Cast the Net on the Right Side
1 After these things, Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias. He revealed himself this way. 2 Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I’m going fishing.” They told him, “We are also coming with you.” They immediately went out and entered into the boat. That night, they caught nothing. 4 But when day had already come, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples didn’t know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus therefore said to them, “Children, have you anything to eat?” They answered him, “No.” 6 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. 7 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. 8 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. 9 So when they got out on the land, they saw a fire of coals there, with fish and bread laid on it. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have just caught.” 11 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. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and eat breakfast!” None of the disciples dared inquire of him, “Who are you?” knowing that it was the Lord. 13 Then Jesus came and took the bread, gave it to them, and the fish likewise. 14 This is now the third time that Jesus was revealed to his disciples after he had risen from the dead.
Seven men go back to fishing, catch nothing all night, and find breakfast cooking on the beach.
Simon Peter said to them, “I’m going fishing.” They told him, “We are also coming with you.” They immediately went out and entered into the boat. That night, they caught nothing.
The chapter is an epilogue standing outside the frame the book closed two verses ago, and it exists for what happens on the beach.
Peter's announcement has been read as backsliding and it need not be. Men have to eat, and there was no instruction to sit still. What is unmistakable is the flatness of it — the risen Christ has appeared twice, and they are back in a boat on the same lake doing what they did before any of it started.
And they catch nothing, which is the detail that makes the morning what it is.
But when day had already come, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples didn’t know that it was Jesus.
Unrecognized again, as in the garden and on the road to Emmaus.
Jesus therefore said to them, “Children, have you anything to eat?” They answered him, “No.”
The question is the one shouted from every shore to every boat, and the honest monosyllable is what a wasted night produces.
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.
The instruction is professionally useless — a few feet of water makes no difference — and they do it anyway, from a stranger, after a night of failure. It is the same obedience that filled the jars at Cana and sent a blind man to a pool.
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.
The pattern holds: one of them sees first and the other moves first. 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.
He puts clothes on to swim, which is not sensible and is entirely him. A hundred yards of open water is faster than waiting for a boat when the person on the beach is who it is — and this is the man who denied him at a fire.
So when they got out on the land, they saw a fire of coals there, with fish and bread laid on it.
The word for the fire is unusual and this book uses it once before: the charcoal fire in the high priest's courtyard, where Peter stood warming himself John 18:18. Whatever is about to happen on this beach is staged at the same kind of fire, and the man who is about to be asked three questions will have smelled it before he heard them.
And the breakfast is already cooking. He has fish before they bring theirs, which makes the next line a courtesy rather than a necessity.
Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have just caught.”
He does not need them and asks for them.
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.
The number has attracted centuries of arithmetic and the likeliest explanation is the plainest: fishermen count their catch, and somebody remembered. What the writer draws attention to is the net — full past reason and not torn, which is the detail he wants beside the men being sent out to gather.
Jesus said to them, “Come and eat breakfast!” None of the disciples dared inquire of him, “Who are you?” knowing that it was the Lord.
The sentence is beautifully awkward. Nobody asks, and the reason given is that they knew — which means they wanted to ask and could not, and the atmosphere of that meal is in the gap between the two clauses.
Then Jesus came and took the bread, gave it to them, and the fish likewise.
He serves them, on a beach, at breakfast, which is what he said the returning master would do Luke 12:37 and what he had already done with a basin.
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