Two parables of a net: how Habakkuk helps us to understand Jesus

Jesus’ parable of the net in Matthew 13:47-50 is commonly read as a parable of indiscriminate inclusion: both good and bad people may come into the kingdom. For example, Hagner writes with respect to the phrase “fish of every kind”:

The exaggerated inclusiveness of this phrase may be an intentional reflection of the universality of the invitation to accept the good news of the kingdom. … Among those who respond are many who will not persevere in their initial commitment…; there will be those who do not live up to the standards of the Church.

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Crucified for blasphemy
Why did the Jewish authorities hand Jesus over to Rome for crucifixion? It cannot have been because he was judged to have been a false prophet, a deceiver of the people, opposed to Torah, opposed to the temple, or even a messianic pretender. On the last point, Brant Pitre quotes the Spanish… ()
Are the “gentiles” in Romans the lost tribes of the northern kingdom of Israel?
In some recent comments on a post about the salvation of “all Israel” Alfred encouraged me to look at the argument of Jason Staples that the “fulness of the nations” (Rom. 11:25) is a reference to the northern kingdom of Israel or Ephraim, and that the salvation of “all Israel” must consist in the… ()
Brant Pitre on the Son of Man and Jesus’ divine identity
I have been working through Brant Pitre’s rather too methodical and, in my view, tendentious (I know, the pot calling the kettle black) Jesus and Divine Christology, in which he makes a case for reading divine identity into certain of the words and deeds of Jesus. ()
Why do you ask me about the good?
One of the supposed “riddles” discussed in the previous post was Jesus’ saying “No one is good except God alone.” In a comment, Gerard Jay makes the point that Matthew shifts the emphasis from the questionable goodness of Jesus to the unquestionable goodness of the Law—from the person to the … ( | 1 comment)
Brant Pitre on the riddles of Jesus’ divinity
It is Brant Pitre’s argument in Jesus and Divine Christology that the intrinsic divinity of Jesus is revealed in the Gospels either through actions and events or through certain cryptic sayings. His divinity is a secret, a hidden reality, that may sometimes be glimpsed breaking through… ( | 3 comments)
The transfiguration of Jesus: what exactly is revealed?
The third “epiphany miracle,” after the two sea miracles, is the transfiguration or “metamorphoses” (metemorphēthē) of Jesus in the presence of Peter, James, and John, on the mountain. ()
What the walking on the water business is really all about
The second “epiphany miracle” discussed by Brant Pitre in his book Jesus and Divine Christology is Jesus walking on the water (Matt. 14:22-33; Mk. 6:45-52; Jn. 6:16-21). ( | 3 comments)