This next parable is not only one of my personal favorites, but also seems to link several other parables into a cohesive synthesis. It may be found in Matthew 13:47-50. In it, heaven is compared to a net that is cast into the sea, which gathered of every kind of fish indiscriminately. The net is only the first part of a work, and may at once be seen to represent the many pearls of the merchant, or the seeds of the farmer which are sown broadcast into the field.
In all of the scenarios, we see a clear and unmistakable intent. It was always the goal of the merchant to trade up. It was the intent of the farmer, that while many situations were supplied equally, the best seeds in the best soil was always the hoped for combination. As for the fishermen, when their net was full, they drew it to shore and sat down to complete the final phase of their labor. Many are called, but few are chosen. Only what the fishermen deem most desirable is gathered into vessels for safe keeping. The good choice is their livelihood, it is their life – literally.
So what happens to the many? Are they thrown back into the sea? Are they used as fertilizer? No. They are thrown into the fire so they won't raise a stink. Remember here that fire and fuel goes together. But, the point here defines what is kept, and what is removed from the catch. The entire work, with attention given to phase two, is compared to the end of the world, a time foretold when heaven's catch will be sorted.
In the end of the world, God's angels, Christ's mighty army, will be sent into the world. At that point, the many will have been called, the net will have been dragged to shore; the work of phase two will begin. Here, we recall what Christ said about two men in one bed: one is taken, one remains. A common interpretation, here, is that of the Rapture, in which God's elect are taken, and the undesirable are left behind. However, that is not the case.
The work of the angels is to sever the wicked from among the just. It is not the just that are taken, for they are preserved in vessels. It is the wicked that are taken out from among the just. Throwing them back into the sea is not an option. Christ makes it quite plain that the wicked will be thrown into a furnace of fire, which must be viewed in spiritual terms rather than a destruction of carcasses. Yes, there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth, but that is not the point of the parable.
When Christ finished the parable, he asked his disciples if they understood what he was trying to get across. When they answered in the affirmative, Christ then tied the parable to his summation. It was more like a mini-parable, no more than a rudimentary comparison, a simple statement, but that final statement was intended to be the point of the previous parable.
What was that statement, and what was that point? We look in Matthew 13:52, “Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.”
Christ is literally telling his disciples, 'this is what I want you to get from the net parable.' If the seeker of truth wishes to get the same thing from the parable, he or she must dissect the summation into its various parts, and define them.
Those parts are: 'every scribe', 'instructed unto', 'kingdom of heaven', 'householder', 'bring forth', 'his treasure', 'things new and old.' All of the definitions that we will derive have a direct link to the parable of the net. Before we can tie a scribe to a fisherman, we must be able to see what a scribe and a householder have in common. Our first definition will be scribe/householder and fisherman/net user(possible angel).
A scribe is defined by his or her calling. The fact that Christ referenced 'every scribe', places the individual in question into a less than specific realm, somewhere between the absolute commonplace and the absolute unconventional. The calling would include secretarial and administrative duties, and the impetus would be one of acquisition and building. A data analyst would build his database. A farmer would build barns and silos. A fisherman would build his stockpile. A scribe would build upon a wealth of discovery and revelation. A householder will build a unique and defensible domain.
A modern twist on scribe is the seeker: curious, earnest, and focused. He is like the householder in that both live in their acquisitions. All that they seek and acquire becomes their personal domain and private treasure. These two are like the fisherman in that they must pick and choose the thing that will sustain them.
The fisherman fishes to live. The householder adds to and maintains what is his apart. The scribe, the seeker, is the 'prepared soil' of the farmer. He or she has the heavenly inclination. Christ made the point that we are instructed 'unto' the kingdom of heaven. We are prepared and trained. Our eyes and ears are geared toward, or 'unto', the truth. The kingdom of heaven, therefore, must be defined as that which a scribe or a seeker may see, hear, understand and record. We might alternatively call the kingdom of heaven the kingdom of the message. Heaven, being spiritual, must always be viewed as the reception and transmission of the Word.
For a fisherman to earn a living, he must be able to produce a catch. That is his treasure. For a farmer to have a harvest, he must transmit to his fields the seeds of a previous harvest. That is his treasure. Likewise, the householder and scribe must also be able to bring forth from their treasures, neither of which can be insubstantial or illusory. The scribe and householder use their respective treasures just like the merchant of pearls. They must use them to trade up, to bring forth more of the same. Like the merchant, the householder will use old treasures to obtain new treasures.
The fisherman may find a strange new fish in his net some day. If it meets the criteria of what he wants, he will not discard it. The common link in all these scenarios is the scribe, the disciple, the seeker of and maintainer of the message. The work of the scribe is not unlike the work of heaven, for heaven is the householder/fisherman/scribe/pearl merchant who takes of his old treasure to bring forth treasure that is new. Heaven trades up to itself. Heaven gathers itself into vessels. Heaven is the seeker seeking the truth of itself, and, as the householder knows, it takes treasure to make treasure.
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