Friday in the Octave of Easter (April 9, 2021) Joh 21:1-14

Jesus Appears to Seven Disciples

1 After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way.

John Gill

After this—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:

By 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, 16),

And he showed himself in this way—The manner in which he made his appearance, and the persons to whom, are as follow.

But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee. MAT 26:32

2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together.

John Gill

Simon Peter—Who though he had denied his Lord, dearly loved him, and truly believed in him, kept with the rest of his disciples, and was waiting for another interview with him:

Thomas (called the Twin)—Who, though for a while an unbeliever with respect to the resurrection of Christ, was now fully assured of it, and, for the future, was unwilling to lose any opportunity of meeting with his risen Lord.

Nathanael of Cana in Galilee—An Israelite indeed, in whom there was no deceit. Dr. Lightfoot thinks he is the same with Bartholomew, and so one of the eleven. The Syriac version reads it, “Cotne,” and the Persic, Catneh of Galilee; no doubt the same place is meant, where Jesus turned water into wine, of which Nathanael was an inhabitant:

The sons of Zebedee—Who were James, whom Herod killed with the sword, and John, the writer of this gospel:

And two others of his disciples—Who are thought to be Andrew and Philip; which is very likely, since they were both of Bethsaida (Joh 1:44), a city in Galilee, and not far from the Sea of Tiberias. Andrew is particularly mentioned by Nonnus: so that here were seven of them in all; four of them, according to this account, being wanting; who must be James the less, the brother of our Lord, Judas called Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Matthew the tax collector.

21 And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them.

22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. MAT 4:21-22

3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.

19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. MAT 4:18-20

4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.

John Gill

Just as day was breaking—The day began to dawn, and light to appear, very early in the morning; for Christ visits his right early, and is a present help to them in their time of trouble.

Jesus stood on the shore—On firm ground, whilst his disciples were beating about in the waves, and toiling to no purpose. So Christ, risen from the dead, is glorified, is in heaven; but not unmindful of his people amidst all their afflictions in this world:

Yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus—Though he was so near them that they could hear what he said; but it not being broad daylight they could not distinctly discern him, or their eyes might be held that they could not know him. So Christ is sometimes near his people, and they know it not.

After these things he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. MAR 16:12

5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.”

Trust in the Lord, and do good;

dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. PSA 37:3

Rashi

Trust in the Lord and do not say, “If I do not rob and steal,” or “If I give charity to a poor man, how will I sustain myself?”

And do good—Then you will dwell in the land for a long time.

And befriend faithfulness—You will eat and be sustained from the reward of your faithfulness, that you believed in the Holy One, blessed be he, to rely on him and do good.

6 He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish.

So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. ACT 2:41

7 That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.

Many waters cannot quench love,

neither can floods drown it.

If a man offered for love

all the wealth of his house,

he would be utterly despised. SON 8:7

Rashi

Many waters—The nations.

Many waters cannot quench love—Since he refers to them with an expression of coals, the term “cannot quench” is appropriate for them.

Neither can . . . drown it—Not through force or terror nor even through enticement and seduction.

Floods—Their princes and their kings.

If a man offered for love all his wealth—In exchange for your love.

He would be utterly despised—On all these the Holy One, blessed be he, and his tribunal testify that to this extent the congregation of Israel clings to her beloved.

8 The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.

John Gill

The other disciples came in the boat—The same that they were fishing in, in which they came to Christ as soon as they could, not choosing to expose themselves, as Peter did; nor was it proper that they should leave the ship, and, as it was, might have hands few enough to bring ship and net, so full of fish, safe to shore; and the rather, they did not think fit to do as he did,

Dragging the net full of fish—Towing the net full of fish all along in the water, till they came to land; an emblem of laborious gospel ministers, who being once embarked in the work of the ministry, continue in it to the end, notwithstanding all toil, labour, and difficulties that attend them; and will at last bring the souls with them they have been made useful to, with great satisfaction and joy, to their dear Lord and master.

9 When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread.

29 And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried.

30 For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them.

31 Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. LUK 12:29-31

10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.”

John Gill

Jesus said to them—The disciples:

Bring some of the fish that you have just caught—For they might have caught some before, though so few and small, as scarcely to be reckoned any; nor were they bid to bring all they had taken, only some of them, to add to these Christ had prepared for them on land; they being both indeed of a miraculous production, and the effects of his divine power. Christ’s view in ordering to bring some of them, and put to those that lay upon the coals, was partly that they might have enough to make a meal of for them all; and also, that they might have a more perfect knowledge of the miracle done, by seeing the number and largeness of the fish, and by bringing the net full of them to shore unbroken; and may be an emblem of the bringing of souls to Christ by the ministry of the word, thereby adding to those that are already gathered.

11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn.

6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.

7 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.

8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” LUK 5:6-8

12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord.

But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him. MAR 9:32

30 Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him.

Rashi

Why is it that you ask—We have no fixed name; our names change, all depending upon the service we are commanded to carry out as the errand with which we are charged (Bereishit Rabbah 78:4).

31 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” GEN 32:30-31

13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish.

42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish,

John Gill

They gave him a piece of broiled fish—Which was left by them at supper, of which they had been eating; for being fishermen, most of them, this was agreeable food to them.

43 and he took it and ate before them. LUK 24:42-43

14 This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

John Gill

This was now the third time—Or day of Christ’s appearance to his disciples: he appeared to them first on the same day he rose, and then a second time eight days after, or that day a week later, and now at the Sea of Tiberias; for within this compass of time he had made more appearances than three, though to particular persons, and not to such a number of the disciples as at these three times:

That Jesus showed himself to the disciples after he was raised from the dead—And thus, as by the mouth of two or three witnesses, everything is established; so by these three principal appearances of Christ to his disciples, his resurrection from the dead was confirmed.