Righteous living in a wicked world
Continuing on our study into parables, we know that Jesus used many parables to describe the kingdom of God. Some talked about the nature of the Gospel as part of the kingdom of God and other parables revealed who would be part of the kingdom of God. The parable of the net is much like the latter and the final parable spoken of in Matthew 13.
Found in Matthew 13:47-52, the parable of the net speaks of fishermen who pulled up a giant net full of fish, and going through the fish for quality control, threw the bad fish back into the ocean while the good fish remained in the net and brought upon the boat. Jesus was telling his disciples about this parable which they might have thought was simply a fishing story. However, what this parable really reveals is the coming judgement of the righteous and the wicked. Let’s look deeper into the key players of the parable.
Who are the righteous?
The good fish aren’t considered righteous because they are strong swimmers or delicious as food, but they are given the label of righteousness by God. According to the Greek definition, righteous people are those who inspire others to do good i.e. embrace God. From Romans 3:21, we know that righteous incarnate came in the man of Jesus Christ, and so we are called to the same righteousness, tasked with spreading that righteousness around us in this dark world where the wicked also reside.
Who are the wicked?
The Greek understanding of wicked is rotten and depraved, but also refers to someone who is being harassed by evil. If we know that there are people out there living in wickedness (harassed by evil), it is our duty to share the Gospel with them so that if it’s God’s will, the Holy Spirit would reveal itself to them, freeing them from the power of evil. As people who have heard the Gospel and believe in it’s goodness should be compelled by our love of God and love of others, in order to share the gospel with all people. This is one of the key marks of those who live righteously.
What does it mean to live righteously?
Like I mentioned previously, Jesus was telling this particular parable to his disciples after drawing away from the crowd that would often follow him (Matthew 13:36). Upon telling this parable, Jesus asks his disciples whether they understood all the things he spoke of, to which they responded that they did. However, not soon after in Matthew 15:21-28, we read that Jesus’ disciples aren’t living up to their call to be righteous, as they didn’t want to deal with the Canaanite woman. However, Jesus, at seeing her deep faith, commended her, something he rarely did to his own disciples during his ministry on earth. The disciples showed in that moment that they weren’t allowing God’s love to lead them; they weren’t living righteously. To live righteously then means we must love God and people, as Jesus instructs (John 13:34-35). Living without righteousness (ignorant of God’s love) means we are attempting to live without God’s grace.
If we claim to be good fish/righteous people, we must be loving of all people so that all others can see the righteousness in our lives that only comes from Christ. We must take every opportunity to be loving, and while this is definitely a challenge, we can’t allow our sinful nature to trap us from trying our best! We’ve been bought by God so we are no longer trapped or chained by unrighteousness, but righteousness.
But now that you have been set free from sin and become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life (Romans 6:22)
Dear Heavenly Father,
We give You thanks and praise for the love that You have shown to us through sacrificing Your Son, Jesus Christ. Thank you to You loved the world so much that You sent your only Son to die for the sins of all people. I pray that in the same way You show me love, I would also be loving to others, allowing love to be the mark of righteous living in my life.
In Jesus’ mighty name I pray,
Amen.