend once gave us a piece of dough to make what she called “Amish Friendship Bread”. The idea is to use this “starter” in the making of your own bread while passing on a small piece to another friend. As such it is a substitute for yeast. Women in ancient Israel used this method to make bread except during Passover when all leaven was removed from the home and everything had to start from a new batch of yeast-filled dough.

What is interesting about this parable is that in rabbinical theology, leaven or yeast was often used to illustrate sin or some form of evil desires that would permeate one’s life should it gain entrance.[1] Jesus loved to redeem things and to turn the upside-down the right side up, and so He dared to use this image to demonstrate the growth of the kingdom in the world. As with the previous parable, the starter is small and seemingly insignificant, but it eventually permeates the whole loaf.

Osborne points out that the amount is rather unusual. “Three measures (an “ephah” in the Old Testament) equals 39.4 litres or 14.75 gallons, about fifty pounds of flour. Thus this is not a daily event but a banquet; that much would feed 100-150 people.”[2] While it is possible that the eschatological Messianic banquet is in view here, the main point of the parable is as the former: out of a little comes a lot. The kingdom begins small but will end large. So too disciple making movements may begin with only one or two, but as the principle of multiplication is applied, one disciple trained to make another disciple who would be trained to make another disciple and so on, it grows exponentially as two become four and four become eight and eight become sixteen and sixteen become thirty-two etc.

Both Matthew and Mark refer to Jesus’ use of parables when addressing the crowds. In Matthew 13:12-13 and Mark 4:11-12 it seems that the use of parables was intended to deliberately keep things hidden from “outsiders” as He would leave the crowds and then explain the meaning of the parables to the “insiders”. Why would Jesus do something like that? Matthew indicates that this is a fulfilment of prophecy, quoting Psalm 78.

“O my people, listen to my instructions. Open your ears to what I am saying, for I will speak to you in a parable. I will teach you hidden lessons from our past – stories we have heard and known, stories our ancestors handed down to us. We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about His power and His mighty wonders.” [3]

The Psalm traces the history of God’s continued graciousness toward the people of Israel in spite of their unwillingness to respond to His word in a positive manner. This seems to indicate that the parables were intended to separate the wheat from the weeds, so to speak. Those in the crowds who were willing to open their ears to hear Jesus’ teaching would be given the ability to understand “things hidden since the creation of the world” as these parables were stories from their chequered past.

There appears to be a turning point in our Lord’s ministry here as He intentionally turns away from the people and begins to spend more time making sure the disciples understand the deeper principles of the Kingdom. As disciple makers who follow the model given to us by Jesus, we too ought to spend more time going deeper with a few rather than with the crowds as we seek to bring immature believers to a point of maturity so that they might duplicate what we have done with them with others.

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[1] The Expositor’s Greek Testament, Volume One: Gospels and St John, Ed. W. Robertson Nicoll, Matthew, Alexander Balmain Bruce, Hendrickson, 2002, 201.

[2] Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Matthew, Grant R. Osborne, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI, 2010, 526-527.

[3] Psalm 78:1-4.

February and March Newsletter

Johann and Louise: Training Disciples to Make Disciples in Southern Africa Contrasts…some contrasts are beautiful, like bright red and yellow cannas growing side by side, or like a red, orange, and blue sunset in the Kalahari Desert. But other contrasts are disturbing or perplexing or bewildering. They leave one with more questions and answers. These past two months have been filled with contrasts. One example would be the untimely death of a dear 29-year-old friend, Okanyi Omot, or Ojullu as we knew him. Ojullu was one of the most promising students at St Frumentius Anglican College and one of the rising leaders in the Anuak community. He believed he was called to reconcile people from different ethnic backgrounds and to be a disciple maker…and he lived out his calling. His sudden death caused by an untreated form of bowel cancer has shocked us all. Then a week ago in our community here in Villiersdorp, another very powerful witness to Jesus, a wife and mother and active believer, was found unconscious at home and rushed to the hospital in a neighbouring town. She remained comatose and was transferred to a larger hospital when her kidneys stopped functioning. At that hospital the doctors discovered that there was no brain activity and counselled the family to consider turning off the life support system. So many people from all the different churches and communities were praying for her and her family. As her husband sat by her bedside two days ago, agonising over the decision he had to make, she opened her eyes and spoke! She has been recovering remarkably ever since. Even the medical staff unashamedly confess that this can only be a miracle…there is no other explanation. We are thrilled, of course, for her and family…but we still grieve over Ojullu. Do we have any answers or explanations for this contrast? No, but together with Job we confess: “The Lord has given, the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the Name of the Lord.” Another contrast is differing responses to our disciple-making ministry. Bishop Mouneer Anis of Egypt, North Africa, and the Horn of Africa has sent us an amazing letter of endorsement. In it he not only invites us to continue training the clergy and laity in his Dioceses, but he affirms the training as something that will help grow the church and expand God’s Kingdom. Contrast with others who reject this training out of hand, sometimes in total ignorance and an unwillingness to learn. This is something to grieve about, but as Jesus taught his disciples, there are times when one needs to shake the dust off ones feet and move on. Sad, so sad. On a very positive note, our year has filled up with trainings all over South Africa, Port Elizabeth, Johannesburg area, Pretoria, Angola, Namibia, and perhaps northern Mozambique. The possibility of training in a North African country remains a possibility and we also hope to complete the final module in Gambela before or after their graduation. We had a wonderful, up building retreat with other SAMS Missionaries at a stunningly beautiful place called Waterval (Waterfall) in Tulbagh, South Africa. They had an amazingly godly speaker who called himself Padre Richard Copeland, but we renamed him Umfundisi, a title of respect given to revered teachers, missionaries, or clergy. It was not only his teaching, but also the testimony of a life dedicated to the cause of the kingdom that touched us deeply. Thank you to SAMS-USA, Stewart, Denise, and all the others who made this such a memorable event! Denise Cox stopped with us before the retreat and Mary Chowenhill stopped with us after the retreat...an extended blessing in so many ways. Thank you to both of them too for their encouragement and support. A supporter has graciously offered to pay for our air tickets to Israel in September. After the study tour, we will continue on to the US to attend the SAMS Retreat and New Wineskins Conference. Then on to see our children and grandchildren in Alabama…our youngest and his family have moved to Stockholm, Sweden, and we will be winging our way over there to see them today! Can’t wait to hug them all. Face Time is great, but it doesn’t beat a warm, loving hug! Thank You Jesus for making this trip possible. We have had three days of steady, soaking rain…some places nearby even experienced some flooding…and we hope and pray this indicates a good rainy season lying ahead. The Queen is struggling with getting old…I don’t know how else to state her present state. She does need 24 hour care, but does not want to admit that. “What to do, what to do…what to do indeed”, as Pooh would say. Or “stuff and fluff” might be more apropos. Please keep her in your prayers. Louise and I have a group we meet with on a regular basis when we are in town for mutual encouragement and Bible Study. We are planning on taking them through the disciple-making course soon. I preach at our local Anglican Church every other Sunday if we are in town. With Bishop Mouneer’s letter of endorsement in hand, we are praying about travelling beyond our current borders to train in other southern and central African countries in 2020. We already have open invitations to Rwanda and Uganda, but we would like to train in every country in between them and us too! Pray that we will be able to raise sponsors for this trip as well as obtain permission from the Archbishops and Bishops of the different jurisdictions. It seems Africa is becoming our parish…and we love it! And we love and appreciate you all! Thank you for faithfully walking with us in this ministry and for supporting us financially and prayerfully. We really could not do this without you and we are ever mindful of that fact. Much love and blessings. Johann and Louise Support Us Johann and Louise spent two years helping to develop the St. Frumentius Seminary in Gambella, Ethiopia. At present, they are mostly working in Southern Africa where they are serving in seven southern African countries, although they continue to work with the Diocese of Egypt, North Africa, and the Horn of Africa as well as other southern and northern African countries, through engaging in a disciple making movement in order to grow the body of Christ. They are partnering with J-Life and other like-minded ministries. This ministry is massive and has the ability to reach thousands. We are sent  through the Society of Anglican Missionaries and Senders, a missionary sending community, engaging in building relationships with the worldwide church to experience the broken restored, the wounded healed, the hungry fed, and the lost found through the love and power of Jesus Christ.  Support SAMS Copyright © 2016 Society of Anglican Missionaries and Senders, All rights reserved. www.sams-usa.org      Our mailing address is: PO Box 399 Ambridge PA 15003 Attention to: Johann and Louise van der Bijl Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list

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