Church Fathers Commentary John 21:1-11

"After these things Jesus manifested himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and he manifested [himself] on this wise. There was together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the [sons] of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also come with thee. They went forth, and entered into the boat; and that night they took nothing. But when day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach: yet the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus therefore saith unto them, Children, have ye aught to eat? They answered him, No. And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. That disciple therefore whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his coat about him (for he was naked), and cast himself into the sea. But the other disciples came in the little boat (for they were not far from the land, but about two hundred cubits off), dragging the net [full] of fishes. So when they got out upon the land, they see a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now taken. Simon Peter therefore went up, and drew the net to land, full of great fishes, a hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, the net was not rent." — John 21:1-11 (ASV)

St. Augustine of Hippo: The preceding words of the Evangelist seem to indicate the end of the book, but he continues further to give an account of our Lord’s appearance at the Sea of Tiberias: After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias.

St. John Chrysostom: He says, “Afterwards,” because He did not continually travel with His disciples as before. He says He “manifested Himself” because, His body being incorruptible, it was a condescension to allow Himself to be seen. He mentions the place to show that our Lord had taken away much of their fear and that they no longer remained indoors, even though they had gone to Galilee to avoid the persecution of the Jews.

The Venerable Bede: The Evangelist, as was his custom, first states the event itself and then explains how it happened: And on this wise showed He Himself.

St. John Chrysostom: Since our Lord was not with them regularly, the Spirit had not yet been given to them, and they had received no commission and had nothing to do, they returned to their trade as fishermen. And on this wise showed He Himself. There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee—he who was called by Philip—and the sons of Zebedee, that is, James and John, and two other of His disciples. Simon Peter says to them, I go a fishing.

St. Gregory the Great: It may be asked why Peter, who was a fisherman before his conversion, returned to fishing, when it is said, “No man putting his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

St. Augustine of Hippo: If the disciples had done this after Jesus’s death and before His resurrection, we might have imagined that they did it in despair. But now, after He had risen from the grave, after they had seen the marks of His wounds and received the Holy Spirit by means of His breath, they suddenly become what they were before: fishers, not of men, but of fish.

We must remember, then, that their apostleship did not forbid them from earning a living by a lawful trade, provided they had no other means of supporting themselves. For if the blessed Paul did not use the power he had, as the other preachers of the Gospel did, but supported himself by his own means so that the Gentiles, who were strangers to the name of Christ, would not be offended by a doctrine that seemed to be for sale; and if, though educated differently, he learned a trade he never knew before so that the hearer might not be burdened while the teacher worked with his own hands—how much more could Peter, who had been a fisherman, work at what he knew if he had nothing else to live on at the time?

Someone might ask, “But how could he lack provision, when our Lord promised, ‘Seek you first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you’?” We answer that our Lord fulfilled this promise by bringing them the fish to catch—for who else could have brought them? He allowed them to experience the poverty that required them to fish only so that He could display a miracle.

St. Gregory the Great: A trade that was practiced without sin before conversion is not a sin after it. Therefore, after his conversion, Peter returned to fishing; but Matthew did not return to his post as a tax collector. For there are some occupations that can hardly, if at all, be carried on without sin, and these cannot be returned to after conversion.

St. John Chrysostom: The other disciples followed Peter. They say to him, We also go with you. From this time on, they were all closely united, and they also wanted to see the fishing. They went forth and entered into a ship immediately. And that night they caught nothing. Their fishing at night was due to fear.

St. Gregory the Great: The fishing was made to be unsuccessful in order to heighten their astonishment at the miracle that followed: And that night they caught nothing.

St. John Chrysostom: In the midst of their labor and distress, Jesus presented Himself to them: But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. He did not make Himself known to them immediately but entered into conversation, and first He spoke in a human manner: Then Jesus says to them, Children, have you any meat?—as if He wanted to buy some from them. They answered Him, “No.” He then gives them a sign by which to recognize Him: And He said to them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and you shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.

The moment of recognition reveals the different temperaments of Peter and John: one is fervent, the other sublime; one is quick to act, the other is perceptive. John is the first to recognize our Lord: Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved says to Peter, It is the Lord. Peter is the first to come to Him: Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher’s coat unto him, (for he was naked).

The Venerable Bede: The Evangelist alludes to himself here in his usual manner. He recognized our Lord either by the miracle, the sound of His voice, or the association with former occasions on which He found them fishing. Peter was “naked” in the sense that he was lightly dressed compared to his usual attire, just as we might say to someone we meet who is thinly clad, “You are quite bare.” Peter was dressed this way for convenience, as fishermen often are while working.

Theophylact of Ohrid: Peter’s girding himself is a sign of modesty. He girt himself with a linen coat, such as Thamian and Tyrian fishermen throw over themselves when they have nothing else on, or even over their other clothes.

The Venerable Bede: He went to Jesus with the same fervor he showed in everything he did: And cast himself into the sea. And the other disciples came in a little ship. We should not understand this to mean that Peter walked on top of the water, but that he either swam or waded through it, as he was very near the shore: For they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits.

Glossa Ordinaria: This is a parenthetical statement, for the text continues, “dragging the net with fishes.” The proper sequence of the text is: The other disciples came in a little ship, dragging the net with fishes.

St. John Chrysostom: Another miracle follows: As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. He no longer works with pre-existing materials but creates in an even more wonderful way. This shows that it was only out of condescension that He performed His miracles using existing matter before His crucifixion.

St. Augustine of Hippo: We should not understand this to mean that the bread was laid on the coals. Instead, it should be read as if it were structured this way: They saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on the coals; and they saw bread.

Theophylact of Ohrid: To show that this was not a vision, He told them to bring some of the fish they had caught. Jesus says to them, Bring of the fish which you have now caught. Another miracle follows, namely, that the net was not broken by the great number of fish: Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, a hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.

St. Augustine of Hippo: In a mystical sense, in the catch of fish He symbolized the mystery of the Church as it will be at the final resurrection of the dead. To make this symbolism clearer, the account is placed near the end of the book. The number seven, which is the number of the disciples who were fishing, signifies the end of time, for time is counted by periods of seven days.

Theophylact of Ohrid: In the nighttime, before the presence of Christ the Sun, the Prophets caught nothing; for although they tried to correct the people, the people often fell back into idolatry.

St. Gregory the Great: It may be asked why after His resurrection He stood on the shore to receive the disciples, whereas before He walked on the sea. The sea signifies the world, which is tossed about by various causes of turmoil and by the waves of this corruptible life, while the shore, by its solidity, represents eternal rest. Therefore, because the disciples were still on the waves of this mortal life, they were laboring on the sea; but the Redeemer, having thrown off the corruption of the flesh through His resurrection, stood on the shore.

St. Augustine of Hippo: The shore is the end of the sea and therefore signifies the end of the world. The Church is here symbolized as she will be at the end of the world, just as the other catch of fish symbolized her as she is now. Previously, Jesus did not stand on the shore but got into Simon's boat and asked him to put out a little from the land.

In the former catch, the nets were not thrown to the right or to the left to symbolize either the good or the bad alone, but were cast without distinction: “Let down your nets for a catch,” meaning that the good and bad were mixed together. But here, the command is, “Cast the net on the right side of the ship,” signifying those who will stand on the right hand—the good.

Our Lord performed the first miracle at the beginning of His ministry and the second after His resurrection. This shows that the former catch of fish signified the mixture of good and evil that makes up the Church at present, while the latter signifies the good alone, which the Church will contain in eternity after the world has ended and the resurrection of the dead is complete.

But those who belong to the resurrection of life—that is, to the right hand—and are caught in the net of the Christian name will only appear on the shore, that is, at the end of the world after the resurrection. This is why the disciples were not able to draw the net into the boat and unload the fish as they did before. The Church keeps these people of the right hand, after their death, in a sleep of peace, as if in the depths of the sea, until the net is brought to shore.

The fact that the first catch involved two small boats, while the last was two hundred cubits from land—a hundred and a hundred—symbolizes, I believe, the two classes of the elect: the circumcised and the uncircumcised.

The Venerable Bede: The two hundred cubits signify the twofold grace of love—the love of God and the love of our neighbor—for it is by these that we approach Christ. The broiled fish is Christ who suffered. He condescended to be hidden in the waters of human nature and to be caught in the net of our night; and having become a fish by taking on humanity, He became bread to refresh us by His divinity.

St. Gregory the Great: The holy Church was committed to Peter; to him it is specifically said, “Feed My sheep.” What is later declared in word is now signified by this action. It is he who draws the fish to the solid shore, because it was he who pointed out the stability of the eternal homeland to the faithful. He did this by word of mouth and by his epistles, and he does this daily through signs and miracles. After stating that the net was full of large fish, the number is given: “Full of great fishes, one hundred and fifty and three.”

St. Augustine of Hippo: In the previous catch, the number of fish is not mentioned, as if in fulfillment of the prophecy in the Psalm, “If I should declare them and speak of them, they should be more than I am able to express.” But here, a specific number is mentioned, which we must explain. The number ten, from the Ten Commandments, signifies the law. But when grace is joined to the law, and the Spirit to the letter, the number seven is introduced, as this number represents the Holy Spirit, to whom sanctification properly belongs. Sanctification was first mentioned in the law with respect to the seventh day, and Isaiah praises the Holy Spirit for His sevenfold work and office. The seven of the Spirit added to the ten of the law make seventeen, and the numbers from one up to seventeen, when added together, make one hundred and fifty-three.

St. Gregory the Great: Seven and ten multiplied by three make fifty-one. The fiftieth year was a year of rest for the whole people from all their work. In unity is true rest, for where division is, true rest cannot be.

St. Augustine of Hippo: This does not signify that only one hundred and fifty-three saints will rise to eternal life; rather, this number represents all who partake of the grace of the Holy Spirit. This number also contains three fifties and a remainder of three, with reference to the mystery of the Trinity. The number fifty is made up of seven times seven plus one, signifying that those sevens are one.

The fact that they were “great fishes” is also not without meaning. For when our Lord says, “I came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill”—that is, by giving the Holy Spirit through whom the law can be fulfilled—He says almost immediately after, “Whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

In the first catch, the net was broken, signifying schisms. But here, to show that in the perfect peace of the blessed there will be no schisms, the Evangelist continues, “And for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.” He seems to be alluding to the previous instance where it was broken, making a favorable comparison.