Chapter Twenty-One
Jn. 21:1. After that, Jesus appeared again to His disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. And He appeared in this way:
By the words "Jesus appeared," the Evangelist expresses the idea that if He had not willed it and had not by condescension revealed Himself, then with His incorruptible body He would not have been visible.
Why did he mention the place – the Sea of Tiberias? In order to show that they no longer feared the Jews as before, but had cast off their great fear. They no longer sat locked indoors, but went out of the house, which they had not dared to do before, and walked everywhere, so that they even reached Tiberias, which is no small distance from Jerusalem. This sea is in Galilee.
Jn. 21:2. There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas, called the Twin, and Nathanael from Cana of Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples.
Jn. 21:3. Simon Peter says to them: I am going fishing. They say to him: we are going with you also. They went out and immediately got into the boat, and caught nothing that night.
The disciples were catching fish, for they had nothing else to occupy themselves with. Jesus Himself was not constantly with them, the Spirit had not yet been given to them, and the teaching ministry had not been entrusted to them definitively; therefore they took up their former trade.
Peter, being very active, cannot remain idle, but eagerly rushes to the task, and the rest follow him, because they no longer separated from one another.
Jn. 21:4. But when morning had already come, Jesus stood on the shore; but the disciples did not recognize that it was Jesus.
Having appeared to them while they were laboring and exhausted, He does not immediately reveal Himself, but first wishes to enter into conversation with them.
Jn. 21:5. Jesus says to them: Children! Do you have any food? They answered Him: No.
As if wishing to buy something from them, He asks: "Children, do you have anything to eat?"
Jn. 21:6. And He said to them: Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some. So they cast it, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish.
When they replied that they had none, and, at His command, having cast the net on the right side of the boat, received a catch, then the disciple whom Jesus loved says to Peter: "It is the Lord."
Jn. 21:7. Then the disciple whom Jesus loved says to Peter: it is the Lord. And Simon Peter, having heard that it was the Lord, girded on his outer garment—for he was naked—and cast himself into the sea.
Here again we find an indication of the distinctive qualities of the disciples: John was more perceptive, while Peter was more ardent. Therefore John was the first to recognize the Lord, while Peter was the first to hasten to Him. By girding himself, Peter expressed his reverence for Jesus, and by throwing himself into the sea, he displayed his love. For he did not hold back like the others, but set out swimming, even though they were about two hundred cubits from the shore.
The "ependytes" (Slavonic "ependit," Russian "clothing") is a garment of linen cloth, with which Phoenician and Syrian fishermen gird themselves, either over the naked body or over their clothing — simply put, as painters depict the apostles girded over their clothing. Since Peter, being occupied with fishing, was naked, he girds himself with the ependytes out of reverence (for this is what the girding signifies) and is the first to hasten to the Lord.
Jn. 21:8. The other disciples came in the boat — for they were not far from land, about two hundred cubits — dragging the net with fish.
The present event is no small matter, but an important one, because a great quantity of fish was caught, and yet the net did not tear.
Jn. 21:9. When they got out onto the land, they saw a charcoal fire laid there, with fish lying on it, and bread.
The coals, fish, and bread which the disciples now see also constitute a miracle. For He fed so many people with them not from ready-made material, as before in the wilderness with five loaves (John 6:9–12) and two fish, but simply, from nothing.
Jn. 21:10. Jesus says to them: bring some of the fish which you have now caught.
He commands them to bring the fish they had caught, in order to show that what they were seeing was not a phantom. Here it does not say that He ate with them, but Luke says that He also ate together with them (Luke 24:30, 43). How He ate, we cannot explain, for this occurred in an extraordinary manner. Not because His nature required food, but this was an act of condescension, as proof of the resurrection.
Jn. 21:11. Simon Peter went and drew the net to land, full of great fishes, of which there were one hundred and fifty-three; and for all there were so many, the net was not broken.
Understand this, perhaps, also in a contemplative sense: when the darkness of idolatry prevailed, then it was night. The prophets who labored then, before the appearing of Christ the Sun, caught nothing. Although they apparently had in their net the one nation of Israel, yet since even it often fell into idolatry, one may say they caught nothing. But when the Sun of righteousness shone forth in the morning, and the apostolic net was spread — a teaching that is truly right, in comparison with which the law and the prophets appear as the left side — then this net is drawn in, and not only the Gentiles, who may be called "one hundred," are brought to Christ, but also the Israelites, who may be understood as "fifty." For "when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, then all Israel will be saved" (Rom. 11:25–26). The three fish signify faith in the Holy Trinity. For the one hundred and fifty — that is, the Gentiles and the Jews — were not caught without the three, since without faith in the Trinity no one is called captured.