Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Matthew 13:48

"which, when it was filled, they drew up on the beach; and they sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but the bad they cast away." — Matthew 13:48 (ASV)

Thematically and structurally, this parable is parallel to the parable of the weeds. But whereas the parable of the weeds focuses on the long period of the reign of God during which weeds coexist with wheat and the enemy has large powers, this parable simply describes the situation that exists when the Last Judgment takes place: the kingdom embraces “good” fish and “bad” fish, and only the final sweep of the net sorts them out.