Ivan 21:11 Komentar

The evangelist seemed to have concluded his history with the foregoing chapter; but (as St. Paul sometimes in his epistles), new matter occurring, he begins again. He had said that there were many other signs which Jesus did for the proof of his resurrection. And in this chapter he mentions one of these many, which was Christ's appearance to some of his disciples at the sea of Tiberias, in which we have an account, I. How he discovered himself to them as they were fishing, filled their net, and then very familiarly came and dined with them upon what they had caught (Joh 21:1-14). II. What discourse he had with Peter after dinner, 1. Concerning himself (Joh 21:15-19). 2. Concerning John (Joh 21:20-23). III. The solemn conclusion of this gospel (Joh 21:24, Joh 21:25). It is strange that any should suppose that this chapter was added by some other hand, when it is expressly said (Joh 21:24) that the disciple whom Jesus loved is he which testifieth of these things.

After these things,.... The resurrection of Christ from the dead, his appearance to Mary Magdalene, and twice to his disciples; once when Thomas was absent, and at another time when he was present: Jesus showed himself again to the disciples, a third time, as in Joh 21:14 though not to them all; seven are only mentioned, as together, when he appeared to them: at the sea of Tiberias; the same with the sea of Galilee; see Joh 6:1 for after the second appearance of Christ to his disciples, they went from Jerusalem to Galilee, by the order of Christ, who appointed to meet them there, Mat 28:10 and on this way showed he himself; the manner in which he made his appearance, and the persons to whom, are as follow.

Simon Peter went up,.... Either to the sea, that being higher than the land, or to the ship which lay by the shore: he went aboard it, and drew the net to land full of great fishes; not alone, but others of the disciples with him; though he only is mentioned, being the leading person in this affair; an emblem of the whole number of God's elect being brought safe to shore, to Christ, and to heaven, through various tribulations and afflictions in the world, fitly signified by the waves of the sea. What mystery there may be in the number, I know not. The conjecture of Grotius, that it is a figure of the proselytes in the days of David and Solomon, seems to be without foundation; since they were not only so many thousands, but six hundred over. And as little to be regarded is the thought of others, that the larger number, one hundred, regards the converted among the Gentiles, and the lesser those among the Jews; much better is the observation of others, that it may design a collection, out of all sorts of people, to Christ, and his church. And for all there were so many; in number, and these so large and big, and the weight of them so great. The Syriac reads "with all this weight", or "burden", and so the Persic; but the Arabic, "with such a number"; both ideas of number and weight are to be preserved, to make what follows the more observable: yet was not the net broken; which must be ascribed to the divine power of Christ; and is an emblem of the power of God attending the Gospel to the regeneration, conversion, and salvation of his people, and of the great usefulness of it, however mean and despicable it may be in the eyes of men, and of its permanence and duration, until all the elect of God are gathered in by it.

Peter drags the dragnet with the others, bringing the catch to Christ. The hundred can be understood to mean the fullness of the Gentiles. The fifty refers to the elect of Israel who have been saved. And the three set one’s mind on the revelation of the holy Trinity, to whose glory the life of the believers who were caught in the dragnet is naturally connected.

For if we determine on the number that should indicate the law, what else can it be but ten? For we have absolute certainty that the Decalogue of the law, that is, those ten well-known precepts, were first written by the finger of God on two tables of stone. But the law, when it is not aided by grace, maketh transgressors, and is only in the letter, on account of which the apostle specially declared, "The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." Let the spirit then be added to the letter, lest the letter kill him whom the spirit maketh not alive, and let us work out the precepts of the law, not in our own strength, but by the grace of the Saviour. But when grace is added to the law, that is, the spirit to the letter, there is, in a kind of way, added to ten the number of seven. For this number, namely seven, is testified by the documents of holy writ given us for perusal, to signify the Holy Spirit. Accordingly, when to the number of ten, representing the law, we add the Holy Spirit as represented by seven, we have seventeen; and when this number is used for the adding together of every several number it contains, from 1 up to itself, the sum amounts to one hundred and fifty-three. But it is not on that account merely a hundred and fifty-three saints that are meant as hereafter to rise from the dead unto life eternal, but thousands of saints who have shared in the grace of the Spirit, by which grace harmony is established with the law of God, as with an adversary; so that through the life-giving Spirit the letter no longer kills, but what is commanded by the letter is fulfilled by the help of the Spirit, and if there is any deficiency it is pardoned.

(Tract. cxxii) Mystically, in the draught of fishes He signified the mystery of the Church, such as it will be at the final resurrection of the dead. And to make this clearer, it is put 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. (Tract. cxxii) The shore is the end of the sea, and therefore signifies the end of the world. The Church is here typified as she will be at the end of the world, just as other draughts of fishes typified her as she is now. Jesus before did not stand on the shore, but went into a ship which was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little from the land. In a former draught the nets are not thrown to the right, or to the left, so that the good or the bad should be typified alone, but indifferently: Let down your nets for a draught, (Luke 5:4) meaning that the good and bad were mixed together. But here it is, Cast the net on the right side of the ship; to signify those who should stand on the right hand, the good. The one our Lord did at the beginning of His ministry, the other after His resurrection, showing therein that the former draught of fishes signified the mixture of bad and good, which composes the Church at present; the latter the good alone, which it will contain in eternity, when the world is ended, and the resurrection of the dead completed. But they who belong to the resurrection of life, i. e. to the right hand, and are caught within the net of the Christian name, shall only appear on the shore, i. e. at the end of the world, after the resurrection: wherefore they were not able to draw the net into the ship, and unload the fishes, as they were before. The Church keeps these of the right hand, after death, in the sleep of peace, as it were in the deep, till the net come to shore. That the first draught was taken in two little ships, the last two hundred cubits from land, a hundred and a hundred, typifies, I think, the two classes of elect, circumcised and uncircumcised.

Precisely also in this very way did the Lord fulfill His promise. For who else placed there the fishes that were to be caught, but He, who, we are bound to believe, threw them into the penury that compelled them to go a fishing, for no other reason than that He wished to show them the miracle He had prepared, that so He might both feed the preachers of His gospel, and at the same time enhance that gospel itself, by the great mystery which He was about to impress on their minds by the number of the fishes.

(Tract. cxxii) In the draught before, the number of the fishes is not mentioned, as if in fulfilment 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; (Ps. 41:7) but here there is a certain number mentioned, which we must explain. The number which signifies the law is ten, from the ten Commandments. But when to the law is joined grace, to the letter spirit, the number seven is brought in, that being the number which represents the Holy Spirit, to Whom sanctification properly belongs. For sanctification was first heard of 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 a hundred and fifty-three. (Tract. cxxii) It is not then signified that only a hundred and fifty-three saints are to rise again to eternal life, but this number represents all who partake of the grace of the Holy Spirit: which number too contains three fifties, and three over, with reference to the mystery of the Trinity. And the number fifty is made up of seven sevens, and one in addition, signifying that those sevens are one. That they were great fishes too, is not without meaning. For when our Lord says, I came not to destroy the law, but to fulfil, by giving, that is, 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 draught the net was broken, to signify schisms; but here to show that in that perfect peace of the blessed there would be no schisms, the Evangelist continues: And for all they were so great, yet was not the net broken; as if alluding to the case before, in which it was broken, and making a favourable comparison.

This is a great mystery in the great Gospel of John; and to commend it the more forcibly to our attention, the last chapter has been made its place of record. Accordingly, inasmuch as there were seven disciples taking part in that fishing, Peter, and Thomas, and Nathanael, and the two sons of Zebedee, and two others whose names are withheld, they point, by their septenary number, to the end of time. For there is a revolution of all time in seven days. To this also pertains the statement, that when the morning was come, Jesus stood on the shore; for the shore likewise is the limit of the sea, and signifies therefore the end of the world. The same end of the world is shown also by the act of Peter, in drawing the net to land, that is, to the shore. Which the Lord has Himself elucidated, when in a certain other place He drew His similitude from a fishing net let down into the sea: "And they drew it," He said, "to the shore." And in explanation of what that shore was, He added, "So will it be in the end of the world."

That, however, is a parable in word, not one embodied in outward action; and just as in the passage before us the Lord indicated by an outward action the kind of character the Church would have in the end of the world, so in the same way, by that other fishing, He indicated its present character. In doing the one at the commencement of His preaching and this latter after His resurrection, He showed thereby in the former case that the capture of fishes signified the good and bad presently existing in the Church; but in the latter, the good only, whom it will contain everlastingly, when the resurrection of the dead shall have been completed in the end of this world.

To Peter was the holy Church committed; to him is it specially said, Feed My sheep. That then which is afterwards declared by word, is now signified by act. He it is who draws the fishes to the firm shore, because he it was who pointed out the stability of the eternal country to the faithful. This he did by word of mouth, by epistles; this he does daily by signs and miracles. After saying that the net was full of great fishes, the number follows: Full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three. (Hom. xxiv.) Seven and ten multiplied by three make fifty-one. The fiftieth year was a year of rest to the whole people from all their work. In unity is true rest; for where division is, true rest cannot be.

Now when such great fish were caught, Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land. I believe your charity now perceives what it means that Peter draws the net to land. To him indeed the holy Church was entrusted, to him specifically it is said: "Simon son of John, do you love me? Feed my sheep." What therefore is later revealed in words is now signified in action. Because therefore the preacher of the Church separates us from the waves of this world, it is surely necessary that Peter bring the net full of fish to land. For he himself draws the fish to the firmness of the shore, because by the voice of holy preaching he shows the faithful the stability of the eternal homeland. This he did by words, this by epistles, this he does daily by signs of miracles. As often as through him we are converted to the love of eternal rest, as often as we are separated from the tumults of earthly things, what else but fish cast into the net of faith are we drawn to the shore? But when the net is said to be full of great fish, it is also added how many, namely one hundred fifty-three. The number is not without great mystery, but the depth of so great a mystery awaits your attention. For the evangelist would not have carefully expressed the sum of the quantity unless he had judged it to be full of sacred meaning. For you know that in the Old Testament all action is commanded through the precepts of the Decalogue, but in the New Testament the power of that same action is given through the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit as the faithful are multiplied. Announcing this, the prophet says: "The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and fortitude, the Spirit of knowledge and piety, and the Spirit of the fear of the Lord shall fill him." But he receives action in this Spirit who acknowledges the faith of the Trinity, so that he believes the Father and the Son and the same Holy Spirit to be of one power and confesses them to be of one substance. Because therefore the seven things we mentioned above were given more broadly through the New Testament, but the ten precepts through the Old, all our virtue and action can be fully comprehended through ten and seven. Let us therefore multiply ten and seven by the triangular number, and they come to fifty-one. This number indeed is not without great mystery, because in the Old Testament we read that the fiftieth year was commanded to be called the jubilee, in which of course all the people would rest from all work. But true rest is in unity. For one cannot be divided; where there is a tear of division, there is no true rest. Let us therefore multiply fifty-one by the triangular number, so that they become one hundred fifty-three. Because therefore all our action exhibited in faith of the Trinity tends toward rest, we multiply ten and seven by three, so that we should arrive at fifty-one. And our true rest is then, when we now acknowledge that very brightness of the Trinity, which we hold certain to exist in the unity of divinity. We multiply fifty-one by three, and we hold the sum of the elect in the heavenly homeland as the number of one hundred fifty-three fish. After the resurrection of the Lord, therefore, it was fitting that the cast net should catch so many fish as would designate only the elect citizens of the heavenly homeland.

To show that it was no vision, He bade them take of the fish they had caught. Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught. Another miracle follows; viz. that the net was not broken: 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.

Understand this, perhaps, also in a contemplative sense: when the darkness of idolatry prevailed, then it was night. The prophets who labored then, before the appearing of Christ the Sun, caught nothing. Although they apparently had in their net the one nation of Israel, yet since even it often fell into idolatry, one may say they caught nothing. But when the Sun of righteousness shone forth in the morning, and the apostolic net was spread — a teaching that is truly right, in comparison with which the law and the prophets appear as the left side — then this net is drawn in, and not only the Gentiles, who may be called "one hundred," are brought to Christ, but also the Israelites, who may be understood as "fifty." For "when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, then all Israel will be saved" (Rom. 11:25–26). The three fish signify faith in the Holy Trinity. For the one hundred and fifty — that is, the Gentiles and the Jews — were not caught without the three, since without faith in the Trinity no one is called captured.

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; he also went up to the helm of the Church: "I will climb the state of perfection" (Song 7:8); "In his heart he is set to ascend" (Ps 64:6). And hauled the net ashore, because the holy Church has been entrusted to him, and it was said to him in particular, "Feed my lambs" (21:15). Peter now foreshadows this by his action in drawing the fish to the solid land, because he will show the solidity of the eternal homeland to the faithful. He said, full of large fish, because "those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified" (Rom 8:30); "Men renowned for their power, giving counsel by their understanding, and proclaiming prophecies; leaders of the people in their deliberations" (Sir 44:3). At the other catch of fish (Lk 5:4) the number of fish taken was not mentioned, but it is here; here there were a hundred and fifty‑three. The reason for this is that those called to the Church of the present time include both those who are good and bad: "The number of fools is infinite" (Eccl 1:15). Thus in Genesis (22:17), when Abraham is told of his calling, we read, "I will multiply your descendants as the sand which is on the seashore," which refers to the bad. While referring to the good, God says, "Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.... So shall your descendants be" (Gen 15:5); for God especially counts the good, "He tells the number of the stars" (Ps 147:4). Does this mean that no more than a hundred and fifty‑three will be saved? No indeed! There will be more, but this number indicates a mystery. For no one can reach the homeland without observing the commandments of the decalogue; and the commandments can only be kept with the help of the sevenfold gift of the Holy Spirit: "The spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and of fortitude; the spirit of knowledge and of godliness, and you will be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord" (Is 11:2). Further, the first recorded instance of sanctification occurred on the seventh day: "God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it" (Gen 2:3). Adding ten and seven gives seventeen. Now if we add the cardinal numbers successively ‑ one plus two gives three, plus three gives six, plus four gives ten, plus five gives fifteen, plus six gives twenty‑one, and so on in this way till we have reached the number seventeen ‑ we arrive at the number one hundred and fifty‑three. Or, in another way: Christ now was appearing to seven disciples. If we multiply this seven by seven (the gifts of the Holy Spirit) we get forty‑nine. Now if we add one to indicate that perfection of unity which is characteristic of the children of God who act by the Spirit of God, we get fifty. If we triple this, and also add three, to indicate our faith in the Trinity (which we profess with our heart, our words and our actions), we get a 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 although there were so many, the net was not torn. In the incident related by Luke (Lk 5:6) the net broke because in the present Church in this world, which the net signifies, there are many rips of schisms, heresies and seditions. But the Church is not entirely torn apart because "I am with you always, to the close of the age" (Mt 28:20). But in the future, in our homeland, heaven, which is signified by the net which was not torn, that is, in that peace which will be in the saints, there will be no schisms: "He makes peace in your borders" (Ps 147:14).

Jesus shows himself to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias, Joh 21:1-5. The miraculous draught of fishes, Joh 21:6-11. He dines with his disciples, Joh 21:12-14. Questions Peter concerning his love to him, and gives him commission to feed his sheep, Joh 21:15-17. Foretells the manner of Peter's death, Joh 21:18, Joh 21:19. Peter inquires concerning John, and receives an answer that was afterwards misunderstood, Joh 21:20-23. John's concluding testimony concerning the authenticity of his Gospel, and the end for which it was written, Joh 21:24, Joh 21:25.

SUPPLEMENTARY PARTICULARS. (John 21:1-23) Jesus showed himself again--manifested himself again. and on this wise he manifested himself--This way of speaking shows that after His resurrection He appeared to them but occasionally, unexpectedly, and in a way quite unearthly, though yet really and corporeally.

Peter went up--into the boat; went aboard. 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--The manifest reference here to the former miraculous draught (Luk 5:1-11) furnishes the key to this scene. There the draught was symbolical of the success of their future ministry: While "Peter and all that were with him were astonished at the draught of the fishes which they had taken, Jesus said unto him, Fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men." Nay, when first called, in the act of "casting their net into the sea, for they were fishers," the same symbolic reference was made to their secular occupation: "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Mat 4:18-19). Here, then, if but the same symbolic reference be kept in view, the design of the whole scene will, we think, be clear. The multitude and the size of the fishes they caught symbolically foreshadowed the vast success of their now fast approaching ministry, and this only as a beginning of successive draughts, through the agency of a Christian ministry, till, "as the waters cover the sea, the earth should be full of the knowledge of the Lord." And whereas, at the first miraculous draught, the net "was breaking" through the weight of what it contained--expressive of the difficulty with which, after they had 'caught men,' they would be able to retain, or keep them from escaping back into the world--while here, "for all they were so many, yet was not the net broken," are we not reminded of such sayings as these (Joh 10:28): "I give unto My sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of My hand" [LUTHARDT]? But it is not through the agency of a Christian ministry that all true disciples are gathered. Jesus Himself, by unseen methods, gathers some, who afterwards are recognized by the constituted fishers of men, and mingle with the fruit of their labors. And are not these symbolized by that portion of our Galilean repast which the fishers found, in some unseen way, made ready to their hand?