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              Bible Study by
             Abouna Arsanios
       Luke 5:1-11 vs. John 21:1-13

Two miracles of catching fish. Stunning in
their comparison.

Here in John 21 we have seven disciples
instead of four. Seven meaning the entire
world.

Peter, “I am going fishing.” This has a
meaning of some sort of sliding back. The
Lord is there. He does not leave his
faithful, even if we leave him. It is a
story of support or rehabilitation. Do not
give up; I am there.

The rest of the seven said, We are going
with you. Hopelessness is like a spreading
disease. It says “immediately” they left
and went with him. They did not stop him.
That night, they caught nothing. Same as
before, but still there is a great
difference. But when the morning (which
has a special meaning) had now come, Jesus
was standing on the shore. He did not
leave them. It reflects the resurrected,
shining Lord, in the face of their
despair. Jesus said to them, “Children,”
like “guys” or “beloved,” something which
has a connection of feelings (you are dear
to me; what are you doing), Have you any
food? In a way, I noticed that you are
empty, also, in despair, or lost of faith.
He asks them with intimate language. He
knows they have no food. At the same time,
he says to them, “I see you.” They did not
say, “We did not catch anything.” He knew.
He said, “Cast the net on the right side
of the boat, and you will find some.” Same
as before.

Here in John 21 Jesus does not say lauch
out in the deep. He says drop your net
right there on the right side.

Here the net does not burst.

You obey me? See: a multitide of fish one
more time. Come back. Do not backslide.
You put your hand on the plow; do not look
back; you are mine. He is reminding them
through the abundance of fish that, “I am
the Lord. Do not worry about the negative
experiences in your life.”

Here the Lord is on the shore. He did not
enter the sea. The job is finished. He
completed the plan of salvation. In the
beginning, he is in the sea (in the
world), they caught a huge number of fish,
good, bad, whatever. But now, He is
standing on the shore. The ones who will
go to the shore are the rightous only.
They are numbered. They are one-hundred
fifty-three large fish. That is the church
in the world. Calling the people through
the word of god as in the beginning, many
entered. However, not all persisted. The
large, experienced, are numbered and very
precious to the Lord, the ones who reach
the shore.

This means, many will come to the Church,
but only a numbered few will proceed to
fellowship with the Lord.

What is the mystery with 153? We will see.
But Jesus is now at the end of the world,
calling the faithful to enter with Him.

Here He is standing, meaning waiting for
us, and they dragged the net, meaning that
is the end of the world.

After the disciples, they did not know the
Lord initially. But here, after they
experienced this, they cast the net, and
now they were not able to draw it in
because of the multitude of fish, that
disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter,
“He is the Lord.”

The one who Loves the Lord, sees the Lord.
Many things are revealed to him. He
experiences the beauty and abundance of
gifts of the Lord. So now, John discovered
that, “It is the Lord.”

When Peter saw this, he quickly put (back)
on his outer garment and plunged into the
sea. Jesus did not ask them to go back to
the deep because they were already in the
deep.

Last time, Peter said, I am not worthy;
depart from me. This time, he puts on his
outer garment and dives in. I cannot find
any sufficiency without the Lord. I am
going to Him.

    8 But the other disciples came
    in the  little boat  (for they
    were  not far  from land,  but
    about  two   hundred  cubits),
    dragging the net  with fish. 9
    Then, as soon as they had come
    to  land, they  saw a  fire of
    coals there, and  fish laid on
    it, and  bread. 10  Jesus said
    to  them, “Bring  some of  the
    fish   which  you   have  just
    caught.”  11 Simon  Peter went
    up  and  dragged  the  net  to
    land, full of  large fish, one
    hundred  and fifty-three;  and
    although  there were  so many,
    the net was not broken.

What is that number? What is different
here? Then the boat was sinking, and the
net was broken. Here the boat is not
sinking, and the net is not breaking. It
symbolizes the eternal feast, to eat with
Him forever. So what is that number 153?
It does not come by chance. The fathers of
the church gave many meanings. Here are
just two:

One saying is:
  153 = Sum (1..17) = people inheriting
        the Kingdom of Heaven in the
        eschatological or eternal banquet.
  17 = 10 + 7 = all faithful people
  10 = decalog (people who obey God in old
       cov.)
   7 = faithful of the new cov.

Another is:
  17 x 3 x 3 =
  3 = holy trinity
  3 = death and resurrection of the third
      day people of God who believes in
      the trinity and death and
      resurrection in the third day are
      those who will inherit the kindom of
      God.

Another is:
  7 x 7 = 49 = feast of fifty, feast of
  harvest, one of the three big feasts of
  the OT (passover, harvest, tabernacle)

  The people of 20+ years should appear in
  Jerusalem with their offerings to the
  Lord. One of them is the feast of 50 or
  harvest or bringing first fruits to the
  Lord.

  On the day of pentecost, the HS brought
  the gifts to the church with the harvest
  of salvation through the lord.

  So the 50 is the harvest of faith in the
  OT and harvest of faith in the NT through
  the day of Pentecost.

Another:
  3 x 50 + 3 = trinity by harvest +
               resurrection

This is the end result of the preaching of
the trinity and the death and resurrection
through the seven going to the sea. The
power of the Lord.

Who drags the people of the Lord? The
disciples.

Notice here that when they dragged the net
with the fish (the harvest, the faithful
of OT and NT), this is the work of the
faithful with obedience to bring the
faithful righteous, numbered, large
(well-fed with the nourishing spirit of
god) people to the shore. We follow the
Lord. We are faithful. He knows us by
name, one by one, 153, representing the
people of God, believing in the trinity
and resurrection.

    9  Then, as  soon as  they had
    come to land,  they saw a fire
    of coals there,  and fish laid
    on  it,  and bread.  10  Jesus
    said to  them, “Bring  some of
    the fish  which you  have just
    caught.”

They find the fire prepared, and the fish
on it. The word fish ΙΧΘΎΣ is an acronym
of the phrase, “Jesus Christ, Son of God,
Savior.” So the Greek word ‘fish’ means
symbolically that Jesus Christ Son of God
Saved us. What do the fish on the coals
mean? Jesus Christ on the cross. He saved
us. But, bring some of the fish you have.
You labored. Bring some of your catch. Let
us share. Our efforts, he did not deny.
Let us share together and eat together at
this eternal banquet. It is amazing that
the Lord says, let us share the memory of
suffering that leads to glory in this
eschatological or eternal banquet. This
fish bread is some sort of eucharist,
bread from Heaven, to take us back into
Heaven in eternity.

One of the saints, I think Augustine,
says, they eat together not out of
necessity but out of desire. Like the
glorified body of the Lord does not need
for food. He is the God-Man resurrected.
He proves to them I am the one who ate
with you several times before, and I will
share with you again. At the same time, he
says, let us eat together in eternity.
Your bodies will not be of need of
material physical food. You will share
with me the need of being filled
eternally. We will share this eternal
feast together with the Lord.

It is a picture of rehabilitation of the
faithful people that sometimes they pass
through hopelessness, but now come back
and bring back with you the church, and we
will share together in heaven.

The earlier miracle is a net that gathers
all the people. This version those who
follow the lord and inherit eternal life.
The seven are in need of the Lord’s mercy
until they reach the shore.