This is one of the parables concerning the Kingdom of Heaven which Saint Matthew has grouped together among the parables spoken by Our Lord by the sea, ride (Matthew 13). It is followed immediately by its explanation. The fishers' net catches all kinds of fish, good and worthless, and it is only when the fishing is over, the net having been pulled to the shore, that the selection can take place. The point which the parable teaches is that in the Kingdom n God, as realized on earth, there shall be good and bad members, and that the separation is reserved for the end, the final judgment. It thus forewarns the disciples against scandal resulting from the presence of evil in the Kingdom, and reminds them that the establishment of the Kingdom of God will not result in the disappearance of evil from the world. The disciples, therefore, must not expect a sudden, miraculous transformation of the world, which would make it resemble heaven, and must not be scandalized when persecution comes, as it is bound to, from the coexistence of the Kingdom and of evil.