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123. Sorting Fish


Matthew 13:47-52
Key Verse: "This is how it will be at the end of the age."
Matthew 13:49a

What's this? It sounds like a different version of the parable that Jesus has already shared about the wheat and the weeds. This time, however, Jesus is talking fisherman's language instead of farm talk. Why does Jesus spend so much time talking about the end? Could it be to encourage us to hold on through the middle?

I just happen to be one of those very undisciplined readers that doesn't handle the tension in the middle of a story very well. Many is the time, in the middle of a good novel, I let my curiosity get the better of me and turn to the last page just to read the last paragraph. Now, I already know that the purists among us will label me as a cheater. You know what, you're right. I allow myself to do something with a novel that we can't do in real life, glance at the end to assure myself that, as bad as it looks, things will turn out alright. I can endure the tension better, and I even find myself playing guessing games, trying to figure out how it will happen when I have that assurance that it will be okay.

I have to think that, in a way, Jesus is doing this for His listeners. He is assuring them that, what they are going through now isn't the whole story. There will be a good end. We just have to endure the middle now.

On the part of the disciples, Jesus already knew that things were going to get a lot worse before they would get better. He knew of His own death and resurrection, which would be very painful for them to experience. He knew the struggles that they would endure after He returned to Heaven. He knew how each would die a martyr’s death. He knew the trials and persecutions that they, and we, would face in our devoted service to Him.

However, Jesus is making sure we know, whether we are a farmer or a merchant or a fisherman, or housewife or business man, that He has seen the end of the story. We're slogging it through the middle now, but Jesus has seen the end and it is a good one. The wrong will be cast away. The righteous will be gathered in. The treasure that we are guarding is of priceless value. We've just got to carry it through the middle and, in the end, believe Him, it will be worth it.

Hymn: "Jesus, Priceless Treasure"
The Other Side, Casting Crowns 

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