John 21 Verses 1-14

John 21:1 “After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise showed he himself. 2 There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. 3 Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing.  

4 But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. 5 Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No. 6 And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. 7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea. 8 And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes.  

9 As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. 10 Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught. 11 Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken. 12 Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord. 13 Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise. 14 This is now the third time that Jesus showed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead.”

“After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise showed he himself. 2 There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. 3 Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing.”  Two times previously, Jesus had shown himself alive to the disciples.  Now with Peter as their leader, there were seven of the disciples who had determined that they would go fishing.  They were witnesses to the most amazing thing that man had ever known.  They had a great truth to tell.  However, they decided to go fishing.  This is just like man.  Rather than to seek the Lord for guidance as to what we should do, we decide to do what pleases us.  However, when we do not seek the Lord’s guidance, our plans often end as their plans.  They toiled all night and caught nothing.   

“But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.  Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No.  And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.  Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea.  And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes.”  Once again, the Lord hid his identity from the disciples.  Then Jesus asked them if they had caught any fish.  The Lord already knew the answer, but he asked this question for their sakes.  The Lord always knows what we are doing.  We should be cognizant of this when we are doing things that we should not be doing or when we are not doing things we should be doing.   

Next, the Lord told them to cast the net on the right side.  Our fruitfulness comes from following the Lord’s instructions to us.  When we don’t follow his instructions we are unfruitful.  When we follow his instructions we bear fruit.  The disciples caught so many fish that they had to have help to drag it to land.   

John recognized it was the Lord and told Peter that it was the Lord.  Pete was naked to his shame and he cast a fisher’s coat about his naked body.  When we get caught doing what we should not be doing or not doing what we should do, we stand naked before the Lord.   

“As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread.  Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught.  Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.  Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord.  Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise.  This is now the third time that Jesus showed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead.” 

The number of fish that they disciples caught was an hundred and fifty three.  Numbers in scriptures often have significance.  This number was not put in the scripture to take up space or for filler.  The number one and three together are closely associated with the Godhead.  The number 5 is closely associated with death.  As the old saying goes, “The one in the middle died for me!”  Christ, the one in the middle of the Godhead died to redeem his people from their sins.  Fish are sometimes used to illustrate God’s covenant people.  Notice not a one of the 153 were lost.  Likewise, not a one of God’s chosen people who were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world will ever be lost from God.   

Christ told the disciples to come and dine.  We dine often on the covenant work of Jesus Christ.  The doctrine of salvation from sin by the atoning blood of Christ through the grace of God alone, is indeed a great filling meal to the spiritually hungry child of God.