Dcn Brigid Waszczak

“Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous 50 and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  —Matthew 13: 47-50

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

Yikes! A blazing furnace for the wicked?

When you Google “Parable of the Net,” link after link to Hell comes up. The concept of Hell, however, was not known in first century Jerusalem. Jesus could not have been speaking of that dreaded place in this parable. The idea of Hell as a place of eternal torment developed much later when Greco-Roman thinking became infused with Christian theology (most notably by St Augustine in the 3rd century). 

Jewish (especially Pharisees’) understanding of the new age (“end of the age”) included bodily resurrection with people needing to be sorted because some would be ready for the new world; others, not so much. The unprepared would need to be placed into a fire to make them ready for the new age, into flames like a jeweler’s refining fire that purifies by separating the dross from the gold or silver. The parable’s “blazing furnace” image refers to this kind of fire.

Fire in Hebrew scripture was also seen as a sign of Divine presence, not as punishment or a place of punishment.  Angels are thought to be always in the presence of God. Therefore, the angels mentioned would be sorting to bring those who do not yet meet the requirement for the new age into alignment, into being able to be in God’s presence.

Relieved? Me, too. Remember, not to believe everything you read on the internet… or that comes up in a Google search. 

Peace,

—Brigid