Saint John - Chapter 21
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| Christ appears at the sea of Tiberias. J-J Tissot |
After this, Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias. And he shewed himself after this manner.
After these things, &c. From this it appears that Peter and the other Apostles had gone from Judea into Galilee, as Christ had bidden them (S. Matt. 23:10). For this appearance of Christ took place in Galilee, when He, being about to go into heaven, in order that He might provide for the government of the faithful, appointed Peter to be the Head of the Church, and His Vicar upon earth. This is why S. John subjoins these things, and so concludes his Gospel.
[2] erant simul Simon Petrus, et Thomas, qui dicitur Didymus, et Nathanael, qui erat a Cana Galilaeae, et filii Zebedaei, et alii ex discipulis ejus duo.
There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas, who is called Didymus, and Nathanael, who was of Cana of Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples.
He manifested Himself thus, &c. Christ wished a larger number, and the more honourable of His disciples, to be gathered together, in order that His manifestation might be so much the more glorious, and that before them as princes He might declare Peter to be His Vicar on earth, that so the Apostles and the rest of the faithful might acknowledge him to be such.
[3] Dicit eis Simon Petrus : Vado piscari. Dicunt ei : Venimus et nos tecum. Et exierunt, et ascenderunt in navim : et illa nocte nihil prendiderunt.
Simon Peter saith to them: I go a fishing. They say to him: We also come with thee. And they went forth, and entered into the ship: and that night they caught nothing.
Simon Peter saith unto them, &c. Different writers give different reasons for this fishing. S. Chrysostom says, “Because the Lord was not always with them, neither had any (ministry) been committed to them, they employed themselves in fishing.” S. Gregory (Hom. 24.) says, “An employment which was without sin before their conversion was blameless after their conversion. Therefore Peter returned to his fishing, but Matthew did not return to his receipt of custom. For there are many employments which it is impossible, or scarcely possible, to follow without sin. To such a man must not return after he is converted.” Let us add, that this fishing took place before Pentecost and the descent of the Holy Ghost, by whom they were bidden to preach the Gospel. Wherefore, because the Apostles had nothing to occupy them at this time in the way of preaching, and they were at once poor and fishermen, they properly went back to their fishing in order to supply themselves with sustenance. But after the advent of the Holy Spirit we do not read that they employed themselves in fishing, for they were wholly occupied in preaching the Gospel, and in guiding the faithful in the way of all perfection. Whilst the faithful, being studious of evangelical poverty, brought all their property to the feet of the Apostles, that they might distribute it amongst themselves and the rest of the believers. At any time, however, of necessity or want, they might lawfully have returned to their fishing, just as Paul returned to his tent-making that he might not be burdensome to others for his livelihood. For this indeed is a matter of greater perfection, and therefore an evangelical counsel, that one should preach the Gospel free of charge (to the hearers), and provide for his own sustenance by the labour of his hands. Lastly, the disciples went a-fishing to avoid idleness, and as a relaxation. Cassian relates the following story concerning a certain hunter who went to visit S. John, whom he found employed in gently stroking a partridge. Being surprised at this sight, S. John asked him, “What is that in your hand?” “A bow,” he replied. “Why do you not keep it always bent?” He answered, “It would be inexpedient to do so, lest by the continual curvature the strength of the bow should be destroyed, and it should come to pass that when I am shooting a strong arrow at some quarry, the stiffness of the bow being lost through its constant tension, it should not be able to discharge a powerful shaft.” “In like manner,” replied the Blessed John, “let not this brief relaxation of my mind offend you, O my young friend; for unless I afforded some moderate relief to its excessive tension it would lose its vigour, and would not be able to obey when need should call upon it to make some strenuous effort.”
Night: For night is the most suitable time for fishing. For during the day the fish hide themselves in the depths of the sea.
Mystically, Theophylact says, by night, that is, before the presence of Christ the Sun, the prophets caught nothing, because although they attempted to correct but a single nation, it was continually falling into idolatry.
They took nothing: because they were fishing without Jesus, that they might learn that all their success in fishing for souls depended wholly upon Christ, and therefore that they ought to seek for success from Him, according to the words of the Psalmist, “Except the Lord build the house, their labour is but lost that build it.”
[4] Mane autem facto stetit Jesus in littore : non tamen cognoverunt discipuli quia Jesus est.
But when the morning was come, Jesus stood on the shore: yet the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.
When the morning was come, &c. To show that this capture of fish was the result of His grace, not of their own industry. For (naturally) in the morning fish flee away from the light and the noise into the depths of the sea.
They knew not. Because He appeared to them in another form, as He did to the Magdalene (cap. xx. 14). In sooth Christ desired to be recognised rather by the miraculous draught of the fish than by His (human) form; for this was more befitting incarnate God.
Mystically: S. Gregory says, “The sea signifies this present world, which, in the tumults of affairs and the corruptible waves of life, dashes against itself. But the solidity of the shore signifies the perpetuity of the everlasting rest. The disciples therefore as yet were engaged in the waves of this mortal life. But the Lord was now standing on the shore, towards which Peter, to whom the Church was specially committed, draws the fishes, showing to the faithful the stability of eternal peace. This he did by his preaching and his epistles. This he does still by daily signs and miracles.”
[5] Dixit ergo eis Jesus : Pueri, numquid pulmentarium habetis? Responderunt ei : Non.
Jesus therefore said to them: Children, have you any meat? They answered him: No.
Jesus therefore, &c. As though He said, O fishermen, have ye any fish to sell Me? For Christ here appeared to His disciples in an unknown form, like a grave merchantman, wishing to purchase fish. So S. Chrysostom. Wherefore He addresses them as boys (pueros), as though they were labourers. Or “little boys” (παίδια), addressing them as His children out of love.
Any meat: Greek προσφάγιον, Vulgate pulmentarium, meaning any food which is eaten with bread, as we use seasoning. Also by this word pulmentarium Christ meant fish. For, as Plutarch says, although there are many sorts of seasoning, fish is especially so called, because by the nutriment which it affords, and the facility with which it can be cooked, it surpasses other kinds. Also because most of the ancients, indeed all men before the Deluge, as I have shown upon Gen. 9, fed not upon flesh, but upon fish.
[6] Dicit eis : Mittite in dexteram navigii rete, et invenietis. Miserunt ergo : et jam non valebant illud trahere prae multitudine piscium.
He saith to them: Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and you shall find. They cast therefore; and now they were not able to draw it, for the multitude of fishes.
He saith unto them, &c. For indeed Jesus by His hidden power had collected this multitude of fishes on the right side of the boat, and so the Apostles who had been fishing all night at the left side had taken nothing. From thence we learn, moraliter, that we often toil and labour in vain because we fish at the left side without Jesus, instead of at the right with Jesus.
Hearken now to S. Augustine (Tract. 122): “In the capture of the fish is set forth a sacrament of the Church, to wit, what shall be at the last resurrection: to set forth which it is signified that it is as it were the end of a book, which should be, as it were, the proëmium of a narrative which is to follow. And the seven disciples by their number signify the end of time. For all time is included in seven days. The shore signifies the end of the world, for it is the boundary of the sea. And as the Church, such as it shall be at the end of the world, is here meant, so by another fishing is signified the Church such as it is now. Therefore on that occasion Jesus did not stand upon the shore, but went up into the ship. Then the nets were not cast at the right side, in order not to denote the good only; nor yet at the left, not to denote the bad only: but indifferently on both sides, to signify that the good were mingled with the bad. But now the net is cast on the right side, to signify the good only, who are reserved for the resurrection of life. And they will appear on the shore, that is, in the end of the world when they arise. For the Church possesses them at the end of this life in the sleep of peace, lying hid as it were in the deep, until the net shall come to the shore. And what was signified in the first fishing by the two ships in this place is figured by the 153, namely the elect of the two dispensations, the circumcision and the uncircumcision.”
They cast therefore, &c. Behold the reward and fruit of ready obedience, and that obedience to one unknown, and as it seemed, a stranger. But Christ had inwardly inclined their hearts to do this. This multitude of fishes mystically represents the multitude of the faithful which Peter and the Apostles afterwards caught by the net of evangelical preaching, and converted to Christ. So SS. Augustine, Gregory, Chrysostom, &c.
From The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by J-J Tissot (1897)
In speaking to cap Saint Thomas, the Saviour repeast almost word for word that disciples expressions of do
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam
Ad Jesum per Mariam
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