Matthew 13:47

Cast - Worn-out; old; cast-off.

Sea - Large basin.

Is like unto a net - A drag-net. This is the proper meaning of Σαγηνη, which the Latins translate verriculum, a sweep net; Quod in aquam jacitur ad pisces comprehendendos; imprimis, cujus usus est extrahendis iis a fundo. Martinius. "Which is cast into the water to catch fish, and the particular use of which is to drag them up from the bottom." As this is dragged along it keeps gathering all in its way, both good and bad, small and great; and, when it is brought to the shore, those which are proper for use are preserved, and those which are not are either destroyed or thrown back into the water.

By the net may be understood the preaching of the Gospel of the kingdom, which keeps drawing men into the profession of Christianity, and into the fellowship of the visible Church of Christ. By the sea may be represented that abyss of sin, error, ignorance, and wickedness in which men live, and out of which they are drawn, by the truth and Spirit of God, who cordially close in with the offers of salvation made to them in the preaching of the Gospel.

By drawing to shore, may be represented the consummation of all things, see Matthew 13:49, when a proper distinction shall be made between those who served God, and those who served him not; for many shall doubtless be found who shall bear the name without the nature of Christ. By picking out the good, and throwing away the bad, Matthew 13:48, is meant that separation which God shall make between false and true professors, casting the former into hell, and bringing the latter to heaven.

Instead of τα καλα the good, the Cod. Bezae, and five copies of the old Antehieronymian, or Itala version, read τα καλλιστα, the best, the very best. Every reader would naturally hope that this is not the true reading, or that it is not to be understood literally, as it seems to intimate that only the very best shall be at last saved.

It is probable that this parable also refers, in its primary meaning, to the Jewish state, and that, when Christ should come to judge and destroy them by the Roman power, the genuine followers of Christ only should escape, and the rest be overwhelmed by the general destruction. See Matthew 24:30, etc.

The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net ... - This parable does not differ in meaning from that of the tares. The gospel is compared to a net dragging along on the bottom of a lake, and collecting all - good and bad. The gospel may be expected to do the same; but in the end of the world, when the net "is drawn in," the bad will be separated from the good; the one will be cast away, and the other saved. Our Saviour never fails to keep before our minds the great truth that there is to be a day of judgment, and that there will be a separation of the good and the evil. He came to preach salvation; and it is a remarkable fact, also, that the most fearful accounts of hell and of the sufferings of the damned, in the Scriptures, are from his lips. How does this agree with the representations of those who say that all will be saved?