Friday in the Octave of Easter, April 5, 2024

John 21, 1–14

Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed himself in this way. Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We also will come with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?” They answered him, “No.” So he said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.” So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish. So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad, and jumped into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat, for they were not far from shore, only about a hundred yards, dragging the net with the fish. When they climbed out on shore, they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you just caught.” So Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore full of one hundred fifty-three large fish. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come, have breakfast.” And none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they realized it was the Lord. Jesus came over and took the bread and gave it to them, and in like manner the fish. This was now the third time Jesus was revealed to his disciples after being raised from the dead.

The Evangelists record several of the Lord’s appearances to the Apostles and to his other followers over the course of the forty days following his rising from the dead.  These appearances followed no pattern and could seemingly occur at any time at all.  In the appearance recorded by St. John used as the Gospel reading for today’s Mass, we see seven of the Apostles fishing.  The Lord had directed his Apostles to return to Galilee, and rather than each man returning to his own town, as Nathanael might go back to Cana, they remained together, probably at the house of St. Peter in Capernaum.  Here, we see seven of the Apostles go fishing.  They do not do this for sport or to pass the time, but in order to make money for themselves, just as St. Paul would continue his occupation of making tents in order to fund himself after his conversion to Christ.  At the same time, the other Apostles going with Peter that night to the seaside, where he kept his boat, is a sign of their unity under him.

“That night they caught nothing.”  That these skilled, veteran fishermen caught nothing at all was as much a miracle as the later bountiful catch, which came at the most unlikely hour.  And yet, all through the night they cast their heavy net and dragged it a bit, and then pulled it out of the water, empty, time and time again.  “When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.”  The inability of the Apostles and the Lord’s other disciples to recognize him when he appeared to them seems to indicate the powerful grip of human experience that told them that when a person died, they would never see him again.  We have all experienced something of the kind.  Once we have made up our minds that something is impossible, we struggle greatly to accept it when it actually occurs.  We even become unreasonable in looking for ways in which the thing is a fraud or how our senses have been tricked.  In the case of the Apostles, we see how hard it was even for them to believe that Jesus was risen, and this after he had already appeared to them on previous occasions.  This in turn tells us how great is the gift of faith for us to believe in the Resurrection of the Lord.

“So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish.”  All through the dark night of this life following the sin of our first parents, we strove to help ourselves, to solve our unsolvable problem, to save ourselves from death and hell.  But we could not, despite our best and most prolonged efforts.  It is the horror of the human predicament before the coming of Christ: our imminent destruction and our inability to save ourselves.  This is true historically and also personally, for the one who does not know Christ.  But with the arrival of Christ and in cooperation with the direction and grace he offers — or, our obedience to him — we are saved.  And not “merely” saved, but abundantly saved.  John is specific: one hundred and fifty-three large fish.  The profit from this catch would see them through for some time.  But the number, signifying the Lord’s abundance, also shows how their preaching the Gospel will be effective through the Lord’s grace.  There will indeed by dark times of hard labor, evidently fruitless, for them and those who carry on their work after them, but this is only to remind us that the work is not ours as though its success depended entirely upon our skills.  It is the work of the Lord, which he deigns to share with us.  

John’s statement that 153 large fish were caught intrigued the Church Fathers and later commentators, and this has resulted in various speculations, but no one has produced a very persuasive explanation for it, unless the number is simply the number of fish that were caught.  Perhaps John himself counted them, and the number intrigued him as well.