Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 13:47

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:" — Matthew 13:47 (ASV)

The kingdom of heaven is like a net. The net in this case is not the hand-net of Matthew 4:18, but the sagenè, or great drag-net, which drew in a larger haul of fishes. The day’s teaching in parables ends, as it were, with an easy lesson that the disciples’ previous experience would have enabled them to understand.

Still, as in the parable of the Tares, the main thoughts are:

1. The mingling of the evil with the good in the visible kingdom of Christ on earth.
2. The ultimate separation of the two, so that each may receive according to the divine law of retribution.

Here, as there, the parable perforce passes over the fact that in the actual work of the kingdom, the very casting of the net may change, and is meant to change, the nature of the fish taken in its meshes. Therefore, those that remain “bad” are so in the end by the result of their own will.