The angels will… separate the wicked from the righteous

The last parable about the Kingdom in chapter 13 of Matthew also points to the last human reality: the Last Judgment.

- 

The parable of the Fishing Net (Greek sagēne) reflects the practice of Galilean fishermen who, upon hauling their catch, sit down to separate their catch. What is “good” refers to kosher fish, those with fins and scales, which according to the Law of Moses may be eaten (Lv 11:9).

Those that lack either fins or scales are considered unclean and loathsome and are thrown away, or sold to pagan inhabitants who are not prohibited by their religion to eat them. The separation of catch by the fishermen is a symbol of God separating the just from the unjust on Judgment Day.

The Word of God has been sown into the world, to the good and the bad alike. Like the wheat growing together with the weeds, the unjust are allowed to exist with the just. But there will be a time for judgment, when the wicked will be separated from the righteous; the righteous enter God's Kingdom and share his joy, while the unjust are thrown away, like what the fishermen do with the loathsome fish.