The Second Miraculous Catch of Fish #34

The second miraculous catch of fish takes place after Jesus’s resurrection, on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias, another name for the Sea of Galilee. Seven disciples fish all night without success, and a stranger on the beach tells them where to cast their net. The catch is enormous, and they realize the stranger is the risen Jesus. It appears only in John 21, and it is often paired with the earlier catch of fish in Luke 5.

The Account

John introduces the scene as a third appearance of Jesus to his disciples after he was raised from the dead (John 21:1, 14). Simon Peter, Thomas, Nathanael of Cana, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples are together, and Peter announces he is going fishing. The others join him, but they catch nothing that night (John 21:2-3).

At daybreak Jesus stands on the shore, though the disciples do not know who he is. He calls out to ask if they have any fish, and when they say no, he tells them to cast the net on the right side of the boat (John 21:4-6). The net fills with so many fish that they cannot haul it in. The disciple whom Jesus loved says to Peter, “It is the Lord!” and Peter puts on his outer garment and jumps into the sea, while the others bring the boat in, dragging the net (John 21:7-8). On the beach they find a charcoal fire with fish and bread on it, and Jesus asks them to bring some of the fish they had caught. Peter hauls the net ashore: 153 large fish, and though there were so many, the net was not torn (John 21:9-11). Jesus says, “Come and have breakfast,” and takes the bread and fish and gives it to them (John 21:12-13).

Setting and Context

Many of these disciples were fishermen before Jesus called them, so returning to the boat was a return to their old work. The scene closely resembles the earlier miraculous catch in Luke 5:1-11, where Peter’s nets also came up empty until Jesus directed him. Luke places that event at the beginning of Jesus’s ministry, when he calls the first disciples, while John places this one after the resurrection. The charcoal fire also recalls the fire in the high priest’s courtyard where Peter denied Jesus (John 18:18), and the conversation about love that follows the meal restores him (John 21:15-19).

What It Reveals

John draws attention to the recognition of Jesus, the provision of food, and the fellowship of the meal. The unbroken net is often read as a sign of the unity of the church, while the large catch points to the success of the disciples’ later mission when they follow Jesus’s direction.

The number 153 has drawn considerable interpretation. Augustine noticed that 153 is the sum of the numbers from 1 to 17 and read it symbolically, and Jerome mentioned a view that it stood for all kinds of fish, hence all the nations. Others regard it simply as the precise count of an eyewitness. The text itself does not explain the number, and Christian traditions differ on how much symbolic meaning it carries.