Episode Details

Matthew 13: 47-51, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a fishing net that was thrown into the water and caught fish of every kind. 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. 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, throwing the wicked into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Do you understand all these things?”

So, Jesus is saying in the end there will only be 2 categories of people and they will be separated out by the angels. There will be the wicked and the righteous. The wicked’s fate is the fiery furnace of misery. The righteous will be kept and carried off. We know from earlier parables in this chapter that the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom.

So, it’s clear who we don’t want to be – we don’t want to be the wicked. And it’s clear who we do want to be – we want to be the righteous. Now, how can we be sure because this is eternity we’re talking about. There will be no undoing this.

After sharing this story, Jesus says, “Do you understand all these things?” No – I honestly don’t at this point, Jesus, help me understand. Explain this to us. He wants us to understand this, so let’s dig deeper here for understanding.

When I’m trying to understand scripture, I do a few things:
1. I look at different translations for clearer wording.
2. I look up the original Greek or Hebrew words and their definitions.
3. I read commentary to get additional understanding.

Looking at other translations of this parable, they all say it in the same words – there are the good and the bad – the righteous and the wicked, and in the end they are getting separated. Until then, they will be in the same waters living together. God doesn’t separate us now, but the day will come when he does.

Now, let’s look at the original text. These spoken words of Jesus were recorded by the disciple Matthew after he personally heard them. The language was Greek. In Greek, the two groups people will be separated into are the ponēros and the dikaious.

The ponēros are the wicked ones. The word means evil, bad, harmful, morally corrupt. It describes one who is not only bad in character, but produces bad effects. This isn’t the person who messes up in their life and fails – this is the person who is truly bad. This isn’t about just doing bad things – this is about BEING bad. It’s a moral corruption from within. It’s a genuinely rotten, poisonous fruit.

Religion has warped this word to make us think we’re going to Hell if we sin. Well, here’s the really bad news about that teaching – WE ALL SIN. Every single one of us. There has only been one without sin and that was Jesus. The rest of us aren’t good enough – but that doesn’t mean we are wicked.

This word ponēros is used when Jesus teaches us how to pray in Matthew 6. Verse 13, “deliver us from the evil one.” That’s the ponēros one. Satan. So his people, his followers, his devoted workers are the ones who Jesus tells us are wicked. They are the ones who will meet the fate of the fiery furnace.

These are NOT the ones who have made wrong choices and wandered off the path occasionally. These are the ones who are inherently evil.

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Then there are the dikaious. Here’s what that word means – those who are in right standing with God. Here’s what that word doesn’t necessarily mean – a good person.

We try to make this all about us, about our acts, our deeds, and our track record. And if we do, we always fall short. We simply are not righteous. No matter how good you are, it hasn’t made you right with God.

There is one thing and one thing only that has made you right with God – that’s the man on the middle cross. Jesus gives us right standing with a Holy and perfect God. JUST JESUS.