By John Brito

Some years ago I took my son on a commercial fishing trip. The two of us prepared our rods and then dipped our hands in a shallow holding tank where sardines were being kept for use as live bait. We each placed a sardine on our hook and cast the line in the ocean. My son and I were both inexperienced at fishing. But what a thrill it was to feel the rod bend as the fish pulled on the line. A crewman stood by me and told me to give the fish some line. So I did. Then he said, ?Reel it in!? So a short struggle ensued. I reeled in the line, then pulled on the rod. Then reeled again and pulled some more, until it surfaced. I reeled and pulled until the crewman was able to get a hand-held net to scoop up the fish and bring it on board. The barracuda desperately jumped and flapped on the deck of the boat until the crewman grabbed it and removed the hook from its mouth and then placed it in a bag. That was a fun day. My son and I both caught a barracuda and shared each other?s experience as we headed home.

There are some observations about the fish. Both, the sardines and the barracudas were powerless aboard that boat. Once caught, the barracudas could have either been thrown back into the ocean, which no one did, or brought on board to be taken home to be cleaned and then eaten. There was nothing they could do to escape. They were at the mercy of the fishermen.

This reminds me of a parable that Jesus told that is found in Matthew 13:47-50 that reads as follows:

Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a fishing net that was thrown into the water and caught fish of every kind.⁴⁸?When the net was full, they dragged it up onto the shore, sat down, and sorted the good fish into crates, but threw the bad ones away.⁴⁹?That is the way it will be at the end of the world. The angels will come and separate the wicked people from the righteous,⁵⁰?throwing the wicked into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (NLT)

Here are a few observations about the fish in this story. The fish became powerless the moment the net was dragged onto the shore. Once there, the fishermen sat down and started sorting them out. The good ones were placed in crates, but the bad ones were thrown away. The fish had no say in the sorting process. No fish could say, ?Hey, wait! I?m a good fish! Put me in the crate! Don?t throw me away!? Nor could any fish jump from the discarded pile and make its way into the crate of good fish. The fish were simply recipients of the action done to them by the fishermen. The fishermen followed a criterion for sorting the good fish, those to be sold and eaten, from the bad ones, those that couldn?t be sold or eaten. Only the fishermen could label a fish good or bad. And only the fishermen could sort and place them in their respective piles. The fish were at their mercy.

Jesus says in verses 49 and 50, ?That is the way it will be at the end of the world. The angels will come and separate the wicked people from the righteous,⁵⁰?throwing the wicked into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.? This parable tells us that a net has been cast around the world and, like fish, we are free to swim inside it. But at the end of the world, when the net is dragged in, we will be powerless. The angels will use a God-given criterion for sorting us out, and they will separate the wicked from the righteous. And like the fish in this parable, we will not be able to change piles or label ourselves righteous. This will be done to us by the angels.

So how can we end up in the good crate? Romans 3:22-24 says, ?the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: ²³?for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴?and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.? (ESV) We are all sinners that fall short of God?s glory on a daily basis. But we are justified (declared innocent, given right standing with God) when we place our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord savior. It is an act of grace, a free gift to us, that was made possible ?through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.? The word redeem means to purchase and set free. Jesus purchased our freedom by his substitutionary death on the cross. So that if we place our trust in him God declares us righteous. And on that day, when we stand before God, we will be declared righteous and placed on the good pile. Now is the time for us to turn to Christ and receive his forgiveness and enjoy a relationship with him that will last for all eternity.