Thomas Aquinas Commentary John 21:7-14

"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. Jesus saith unto them, Come [and] break your fast. And none of the disciples durst inquire of him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus cometh, and taketh the bread, and giveth them, and the fish likewise. This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples, after that he was risen from the dead." — John 21:7-14 (ASV)

The Evangelist, having shown how the great catch of fish led the disciples to recognize Christ, now describes the order in which they recognized Him.

• First, he mentions John;
• then Peter;
• and then the actions of the other disciples.

John, being quick in understanding, recognized Christ at once. So he said to Peter, whom he loved more than the others and who was also above the others in rank, it is the Lord. John was convinced of this by the catch of fish, for as Scripture says, you rule the raging of the sea (Psalms 88:8); and, whatever the Lord pleases he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps (Psalms 134:6).

He said, it is the Lord, because they usually called Him this, as Christ Himself noted: you call me Teacher and Lord (John 13:13).

Peter is seen as passionately devoted to Christ. His devotion is clear, first of all, from his quickness to act: When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. But the other disciples came in the boat. As soon as he heard it was the Lord, Peter went without delay. Do not delay to turn to the Lord, and do not put it off from day to day .

Second, we see his devotion to Christ in his modesty. He did not want to appear before the Lord naked, but put on his clothes, for he had been stripped for work because of the heat and to make his labor easier. We can learn from this that those coming to Christ should put off the old man and put on the new, which has been created for God in faith: He who conquers will be clad thus in white garments, and I will not blot his name out of the book of life (Revelation 3:5).

Third, his devotion is shown by his lack of fear. Because of his great love, he was unwilling to stay in the boat, which was moving too slowly for him, and so he threw himself into the sea to reach Christ more quickly.

In the mystical interpretation, the sea signifies the troubles of this present world. Those who desire to come to Christ cast themselves into this sea, not refusing the tribulations of the world: through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22); My son, if you come forward to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for trials . Peter cast himself into the sea and reached Christ unharmed, because the servant of Christ is kept safe and unharmed in the midst of tribulations: you have given a path in the sea, and a safe way through the waves .

As Chrysostom says, this incident clearly brings out the difference between John and Peter: John is seen to be greater in understanding, while Peter is more ardent in his affections.

The other disciples remained in the boat. First, the Evangelist mentions what they did: the other disciples came in the boat, because they were not as ardent as Peter. The boat signifies the Church: the hope of the world took refuge on a raft, and guided by your hand left to the world the seed of a new generation . This text refers to the Church (compare to 1 Peter 3:20). The other disciples came in the boat, that is, under the protection of the society of the Church, which is as awe-inspiring as an army in battle array. You will protect them in your tabernacle from the strife of tongues (Psalms 30:21).

Second, the Evangelist gives the reason they did this: for they were not far from the land, but about two hundred cubits off. This could be the reason why Peter jumped into the sea—because the land was near. It could also explain why the others arrived so quickly. Indeed, they were not far away, because the Church is not far from the land of the living, for the Church is none other than the house of God, and... the gate of heaven (Genesis 28:17). The saints think about this heavenly homeland every day: we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen (2 Corinthians 4:18); our commonwealth is in heaven (Philippians 3:20).

He says two hundred cubits, which signifies the same thing as the two boats mentioned by Luke: the two peoples from which the elect are drawn to eternal life (Luke 5:2). As Paul writes, God’s purpose was that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross (Ephesians 2:15). The net by which the fish are taken is the teaching of the faith. God draws us by inspiring us from within—no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him (John 6:44)—and the apostles also draw us by their exhortations.

Next, the Evangelist tells how Christ affectionately prepared a meal for His disciples. He mentions:

• its preparation;
• Christ’s invitation: Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast”;
• and the meal itself: Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish.

In the preparation of the meal, we see what was contributed by Christ and what was brought by the disciples, for Jesus said to them, Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.

Christ prepared three things. The Evangelist continues: When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. Christ, by His power, had created these from nothing or had formed them from some nearby matter.

In a previous miracle, Jesus fed the people with bread He had multiplied from previously existing bread (John 6:11). Now, after His passion, He creates or newly forms things, because it is no longer the time to show weakness but His power. What He did before His passion in the multiplication of the bread was an act of condescension; if He had wanted, He could have created it from nothing then as well.

From this, we can understand that Christ prepares a spiritual meal or banquet. If we take this meal as a symbol for the Church’s spiritual nourishment, Christ also prepares these three things. First, the hot coals of charity: you will heap coals of fire on his head (Proverbs 25:22); fill your hands with burning coals (Ezekiel 10:2). Christ carried these burning coals from heaven to earth: A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another (John 13:34); I came to cast fire upon the earth (Luke 12:49).

Christ also prepares the fish laid over the coals, which is Christ Himself. The cooking fish spread over the hot coals represents the suffering Christ, who, because of the fire of His love for us, is sacrificed on the cross: Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Ephesians 5:2). Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us (Ephesians 5:1).

He also prepares the bread that nourishes us, and this bread is Himself. Christ is called a fish insofar as His divinity is hidden, for it is characteristic of fish to remain hidden in the water: Truly, you are a God who hides yourself (Isaiah 45:15). Insofar as Christ nourishes us by His teaching and gives us His body for food, He is truly bread: I am the living bread that came down from heaven (John 6:51); the bread will be rich and abundant (Isaiah 30:23).

The ministers of the Church should also bring something to this meal; but whatever it is, it has come from God.

The Evangelist now mentions what was brought by the disciples. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.”

• First, we see the Lord’s command;
• and then one of the disciples acts on it.

Our Lord tells them to bring some of the fish they have caught. It was as if He were saying: “I have given you the gift of charity, I have roasted my body upon the cross, and I have given you the bread of my teaching, which perfects and strengthens the Church. Now it is your task to catch others.” These are the ones who will be converted by the preaching of the apostles: Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings (Psalms 29:1); and they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations as an offering to the Lord (Isaiah 66:20).

If this meal is understood morally, then Christ first prepares as food for the soul the burning coals of charity: God’s love has been poured into our hearts (Romans 5:5); I came to cast fire upon the earth (Luke 12:49). Then He prepares the fish, that is, a hidden faith, since it is concerned with things that are not seen (Hebrews 11:1); and also the bread, that is, solid teaching: solid food is for the mature (Hebrews 5:14). Our contribution to this meal is to make good use of the grace given to us: but by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:10). Thus our Lord asks us to bring the fish—that is, bring your good works, which you have been granted the grace to accomplish: let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works (Matthew 5:16).

The Evangelist mentions that this was done by one of the disciples, Peter, who was more ardent than the others: So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, one hundred and fifty-three. He also went up to the helm of the Church: I will climb the palm tree (Song of Solomon 7:8); in his heart he has planned ascents (Psalms 84:5). And he hauled the net ashore, because the holy Church has been entrusted to him, and it was said to him in particular, Feed my sheep (John 21:17). Therefore, what Christ revealed with His words, Feed my sheep, Peter now foreshadows by his action in drawing the fish to the solid land, because he shows the faithful the stability of their eternal homeland.

He said, full of large fish, because those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified (Romans 8:30); they were men renowned for their power, giving counsel by their understanding, and proclaiming prophecies; leaders of the people in their deliberations . At the other catch of fish (Luke 5:4), the number of fish taken was not mentioned, but it is here: there were one hundred and fifty-three. The reason for this is that those called to the Church in the present time include both the good and the bad: the number of fools is infinite (Ecclesiastes 1:15). Thus in Genesis, when Abraham is told of his calling, we read, I will surely multiply your offspring as the sand that is on the seashore (Genesis 22:17), which refers to the bad. But referring to the good, God says, Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them... So shall your offspring be (Genesis 15:5); for God especially counts the good: he determines the number of the stars (Psalms 147:4).

Does this mean that no more than one hundred and fifty-three will be saved? No, indeed! There will be more, but this number indicates a mystery. No one can reach the heavenly homeland without observing the Ten Commandments, and the commandments can only be kept with the help of the sevenfold gift of the Holy Spirit: the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord (Isaiah 11:2). Furthermore, the first recorded instance of sanctification occurred on the seventh day: So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy (Genesis 2:3). Adding ten and seven gives seventeen. Now, if we add the cardinal numbers in succession from one to seventeen (1 + 2 + 3 ... + 17), the total sum is one hundred and fifty-three.

Alternatively, Christ was appearing to seven disciples. If we multiply this seven by seven (for the gifts of the Holy Spirit), we get forty-nine. If we add one to indicate the perfection of unity that characterizes the children of God who act by the Spirit, we get fifty. If we triple this fifty and add three (to indicate our faith in the Trinity, which we profess with our heart, words, and actions), we get one hundred and fifty-three. Thus, those who are perfected by the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit and united by their faith in the Trinity come to the Father.

The Evangelist continues, and though there were so many, the net was not torn. In the other incident (Luke 5:6), the net broke because in the present Church, which the net signifies, there are many tears from schisms, heresies, and rebellions. But the Church is not entirely torn apart because Christ promised, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). But in the future, in our heavenly homeland, which is signified by the untorn net, there will be no schisms in that peace which the saints will enjoy: he makes peace in your borders (Psalms 147:14).

When the Evangelist says, Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast,” we see His invitation to the meal He had prepared.

• First, we see Christ’s invitation;
• then the attitude of the disciples: Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?”

Christ invites us to dine with Him by inspiring us from within, saying, Come and have breakfast. This is like His other invitations: Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28); Eat, O friends, and drink; drink deeply, O lovers! (Song of Solomon 5:1). He also invites us to dine by encouraging and teaching us from without through others: A man once gave a great banquet... he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, “Come” (Luke 14:16).

The Evangelist describes their attitude when he says, none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” According to Augustine, this indicates the disciples’ certainty about Christ’s resurrection; they were so certain that it was Christ that none of them presumed to doubt it. And because a question implies doubt, no one presumed to ask, “Who are you?” As was said before, In that day you will ask nothing of me (John 16:23).

For Chrysostom, it indicates a reverence the disciples had for Christ that was greater than usual. They would have liked to question Him, but Christ appeared to them in such grandeur and glory that they did not dare to question Him because of their amazement and respect. This is what particularly stopped them from questioning Him, for they knew it was the Lord.

Next, we see the meal they had, with Jesus eating with them: Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. As the psalmist says, You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing (Psalms 145:16). For He is the one who gives nourishment at the appropriate times.

But did Christ really eat with them? We should say that He did, although it does not say so here. Luke explicitly says that He ate with them (Luke 24:43), and in Acts we read that while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem (Acts 1:4).

But did He truly eat? To this we should say that a thing is said to be true in two ways: true with the truth of signification, and true with the truth of its species. A thing is true in the first way when it corresponds to what is signified. For example, if I want to signify something by speech, and what I signify is true and agrees with the thing itself, my speech is true with the truth of signification, even if it is not true with the truth of species. When Christ said, I am the true vine (John 15:1), that was true, although He is not a true vine in the sense that He has the species or nature of a vine. Rather, He is a vine in what a vine signifies.

Something is said to be true with the truth of its species or kind when it has what belongs to the essence of its species. These are the principles of the species, not their subsequent effects. Thus, the utterance “man is an animal” is true with the truth of signification because it signifies what is true. But it is not true with the truth of species unless it is spoken by the mouth of an animal using its normal organs of speech. Its truth does not depend on the effects of the speaking, for example, that it be heard by someone.

Applied to the act of eating, some cases are true only with the truth of signification, like the eating ascribed to an angel, because an angel does not have the organs for eating. But what is signified by their eating is true: the desire they have for our salvation. Christ’s act of eating after the resurrection, however, was true both with the truth of signification—because He did it to show that He had a true human nature—and with the truth of its species, because He had the organs used for eating. However, the effects that follow eating were not present, since the food was not transformed into His substance, for He had a glorified and incorruptible body. The food was dissolved into preexisting matter by divine power. But as was said, this subsequent effect does not alter the truth of the species.

The Evangelist summarizes the appearances by saying, This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

According to Augustine, if this third time refers to the number of appearances, it is not accurate. As was said, on the first day Christ appeared five times; again on the eighth day when Thomas was present (John 20:26); again by the sea as recorded here; again on the mountain in Galilee (Matthew 28:16); again when they were at table (Mark 16:14); and again on the day of His ascension, when as they were looking on, he was lifted up (Acts 1:9). Furthermore, He appeared to them many other times during the forty days, but these are not recorded (Acts 1:3).

Thus, the third time must refer to the days on which Christ appeared. The first day He appeared was the day of the resurrection (John 20:19). The second day was eight days after the resurrection: Eight days later, his disciples were inside again (John 20:26). The third day was the appearance by the lake mentioned here.

Alternatively, one could say this statement can be true even if it refers to the number of times. The only times we read that He appeared to a number of the disciples gathered together was on the first day in the evening, when the doors were shut; second, eight days later, when the disciples were gathered together; and third, here at the sea. Thus, he explicitly says, This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to his disciples.