He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” They cast it therefore, and now they weren’t able to draw it in for the multitude of fish.
That disciple therefore whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he wrapped his coat around himself (for he was naked), and threw 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 away), dragging the net full of fish. So when they got out on the land, they saw a fire of coals there, with fish and bread laid on it. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have just caught.”
Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land, full of one hundred fifty-three great fish. Even though there were so many, the net wasn’t torn.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv6, 7, 10 6. Cast the net on the right side of…
6. Cast the net on the right side of the ship. Christ does not command with authority and power as Master and Lord, but gives advice like one of the people; and the disciples, being at a loss what to do, readily obey him, though they did not know who he was. If, before the first casting of the net, any thing of this sort had been said to them, they would not have so quickly obeyed. I mention this, that no one may wonder that they were so submissive, for they had already been worn out by long and useless toil. Yet it was no small proof of patience and perseverance, that, though they had labored unsuccessfully during the whole night, they continue their toil after the return of daylight. And, indeed, if we wish to allow an opportunity for the blessing of God to descend on us, we ought constantly to expect it; for nothing can be more unreasonable than to withdraw the hand immediately from labor, if it do not give promise of success.
That Simon Peter Was Naked, is a proof that the disciples had labored in earnest; and yet they do not hesitate to cast the net again to make another trial, that they may not neglect any opportunity. Their obedience to the command of Christ cannot be ascribed to faith; for they hear him speak as a person who was unknown to them. Now, if we dislike our calling, because the labor which we undertake appears to be unproductive, yet, when the Lord exhorts us to steadiness and perseverance, we ought to take courage; in the end we shall obtain a happy result, but it will be at the proper time.
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And now they were not able to draw it Christ here exhibited two proofs of his Divine power. The first consisted in their taking so large a draught of fishes; and the second was, when, by his concealed power, he preserved the net whole, which otherwise must unavoidably have been broken in pieces. Other circumstances are mentioned, namely, that the disciples find burning coals on the shore, that fishes are laid on them, and that bread is also prepared. As to the number of the fishes, we ought not to look for any deep mystery in it. Augustine enters into ingenious reasonings about the statement of the number, and says that it denotes the Law and the Gospel; but if we examine the matter carefully, we shall find that this is childish trifling.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v7 It was a linen garment, which could not let…
It was a linen garment, which could not let his swimming.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv6–11 6 And he said unto them, Cast the net…
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.
Ver. 6. Cast the net on the right side, &c.] This counsel he gives as a stranger, who haply might see a confluence of fish there, being on the shore, which they in the ship saw not. They obey him therefore, as content to lose one labour more, if it must be so; they knew not what another draught might produce. It is good to be doing in God’s way: sooner or later success will ensue. Bind not the Lord to a day; wake not my beloved till he please; he will pay us for all our pains and patience. Consider but our, 1. distance, 2. dependence, and we will wait.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv6–10 Though they had before laboured in vain, yet their…
Though they had before laboured in vain, yet their Master’s command encourages them to go to work again; then they take a multitude of fishes; a presage, say some, of that great success which the apostles should have in their fishing for men.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv7, 10 Observe here, 1. The great zeal and forwardness of…
Observe here, 1. The great zeal and forwardness of Peter: hearing that it was Christ, he leaps into the sea to get to him. O how inviting, attractive, and alluring, is a sight of Christ! It will make those that know him break through all difficulties to come unto him. It is not a sea of water, no, nor seas of blood, that can keep a zealous soul at a distance from Christ: When Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his coat, and cast himself into the sea.
Observe, 2. What a complication of miracles were here: as soon as they came to land they discerned another miracle, viz. a fire of coals, and fish laid on, and bread, all created and produced by Christ out of nothing, at this time, as an evidence of his divine power; for before they could get the fish to shore, they saw fish broiling upon coals, which makes it evident that these were none of the fish which they had catched.
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Christ, when he pleases for the benefit and comfort of his people, will work miracle upon miracle, mercy upon mercy, one wonder upon the head of another; for here, after a miracle at sea, they met with another miracle at land: As soon as they came to land they saw a fire.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv6–11 And he said unto them,.... Willing to make himself…
And he said unto them,.... Willing to make himself known by a miracle, since they knew him not by his person, nor voice:
cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find; that is, a large multitude of fish, as they did. The ship was an emblem of the church in its present afflicted state; the right side of it points to the elect, and where they are to be found in this world; the casting of the net signifies the preaching of the Gospel; the promise of finding fish, the assurance Christ gives of the success of his word, which he owns and blesses for the conversion of elect sinners:
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they cast therefore; the net, willing to try what success they might have at the instance of this person, whom they knew not. The Ethiopic version reads the passage thus, "and they said unto him, we have laboured all night, and have found nothing, but at thy word we will let down"; which seems to be taken out of Luk 5:5. However, they obeyed his orders and directions, as the faithful ministers of the Gospel do, and should, and, succeeded.
And now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. The Syriac adds, "which it held"; being in number, as in Joh 21:11 an hundred and fifty, and three great fishes; which was an emblem and presage of that large number of souls both among the Jews and Gentiles, which they should be instrumental in bringing to Christ, through the preaching of the Gospel.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv6–7 They were not able to draw it for the…
They were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes - This was not only a demonstration of the power of our Lord, but a kind supply for them and their families, and such as might be of service to them, when they waited afterward in Jerusalem. It was likewise an emblem of the great success which should attend them as fishers of men.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv6–9 Verse 6. And ye shall find.] The AEthiopic, three…
Verse 6. And ye shall find.] The AEthiopic, three copies of the Itala, and St. Cyril, add, They said therefore unto him, we have laboured all the night and caught nothing, nevertheless at thy command we will let down the net. This is borrowed from Lu 5:5.
For the multitude of fishes.] This was intended as an emblem of the immense number of souls which should be converted to God by their ministry; according to the promise of Christ, Mt 4:19.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv7, 9 Joh 21:7-8. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved —…
Joh 21:7-8. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved — Seeing such astonishing success after their preceding fruitless toil and disappointment; saith unto Peter, It is the Lord — Who has, on this occasion, renewed that miracle which he wrought in thy ship some years ago, when he first called us to attend him. Now when Peter heard, and saw, that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher’s coat unto him — Or upper garment, as επενδυτης properly signifies, reverencing the presence of the Lord. For he was naked — Or rather, was stripped of it; for the word γυμνος, here used, does not always, like the English word naked, signify having no clothes on, or being totally uncovered, but not having all the clothes usually worn. In this sense the word seems to be used Act 19:16, and in several passages of the Old Testament. And did cast himself into the sea — To swim to him immediately. The love of Christ draws men through fire and water. And the other disciples — Making the best of their way; came in a little ship — That is, in their small fishing vessel; dragging the net with fishes — Which doubtless considerably impeded their progress.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv6, 7, 8, 9, 11 On the right side - Why the right side…
On the right side - Why the right side is mentioned is not known. Grotius supposes that it was the side nearest the shore, where there was less probability of taking fish. It does not appear that they yet recognized the Lord Jesus, but from some cause they had sufficient confidence in him to make another trial. Perhaps they judged that he was one skilled in that employment, and knew where there was the greatest probability of success.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 9, 11 It is the Lord. St. John Chrysostom says, we…
It is the Lord. St. John Chrysostom says, we may here see the different characters of the two apostles, Peter and John; the former is more ardent, the latter more sublime; the first more vehement, the last more penetrating; for these reasons, John was the first to know Christ, Peter the first to hasten to him. (Hom. lxxxvi.)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv6–11 he said unto them, Cast the net on the…
he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship--no doubt, by this very specific direction, intending to reveal to them His knowledge of the deep and power over it.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv6–11 6. The right side—His divine power could have given…
6. The right side—His divine power could have given the same success to the left side; but he makes and announces his choice that they might see that the result was produced by his will and power. The apostles here knew not, thus far, this stranger; but he directs them with a persuasive power by which they are induced to make the trial he directs.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv6–11 6. They cast therefore] Perhaps they thought the stranger…
6. They cast therefore] Perhaps they thought the stranger saw fish on the right side. Fish are at times seen “in dense masses” in the lake.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv6–11 (6) Cast the net on the right side of…
(6) Cast the net on the right side of the ship.—Comp. Note on Luk_5:6. Here the special direction is to cast the net on the right side. We must suppose that the net was cast on the left side, and that they think the speaker who stands on the shore sees some indication of fishes on the other side, for He is still as a stranger to them, and yet they at once obey Him.
They were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.—That is, they were not able to draw it up into the boat. In Joh_21:8 they are described as dragging it to the shore.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv7–11 Therefore, as a distinct consequence of the vivid reminiscence…
Therefore, as a distinct consequence of the vivid reminiscence of the past; with sudden intuition given to him by the event, and a fresh realization of the identity of the risen Lord with the Master Jesus, that disciple therefore whom Jesus loved who must have been either one of the sons of Zebedee or one of the two unnamed disciples. The latter supposition is inapposite from the intimacy between Peter and John, which the synoptic narrative, and references in the Acts and Galatians it., have recorded; that disciple and no other, the one so often referred to, one of the seven, saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Had he not again and again done wondrous things of power, wisdom, and love on this very spot, in these very waters? So John comes intuitively and with true insight to the sacred truth and reality, and his conduct is again contrasted wonderfully with the energetic and impulsive Peter. (Joh_20:5, Joh_20:6) The same relative characteristics of the two apostles have been preserved throughout the fivefold narrative. Such a contrast so delicately and persistently sustained lends certainty to the objective reality. Accordingly Simon Peter, when he heard, It is the Lord for the words flashed conviction into him hurried at once to put his new idea to practical proof. The word of John satisfied him, and, not seeing for himself what John saw with mental eye, he accepted the joyful news, and was the first to spring into the sea, and, with his usual energy, to cast himself at his Master"s feet. He girt his coat about him (for he was naked). The word gunov does not mean perfectly nude. A man who had simply the citwn or tunic upon him was practically thus regarded. The word gumnov occurs in Isa_20:2 1Sa_19:24 Job_24:10 in the same sense. The proper name for the tunic, or garment next the skin, was upoduthv , and that which was put over the tunic was ependuthv and ependuma (Meyer and Wettstein, in loc.). The Talmud has Aramaized the word, calling it atdgpa (ependetha), and used it for the workman"s frock or blouse, often without sleeves, and fastened with a girdle. Dr. Salmond truly says that this reference to an act which to ordinary men would have suggested a different arrangement of dress, reveals the eye-witness. Hengstenberg suggests that Peter simply girded his upper garment for the purpose of swimming more easily; but, as Luthardt observes, with this ependuthv already upon him, he would not have been "naked" And he cast himself into the sea, intending, whatever might be the fate of the laden net, to be the first to greet and worship the Lord. Of the reception he met with John says nothing: he knew nothing. The Lord had some special instruction for him a little later. It is not in harmony with the words, as Gerhard supposed, that Peter walked triumphantly upon the waters. Not a hint of it occurs. The hundred yards were rapidly covered, either by swimming or wading to the shore meanwhile.
HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON Ver. 7. The cry of joyful recognition.
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First uttered by John when he discerned the form of his beloved Master upon the beach of the Galilaean lake, this exclamation has passed into the hearts and the lips of all Christian people, who, amidst the various scenes of life, have recognized their Savior"s presence, and have ever been wont to acknowledge with reverential faith, "It is the Lord!" The circumstances in which the words were uttered, as well as the words themselves, are full of instruction, suggestion, and comfort.
I How JESUS COMES TO BE HIDDEN. Others, beside the twelve, have for a time failed to recognize the Son of God.
1. It may be through human misapprehension. Many there are who never really see and know Jesus. They misunderstand his character and purposes, his disposition with reference to themselves; and consequently they remain altogether estranged from him.
2. It may be through human unbelief. Men may, and do, deliberately draw a veil between themselves and Christ. Their sins, their unspirituality, are a complete barrier to their really knowing him; they are without the receptiveness and sympathy which are necessary in order to such knowledge.
3. It may be through human perplexity and despondency. In the case of the disciples this seems to have been the explanation of their failure to perceive at once that the form upon the shore was that of their Lord. Their minds were preoccupied with their own distress, uncertainty, and troubles. And thus they were for a while blind to that very presence which alone could bring them relief and blessing.
II HOW JESUS COMES TO BE RECOGNIZED. He was hidden for a short season from the eyes even of his own attached friends; but the hiding was not for long. Nor will he fail to make his nearness and his grace known to those who are prepared to receive the revelation. This he does:
1. By the voice of Divine authority in which he speaks. There was command in the tones of Jesus when he bade the fishers let down their net. He never speaks however graciously and with however much of encouragement and kindly invitation save in a manner divinely authoritative. And the true disciples recognize that royal tone.
2. By the language of sympathy and love which he uses. As Jesus pitied the poor fishermen who had toiled all night in vain; as he addressed them as his children, and showed commiseration; so does he ever appeal to the tenderest feelings of human hearts, awakening the response which love gives to love.
3. By the provision which he makes for the needs of his own. There is a practical aspect in the spiritual ministry of the Savior. He provided breakfast for the disciples; how could he have given them a homelier welcome? Thus does he give his flesh for the life of the world. His Deity is recognized in his devotion and sacrifice. They who once see what he has done for man can never doubt who he is.
III How THE RECOGNIZED JESUS IS GREETED. With the cry, "It is the Lord!" This is:
1. The cry of faith, on discovering in him the Truth of God. The long-looked-for vision breaks upon the soul. He who has been desired draws near.
2. The cry of obedience, as his will is felt to be authoritatively binding. He speaks the language of command; and the obedient soldier adopts the wish as law, and does the bidding of his Captain; for "it is the Lord!
3. The cry of submission and resignation, as his hand is discerned in the chastisements of life. Let a man say, "It is fate!" or, "It is fortune!" and how can he submit with profit? But let him say, "It is the Lord!" and he will add, "Let him do as seemeth good in his sight.
4. The cry of witness, as Christ"s presence is proclaimed to all around. It is the mission of the Church to all the world, to direct attention to the world"s Savior and Lord.
IV HOW THE RECOGNIZED JESUS REWARDS HIS FAITHFUL DISCIPLES.
1. With his society and friendship.
2. With his liberality and bounty, by which all their spiritual wants are supplied.
3. With his power and benediction upon the life and work of each one who acknowledges and serves him.
4. With the final vision of his face. They who have seen him by faith on earth shall see him as he is above. Blessed, rapturous, shall be the recognition, when the disciple shall open his eyes in heaven, and shall exclaim, "It is the Lord! T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv6, 7, 9 Cast the net on the right side of the…
Joh_21:6
Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find
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Old instrumentalities, but new method, an emblem of Christs redemptive method
Christ commanded the disciples to cast the old net in a new way.
Thus He ever does in redeeming souls.
I. HE EMPLOYS OLD INSTRUMENTALITIES. There are many of them, but they are all old.
1. The same old natural facts. He employs the phenomena of nature to quicken, educate and elevate souls. We have nothing more of nature than the men of remotest generations.
2. The same old gospel principles. Biblical truths are His redemptive forces, but the youngest of them is eighteen hundred years old.
3. The same old mental faculties. In regenerating men Christ does not create a new intellect, memory, imagination. He brings out the new moral creature with the old mental idiosyncrasies.
II. HE EMPLOYS OLD INSTRUMENTALITIES IN A NEW WAY. He directs men
1. To a new method of studying natural facts. Thoughtfully, inductively, devoutly--regarding them all as mirrors of the Divine.
2. To a new method of dealing with gospel truths. Not desultorily, speculatively, controversially, but inductively, systematically and practically.
3. To a new method of employing mental faculties. Turning the mental powers away from time to eternity, from the creature to the Creator. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
Ministerial encouragements
It was quite natural that this miracle should carry their thoughts back to that draught when their nets brake--the type of those poor tentative trial missions which alone these men had been capable of when they knew Christ only after the flesh. This erie was a type of the works greater than His own which Christ promised. Note
I. THE ASSURANCE THAT THERE IS A DIRECTING VOICE AND A GUIDING HAND. The disciples did not yet know the voice, and we do not always discern it; for Christ speaks in many tones--by circumstance, character, influence. What a relief and comfort this is!
II. It is no play on the words to say that there is A RIGHT AND A WRONG SIDE OF THE SHIP FOR THE CASTING OF THE NET. When Christ says the right side we must not choose the left. There is an awkward, clumsy, inappropriate way of offering truth and love to men as well as a way that is suitable, winning--to use the figure here, adroit, dexterous, and therefore Christs way.
III. WHAT IS CAST MUST BE THE NET, THE GOSPEL NET.
1. A prophet speaks of those who sacrifice to their own net. We may have a net of our own, and take great pains with it in making and mending, and think highly of it as an instrument for catching, and even fancy that it has caught, because there is a thronging and pressing to hear, and because men praise the thing heard--and lo! there is what God calls nothing in the net.
2. The great elements of gospel revelation must find place in all teaching--sin, the Divine Saviour, the Holy indwelling Spirit, sanctification, &c.
these things, not rawly or roughly flung out, but tenderly and sweetly impressed, must never be thrown behind in comparison with topics of the day.
IV. YE SHALL FIND. He does not say, All at once, nor all you would, nor so as to see it now; but He puts no limit to our hope and prayer. Not one earnest sermon falls to the ground. Some conscience is quickened, some sorrow comforted, or some life guided. (Dean Vaughan.)
Fishing for souls
Many men there are who make fishing rods who never use them. To make fishing rods is one thing, and to catch fish is another. Many men can make good lines who never think of going out to fish. There are plenty of mechanics that stand by the stithy and make all sorts of hooks who never catch fish. Many of the men who make reels and baskets do not catch fish. The man who, having these things at his command, knows where the trout lie, and how to throw his line, and how to draw back when the fish rises to the hook, he after all is the fisherman. Now there are hundreds of men who, when they go into the pulpit, make rods and lines (very long lines), and hooks, and reels, and baskets. They take this or that doctrine and pound it out into a hook, bending it and kinking it just so, and stick it up on a paper, and label it, and that is the end of it. And this is called preaching! To know how to make rods and lines, &c., is called sound, regular, and approved preaching; but Christ says that is preaching which catches men. And, so far from teaching you that you have no right to introduce into the pulpit anything but the substance of doctrines, I affirm that the man who does not do it will never catch men. Gods sovereignty may, out of the literal foolishness of his preaching, catch some men; but the commission of Christ to every man that undertakes to preach is, Follow Me, and I will make you a fisher of men. The business of a preacher is to catch men--proud, wicked, worldly men: and to catch them out of temptations, out of snares, out of wealth, out of poverty: for men are in more pools, ten thousand times than fishes are And that man who knows all kinds, and what sort of bait each loves, and how to coax him, and how to catch him, knows how to preach; but the man who does not know these things though he knows everything else--lacks a knowledge of the very thing he was sent to do. (H. W. Beecher.)
The two draughts of fishes
(Text, and Luk_5:4):--The whole life of Christ was a sermon. The miracles attest His mission; but a higher reason for them is to be found in the instruction which they convey. Some ministers have often preached from the same text, but never the same discourse. The like may be said of Christ. The two miracles seem to the casual observer to be alike; but though the text is the same in both, the discourse is full of variations. Note--I. THE POINTS OF UNIFORMITY. They are both intended to set forth the way in which Christs kingdom shall increase; viz., that
1. The means must be used. In the first case, the fish did not leap into Simons boat, nor in the second, did they lay themselves down upon the coals. No, the fishermen must go out in their boat, cast the net, and then either drag it ashore, or fill the boats with its contents. It is a miracle, but human agency is not ignored. In saving souls God works by means. So long as the economy of grace shall stand, God will by the foolishness of preaching save them that believe. God works by means of men whom He specially calls to His work, and not as a rule without them. The outcry against the one man ministry comes not of God, but of proud self-conceit. The new ways of catching fish without nets, and saving souls without ministers, will never answer. I know not a church that has despised instrumentality but it has come to an end within a few years either by schism or decay.
2. Means of themselves are utterly unavailing. In both cases there was failure--why? They were no raw hands; they had toiled, and toiled all night. There was no deficiency of fish, for as soon as the Master comes there they are by shoals. What, then, is the reason? Because there is no power in the means apart from the presence of Christ. Without Christ we can do nothing. Not by might, &c. Put no dependence upon societies, committees, ministries, &c. Let us work as if all depended upon us; but let us depend upon God, knowing that it rests with Him alone.
3. It is Christs presence that confers success. It was His will that drew the fish to the net as He sat in Peters boat. It was His presence on the dry land that drew the fish to the right side of the ship. Christs presence in the midst of the Church is the Churchs power.
4. The success developed human weakness. In the first instance the net breaks and the ship began to sink, and Peter says, Depart, &c. The very abundance of Gods mercy made him feel his own nothingness. In the last case, they were scarcely able to draw the net because of the multitude of fishes. If the Lord gives us success in winning souls we shall soon find out what nothings we are. Little increases such as have been common in our churches for years, are quite consistent with great self-congratulation, and so is utter barrenness; mark the pompous carriage of many a fruitless preacher. The man humbles himself in the dust when hundreds are ingathered, for this cannot be the minister; this is the finger of God.
II. THE DISSIMILARITY. The first picture represents the Church of God as we see it; the second as it really is. Luke tells us what the crowd see; John, what Christ showed to His disciples alone.
1. There is a difference in the orders given. In the first, it is, Launch out into the deep, &c. In the second, Cast the net on the right side of the ship. The first is Christs order to every minister; the second is the secret work of His spirit in the Word. The first shows us that the ministry is to fish everywhere. The preacher is not to single out any particular character. Those who preach only to the elect should remember this. What if we be in town, or city, or village? what if we be among the rich or poor, learned or illiterate? we have nothing to do with that--our duty is to launch out into the deep, and let down the net. Christ will find the fish. The secret truth is, that when we are doing this, the Lord knows how to guide us, so that we cast the net on the right side of the ship. That is the invisible work of the Spirit, whereby He so adapts our ministry that He makes it particular and special.
2. In the first instance there is a distinct plurality. The fishermen have nets and boats, and each man comes out distinctly. In the next, they are all in one boat, and unitedly drag one net. This is the visible and the invisible.
(1) To us the means are various. We are in one boat but there is another over yonder, and whenever our boat gets too full, we should beckon to our partners in the other ship to come and help us. We ought not to look upon those brethren who differ from us, as though they were emptying the sea and rivalling us. The plurality of agency involved in denominations is a great blessing. We stir one another up, and do far more good then if there were only one nominal church. There will always be a Paul and a Barnabas, who cannot get on together.
(2) But let us look to the inward. In John they are all on one boat fishing together, dragging one net. This is what is really the fact. We do not see it, but all Gods ministers are dragging one net, and all Gods Church is in one ship. It is no use striving after outward uniformity. Neither the texture of the human mind nor the will of God require it, It is the unity of the Spirit in Christ Jesus, in love that God would have us regard.
3. In the first case a great multitude of fish were caught. In the second a hundred and fifty and three. It were impossible to reckon how many have been taken in the outward net of the visible Church. But it is possible for it to be known of God how many shall be brought at last, and how many now are in the invisible Church. They shall be in heaven a number that no man can number, for Gods elect are not few; but the Lord knoweth them that are His.
4. The fish that were taken the first time appear to have been of all sorts. The net was broken, and therefore doubtless some of them got out again; there were some So little that they were not worth eating, and doubtless were thrown away: They shall gather the good into vessels and throw the bad away. In the second ease the net was full of great fishes; they were all great fishes, all good and worth the keeping. The first gives us the outward and visible effect of the ministry. We gather into Christs Church a great number, and there will always be some that are not good, and not really called of God. Sometimes we have Church-meetings in which we have to throw the bad away. Let no man be surprised if the tares grow up with the wheat--if there be wolves in sheeps clothing--it always will be so. There was a Judas among the twelve. Not so in the invisible Church. In that there is none to throw away. No; the Lord who brought them into the net brought the right sort in.
5. In the first case, in the visible Church the net breaks. No doubt it is a bad thing for nets to break; but you need not wonder at it. It is the necessary consequence of our being what we are. Instead of having some one denomination, we have twenty or thirty? I do not grieve over it. For until you get a set of perfect men, you never will have anything but these divisions. But the net does not break in reality, for the invisible Church is one. Take care of the fish and leave the net alone, but still maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of perfectness.
6. In the first case, you see human weakness; there is the boat ready to sink, the net broken, the men all out of heart, begging the Master to go away. In the other ease, they are made strong, dragging the fish to shore. So in the visible Church you will often have to mourn over human weakness: but in the invisible Church God will make His servants just strong enough to drag their fish to shore.
7. In the first case, in the visible Church they launched out into the deep. In the second case, they were not far from the shore. So today our preaching seems to us to be going out into the great stormy deep after fish. We appear to have a long way to reach before we shall bring these precious souls to land. But in the sight of God we are not far from shore; and when a soul is saved, it is not far from heaven. To us there are years of temptation, and trial, and conflict; but to God, it is finished.
8. In the first case, the disciples had to forsake all and follow Christ. In the second, they sat down to feast with Him at the banquet which He had spread. So in the visible Church we have to bear trial and self-denial for Christ, but the eye of faith perceives that we shall soon sit down and feast in the kingdom of God.
III. THE LESSON WHICH THE TWO NARRATIVES IN COMMON SEEM TO TEACH. In the first case, Christ was in the ship. Christ is in His Church, though she launch out into the deep. In the second case, Christ was on the shore. Christ is in heaven. But whether He be in the Church, or in heaven, all our nights toiling shall, by His presence, have a rich reward. This is the lesson. Mother, will you learn it? You have been toiling long for your children. It has been night with you as yet. Your nights toiling shall have an end; you shall at last cast the net on the right side of the ship. Sunday-school teacher, minister, church, the night is far spent, and the Master shall soon appear; and His advent shall bring success. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On v7 7. It is the Lord. Until the net was…
7. It is the Lord. Until the net was thus filled, the Lord was not recognized in the dim light. John first knew him.
Two hundred cubits. About one hundred yards.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v7 John - Luke
John - Luke
FEAR AND FAITH
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‘IT IS THE LORD!’
Joh 21:7.
It seems a very strange thing that these disciples had not, at an earlier period of this incident, discovered the presence of Christ, inasmuch as the whole was so manifestly a repetition of that former event by which the commencement of their ministry had been signalised, when He called them to become ‘fishers of men.’ We are apt to suppose that when once again they embarked on the lake, and went back to their old trade, it must have been with many a thought of Him busy at their hearts. Yonder-perhaps we fancy them thinking-is the very point where we saw Him coming out of the shadows of the mountains, that night when He walked on the water; yonder is the little patch of grass where He made them all sit down whilst we bore the bread to them: there is the very spot where we were mending our nets when He came up to us and called us to Himself; and now it is all over. We have loved and lost Him; He has been with us, and has left us. ‘We trusted that it had been He who should have redeemed Israel,’ and the Cross has ended it all! So, we are apt to think, they must have spoken; but there does not seem to have been about them any such sentimental remembrance. John takes pains in this narrative, I think, to show them to us as plain, rough men, busy about their night’s work, and thinking a great deal more of their want of success in fishing, than about the old associations which we are apt to put into their minds. Then through the darkness He comes, as they had seen Him come once before, when they know Him not; and He speaks to them as He had spoken before, and they do not detect His voice yet; and He repeats the old miracle, and their eyes are all holden, excepting the eyes of him who loved, and he first says, ‘It is the Lord!’ Now, besides all the other features of this incident by which it becomes the revelation of the Lord’s presence with His Church, and the exhibition of the work of the Church during all the course of the world’s history, it contains valuable lessons on other points, such as these which I shall try to bring before you.
Now and always, as in that morning twilight on the Galilean lake, Christ comes to men. Everywhere He is present, everywhere revealing Himself. Now, as then, our eyes are ‘holden’ by our own fault, so that we recognise not the merciful Presence which is all around us. Now, as then, it is they who are nearest to Christ by love who see Him first. Now, as then, they who are nearest to Him by love, are so because He loves them, and because they know and believe the love which He has to them. I find, then, in this part of the story three thoughts,-First, they only see aright who see Christ in everything. Secondly, they only see Christ who love Him. Lastly, they only love Him who know that He loves them,
I. First then, they only see aright who see Christ in everything.
This word of John’s, ‘It is the Lord!’-ought to be the conviction with the light of which we go out to the examination of all events, and to the consideration of all the circumstances of our daily life. We believe that unto Christ is given ‘all power in heaven and upon earth.’ We believe that to Him belongs creative power-that ‘without Him was not anything made which was made.’ We believe that from Him came all life at first. In Him life was, as in its deep source. He is the Fountain of life. We believe that as no being comes into existence without His creative power, so none continues to exist without His sustaining energy. We believe that He allots to all men their natural characters and their circumstances. We believe that the history of the world is but the history of His influence, and that the centre of the whole universe is the cross of Calvary. In the light of such convictions, I take it, every man that calls himself a Christian ought to go out to meet life and to study all events. Let me try, then, to put before you, very briefly, one or two of the provinces in which we are to take this conviction as the keynote to all our knowledge.
No man will understand the world aright, to begin with, who cannot say about all creation, ‘It is the Lord!’ Nature is but the veil of the invisible and ascended Lord: and if we would pierce to the deepest foundations of all being, we cannot stop until we get down to the living power of Christ our Saviour and the Creator of the world, by whom all things were made, and whose will pouring out into this great universe, is the sustaining principle and the true force which keeps it from nothingness and from quick decay.
Why, what did Christ work all His miracles upon earth for? Not solely to give us a testimony that the Father had sent Him; not solely to make us listen to His words as a Teacher sent from God; not solely as proof of His Messiahship,-but besides all these purposes there was surely this other, that for once He would unveil to us the true Author of all things, and the true Foundation of all being. Christ’s miracles interrupted the order of the world, because they made visible to men for once the true and constant Orderer of the order. They interrupted the order in so far as they struck out the intervening links by which the creative and sustaining word of God acts in nature, and suspended each event directly from the firm staple of His will. They revealed the eternal Orderer of that order in that they showed the Incarnate Word wielding the forces of nature, which He has done from of old and still does. We are then to take all these signs and wonders that He wrought, as a perennial revelation of the real state of things with regard to this natural world, and to see in them all, signs and tokens that into every corner and far-off region of the universe His loving hand reaches, and His sustaining power goes forth. Into what province of nature did He not go? He claimed to be the Lord of life by the side of the boy’s bier at the gate of Nain, in the chamber of the daughter of Jairus, by the grave of Lazarus. He asserted for Himself authority over all the powers and functions of our bodily life, when He gave eyes to the blind, hearing to the deaf, feet to the lame. He showed that He was Lord over the fowl of the air, the beasts of the earth, the fish of the sea. And He asserted His dominion over inanimate nature, when the fig-tree, cursed by Him, withered away to its roots, and the winds and waves sunk into silence at His gentle voice. He let us get a glimpse into the dark regions of His rule over the unseen, when ‘with authority He commanded the unclean spirits, and they came out.’ And all these things He did, in order that we, walking in this fair world, encompassed by the glories of this wonderful universe, should be delivered from the temptation of thinking that it is separated from Him, or independent of His creative and sustaining power; and in order that we should feel that the continuance of all which surrounds us, the glories of heaven and the loveliness of earth, are as truly owing to the constant intervention of His present will, and the interposition beneath them of His sustaining hand, as when first, by the ‘Word of God’ who ‘was with God and who was God,’ speaking forth His fiat, there came light and beauty out of darkness and chaos.
O Christian men! we shall never understand the Christian thought about God’s universe, until we are able to say, Preservation is a continual creation; and beneath all the ordinary workings of Nature, as we faithlessly call it, and the apparently dead play of secondary causes, there are welling forth, and energising, the living love and the blessed power of Christ, the Maker, and Monarch, and Sustainer of all. ‘It is the Lord!’ is the highest teaching of all science. The mystery of the universe, and the meaning of God’s world, are shrouded in hopeless obscurity, until we learn to feel that all laws suppose a Lawgiver, and that all working involves a divine energy; and that beneath all which appears there lies for ever rising up through it and giving it its life and power, the one true living Being, the Father in heaven, the Son by whom He works, and the Holy Ghost the Spirit. Darkness lies on Nature, except to those who in
‘the light of setting suns,
And the round ocean, and the living air,
And the blue sky,’
see that Form which these disciples saw in the morning twilight. Let ‘It is the Lord!’ be the word on our lips as we gaze on them all, and nature will then be indeed to us the open secret, the secret of the Lord which ‘He will show to them that fear Him.’
Then again, the same conviction is the only one that is adequate either to explain or to make tolerable the circumstances of our earthly condition. To most men-ah! to all of us in our faithless times-the events that befall ourselves, seem to be one of two things equally horrible, the play of a blind Chance, or the work of an iron Fate. I know not which of these two ghastly thoughts about the circumstances of life is the more depressing, ruining all our energy, depriving us of all our joy, and dragging us down with its weight. But brethren, and friends, there are but these three ways for it-either our life is the subject of a mere chaotic chance; or else it is put into the mill of an iron destiny, which goes grinding on and crushing with its remorseless wheels, regardless of what it grinds up; or else, through it all, in it all, beneath it and above it all, there is the Will which is Love, and the Love which is Christ! Which of these thoughts is the one that commends itself to your own hearts and consciences, and which is the one under which you would fain live if you could? I understand not how a man can front the awful possibilities of a future on earth, knowing all the points at which he is vulnerable, and all the ways by which disaster may come down upon him, and retain his sanity, unless he believes that all is ruled, not merely by a God far above him, who may be as unsympathising as He is omnipotent, but by his Elder Brother, the Son of God, who showed His heart by all His dealings with us here below, and who loves as tenderly, and sympathises as closely with us as ever He did when on earth He gathered the weary and the sick around Him. Is it not a thing, men and women, worth having, to have this for the settled conviction of your hearts, that Christ is moving all the pulses of your life, and that nothing falls out without the intervention of His presence and the power of His will working through it? Do you not think such a belief would nerve you for difficulty, would lift you buoyantly over trials and depressions, and would set you upon a vantage ground high above all the petty annoyances of life? Tell me, is there any other place where a man can plant his foot and say, ‘Now I am on a rock and I care not what comes’? The riddle of Providence is solved, and the discipline of Providence is being accomplished when we have grasped this conviction-All events do serve me, for all circumstances come from His will and pleasure, which is love; and everywhere I go-be it in the darkness of disaster or in the sunshine of prosperity-I shall see standing before me that familiar and beloved Shape, and shall be able to say, ‘It is the Lord!’ Friends and brethren, that is the faith to live by, that is the faith to die by; and without it life is a mockery and a misery.
Once more this same conviction, ‘It is the Lord! should guide us in all our thoughts about the history and destinies of mankind and of Christ’s Church. The Cross is the centre of the world’s history, the incarnation and the crucifixion of our Lord are the pivot round which all the events of the ages revolve. ‘The testimony of Jesus was the spirit of prophecy,’ and the growing power of Jesus is the spirit of history, and in every book that calls itself the history of a nation, unless there be written, whether literally or in spirit, this for its motto, ‘It is the Lord!’ all will be shallow and incomplete.
‘They that went before and they that came after,’ when He entered into the holy city in His brief moment of acceptance and pomp, surrounded Him with hosannas and jubilant gladness. It is a deep and true symbol of the whole history of the world. All the generations that went before Him, though they knew it not, were preparing the way of the Lord, and heralding the advent of Him who was ‘the desire of all nations’ and ‘the light of men’; and all the generations that come after, though they know it not, are swelling the pomp of His triumph and hastening the time of His crowning and dominion. ‘It is the Lord!’ is the secret of all national existence. It is the secret of all the events of the world. The tangled web of human history is only then intelligible when that is taken as its clue, ‘From Him are all things, and to Him are all things.’ The ocean from which the stream of history flows, and that into which it empties itself, are one. He began it, He sustains it. ‘The help that is done upon earth He doeth it Himself,’ and when all is finished, it will be found that all things have indeed come from Christ, been sustained and directed by Christ, and have tended to the glory and exaltation of that Redeemer, who is King of kings and Lord of lords, Maker of the worlds, and before whose throne are for ever gathered for service, whether they know it or not, the forces of the Gentiles, the riches of the nations, the events of history, the fates and destinies of every man.
I need not dwell upon the way in which such a conviction as this, my friends, living and working in our hearts, would change for us the whole aspect of life, and make everything bright and beautiful, blessed and calm, strengthening us for all which we might have to do, nerving us for duty, and sustaining us against every trial, leading us on, triumphant and glad, through regions all sparkling with tokens of His presence and signs of His love, unto His throne at last, to lay down our praises and our crowns before Him. Only let me leave with you this one word of earnest entreaty, that you will lay to heart the solemn alternative-either see Christ in everything, and be blessed; or miss Him, and be miserable. Oh! it is a waste, weary world, unless it is filled with signs of His presence. It is a dreary seventy years, brother, of pilgrimage and strife, unless, as you travel along the road, you see the marks that He who went before you has left by the wayside for your guidance and your sustenance. If you want your days to be true, noble, holy, happy, manly, and Godlike, believe us, it is only when they all have flowing through them this conviction, ‘It is the Lord!’ that they all become so.
II. Then, secondly, only they who love, see Christ.
John, the Apostle of Love, knew Him first. In religious matters, love is the foundation of knowledge. There is no way of knowing a Person except love. The knowledge of God and the knowledge of Christ are not to be won by the exercise of the understanding. A man cannot argue his way into knowing Christ. No skill in drawing inferences will avail him there. The treasures of wisdom-earthly wisdom-are all powerless in that region. Man’s understanding and natural capacity- let it keep itself within its own limits and region, and it is strong and good; but in the region of acquaintance with God and Christ, the wisdom of this world is foolishness, and man’s understanding is not the organ by which he can know Christ. Oh no! there is a better way than that: ‘He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love.’ As it is, in feebler measure, with regard to our personal acquaintance with one another, where it is not so much the power of the understanding, or the quickness of the perception, or the talent and genius of a man, that make the foundation of his knowledge of his friend, as the force of his sympathy and the depth of his affection; so-with the necessary modification arising from the transference from earthly acquaintances to the great Friend and Lover of our souls in heaven-so is it with regard to our knowledge of Christ. Love will trace Him everywhere, as dear friends can detect each other in little marks which are meaningless to others. Love’s quick eye pierces through disguises impenetrable to a colder scrutiny. Love has in it a longing for His presence which makes us eager and quick to mark the lightest sign that He for whom it longs is near, as the footstep of some dear one is heard by the sharp ear of affection long before any sound breaks the silence to those around. Love leads to likeness to the Lord, and that likeness makes the clearer vision of the Lord possible. Love to Him strips from our eyes the film that self and sin, sense and custom, have drawn over them. It is these which hide Him from us. It is because men are so indifferent to, so forgetful of, their best Friend that they fail to behold Him, ‘It is the Lord!’ is written large and plain on all things, but like the great letters on a map, they are so obvious and fill so wide a space, that they are not seen. They who love Him know Him, and they who know Him love Him. The true eye-salve for our blinded eyes is applied when we have turned with our hearts to Christ. The simple might of faithful love opens them to behold a more glorious vision than the mountain ‘full of chariots of fire,’ which once flamed before the prophet’s servant of old-even the august and ever-present form of the Lord of life, the Lord of history, the Lord of providence. When they who love Jesus turn to see ‘the Voice that speaks with them,’ they ever behold the Son of Man in His glory; and where others see but the dim beach and a mysterious stranger, it is to their lips that the glad cry first comes, ‘It is the Lord!’
And is it not a blessed thing, brethren! that thus this high and glorious prerogative of recognising the marks of Christ’s presence everywhere, of going through life gladdened by the assurance of His nearness, does not depend on what belongs to few men only, but on what may belong to all? When we say that ‘not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called’-when we say that love is the means of knowledge-we are but in other words saying that the way is open to all, and that no characteristics belonging to classes, no powers that must obviously always belong to but a handful, are necessary for the full apprehension of the power and blessedness of Christ’s Gospel. The freeness and the fullness of that divine message, the glorious truth that it is for all men, and is offered to all, are couched in that grand principle, Love that thou mayest know; love, and thou art filled with the fullness of God, Not for the handful, not for the elite of the world; not for the few, but for the many; not for the wise, but for all; not for classes, but for humanity-for all that are weak, and sinful, and needy, and foolish, and darkened He comes, who only needs that the heart that looks should love, and then it shall behold!
But if that were the whole that I have to say, I should have said but little to the purpose. It very little avails to tell men to love. We cannot love to order, or because we think it duty. There is but one way of loving, and that is to see the lovely. The disciple who loved Jesus was ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved.’ Generalise that, and it teaches us this, that
III. They love who know that Christ loves them.
His divine and eternal mercy is the foundation of the whole. Our love, brethren, can never be any thing else than our echo to His voice of tenderness than the reflected light upon our hearts of the full glory of His affection. No man loveth God except the man who has first learned that God loves him. ‘We love Him, because He first loved us.’ And when we say, ‘Love Christ,’ if we could not go on to say, ‘Nay, rather let Christ’s love come down upon you’-we had said worse than nothing. The fountain that rises in my heart can only spring up heavenward, because the water of it has flowed down into my heart from the higher level. All love must descend first, before it can ascend. We have, then, no Gospel to preach, if we have only this to preach, ‘Love, and thou art saved.’ But we have a Gospel that is worth the preaching, when we can come to men who have no love in their hearts, and say, ‘Brethren! listen to this-you have to bring nothing, you are called upon to originate no affection; you have nothing to do but simply to receive the everlasting love of God in Christ His Son, which was without us, which began before us, which flows forth independent of us, which is unchecked by all our sins, which triumphs over all our transgressions, and which will make us-loveless, selfish, hardened, sinful men-soft, and tender, and full of divine affection, by the communication of its own self.
Oh, then, look to Christ, that you may love Him! Think, brethren, of that full, and free, and boundless mercy which, from eternity, has been pouring itself out in floods of grace and loving-kindness over all creatures. Think of that everlasting love which presided at the foundation of the earth, and has sustained it ever since. Think of that Saviour who has died for us, and lives for us. Think of Christ, the heart of God, and the fullness of the Father’s mercy; and do not think of yourselves at all. Do not ask yourselves, to begin with, the question, Do I love Him or do I not? You will never love by that means. If a man is cold, let him go to the fire and warm himself. If he is dark, let him stand in the sunshine, and he will be light. If his heart is all clogged and clotted with sin and selfishness, let him get under the influence of the love of Christ, and look away from himself and his own feelings, towards that Saviour whose love shed abroad is the sole means of kindling ours. You have to go down deeper than your feelings, your affections, your desires, your character. There you will find no resting-place, no consolation, no power. Dig down to the living Rock, Christ and His infinite love to you, and let it be the strong foundation, built into which you and your love may become living stones, a holy temple, partaking of the firmness and nature of that on which it rests. They that love do so because they know that Christ loves them; and they that love see Him everywhere; and they that see Him everywhere are blessed for evermore. And let no man here torture himself, or limit the fullness of this message that we preach, by questionings whether Christ loves Him or not. Are you a man? are you sinful? have you broken God’s law? do you need a Saviour? Then put away all these questions, and believe that Christ’s personal love is streaming out for the whole world, and that there is a share for you if you like to take it and be blessed!
There is one last thought arising from the whole subject before us, that may be worth mention before I close. Did you ever notice how this whole incident might be turned, by a symbolical application, to the hour of death, and the vision which may meet us when we come thither? It admits of the application, and perhaps was intended to receive the application, of such a symbolic reference. The morning is dawning, the grey of night going away, the lake is still; and yonder, standing on the shore, in the uncertain light, there is one dim Figure, and one disciple catches a sight of Him, and another casts himself into the water, and they find ‘a fire of coals, and fish laid thereon, and bread,’ and Christ gathers them around His table, and they all know that ‘It is the Lord!’ It is what the death of the Christian man, who has gone through life recognising Christ everywhere, may well become:-the morning breaking, and the finished work, and the Figure standing on the quiet beach, so that the last plunge into the cold flood that yet separates us, will not be taken with trembling reluctance; but, drawn to Him by the love beaming out of His face, and upheld by the power of His beckoning presence, we shall struggle through the latest wave that parts us, and scarcely feel its chill, nor know that we have crossed it; till falling blessed at His feet, we see, by the nearer and clearer vision of His face, that this is indeed heaven. And looking back upon ‘the sea that brought us thither,’ we shall behold its waters flashing in the light of that everlasting morning, and hear them breaking in music upon the eternal shore. And then, brethren, when all the weary night-watchers on the stormy ocean of life are gathered together around Him who watched with them from His throne on the bordering mountains of eternity, where the day shines for ever-then He will seat them at His table in His kingdom, and none will need to ask, ‘Who art Thou?’ or ‘Where am I?’ for all shall know that ‘It is the Lord!’ and the full, perfect, unchangeable vision of His blessed face will be heaven!
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v11 was not
was not
Contra. Luk 5:6.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v9 The meal on the beach:
The meal on the beach:
v. 9. As soon, then, as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon and bread.
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v. 10. Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught.
v. 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.
v. 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.
v. 13. Jesus then cometh and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise.
v. 14. This is now the third time that Jesus showed Himself to His disciples after that He was risen from the dead.
While the disciples came to land, in one way or the other, the lord had kindled afire and provided both bread and fish for breakfast. Note the narration of details peculiar to an eye-witness. Note also that the providence of Jesus is well able to take care of all the needs of His disciples, whether they be small or great. Upon the order of Jesus that they should bring of the fish which they had caught and had now towed to the shore, Simon Peter went aboard the skiff, and, single-handed, drew the net up on the beach. His love for the Master and the excitement of the occasion gave him almost superhuman strength. Many a labor of love in the interest of Christ and the Church has seemed impossible from the standpoint of human reckoning, but has proved a comparatively easy matter when undertaken in the fear of the Lord and with the firm conviction that it was the Lord’s will. Two items are emphasized by the evangelist at this point: the fact that the net contained a total of one hundred and fifty-three fishes, not small ones, but large and heavy; and that the net, in spite of the great weight, did not tear. All these details come together to make a picture of Christ’s almighty power which cannot be gainsaid by the enemies. This miracle teaches the believers of all times that the Lord can and will take care of their physical needs; He will provide their daily bread for them. Theirs is but to work in their calling with all faithfulness and not to give way to idleness on the one hand, and to foolish anxiety on the other. The Lord, having now provided the meal, invited the disciples to breakfast. And the disciples were glad to come, although with some restraint. Whereas before His Passion they had been on a friendly basis with their Master, a new dignity and aloofness forced their awed respect. They all knew that it was the Lord, and did not dare ask questions. Jesus now came forward and assumed the role of host, distributing both bread and fish to them. Almost every action of the Lord reminded the disciples of some incident in the Lord’s ministry, and made them raise their hearts in thankful prayer for the blessing of His presence. Incidentally, this third appearance to a larger body of disciples reminded them of the great calling which they were now soon to enter upon. The Lord did not get out of touch with His messengers; He did not permit their thoughts to get away entirely from the real life-work which was awaiting them.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv7, 10 This is love that comes from God and is…
loved
This is love that comes from God and is focused on the good of others, even when it does not benefit oneself. This kind of love cares for others, no matter what they do.
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he tied up his outer garment
"he secured his outer garment around him" or "he put on his tunic"
for he was undressed
This is background information. Peter had taken off some of his clothes to make it easier to work, but now that he was about to greet the Lord, he wanted to wear more clothing. AT: "for he had taken off some of his clothes" (See: Background Information)
threw himself into the sea
Peter jumped into the water and swam to shore. AT: "jumped into the sea and swam to shore" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
threw himself
This is a idiom that means Peter jumped into the water very quickly. (See: Idiom)
for they were not far from the land, about two hundred cubits off
This is background information. (See: Background Information)
two hundred cubits
"90 meters." A cubit was a little less than half a meter. (See: Biblical Distance)
translationWords
love
lord
Peter
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv6, 7, 9, 11 21:6 “Throw out your net on the right-hand side”:…
21:6 “Throw out your net on the right-hand side”: Casting a net into the sea at random was futile. But when they did as the stranger said, the immense catch was immediate (21:11).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.