The Drag Net

Fishermen and families work along a stony shoreline, drawing a heavy dragnet from the water and sorting the catch into baskets. Fish spill across the beach as men hold the net taut, women gather the usable fish, and children watch the labor unfold beside the broad inland sea and surrounding hills.

The scene portrays Jesus’ parable of the dragnet in Matthew 13:47-50, where the kingdom of heaven is compared to a net gathering fish of every kind. When the net is full, the good are kept and the bad are thrown away. The visible sorting of fish becomes a solemn image of final judgment: at the close of the age, the righteous and the wicked are separated. This artwork serves well for teaching on the kingdom of heaven, judgment, evangelism, discipleship, and the parables of Christ.