Peter cast himself into the sea (Notes)

Saint John - Chapter 21

Peter cast himself into the sea. J-J Tissot

[7] Dixit ergo discipulus ille, quem diligebat Jesus, Petro : Dominus est. Simon Petrus cum audisset quia Dominus est, tunica succinxit se ( erat enim nudus) et misit se in mare.
That disciple therefore whom Jesus loved, said to Peter: It is the Lord. Simon Peter, when he heard that it was the Lord, girt his coat about him, (for he was naked,) and cast himself into the sea.

Therefore that disciple, &c. You will ask, how was it that John was the first to recognise Christ? Cyril attributes it to the keenness of his intellect. So does S. Chrysostom. Peter, he says, was the more fervent, but John had more sagacity, and therefore was the first to recognise Christ. But I reply that whilst Peter was occupied in drawing up the net full of great fishes, John more carefully looked at Jesus, and Jesus first presented His appearance to S. John, because He most chiefly loved him, and because he was most pure. Wherefore S. Jerome rightly says (Epist. ad Pammach.), “First is John’s virginity to recognise the virgin form of Christ. ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.’ ”

Mystically: the more familiar and intimate any one is with God by prayer, the more does he perceive, penetrate, contemplate, and admire God, and the attributes of God. In fine, as John because of his virginity was dear to Christ, so also he himself wonderfully loves those who are chaste and virgins.

Hear what the Abbot Adelred writes in his life of King Edward the Confessor. 

St Edward's sapphire (circled)Wilton Diptych. 1395. National Gallery London. 

“S. Edward never denied the petition of any one who asked in the name of S. John, for him after the Prince of the Apostles he chiefly loved. Once it happened that in the absence of the chamberlain a certain foreigner importunately asked the king for alms in the name of S. John. So the king gave him a precious ring, because he had nothing else at hand. After this it happened that two Englishmen went to Jerusalem to worship the tomb of the Saviour. One day it came to pass that they missed the high road, and were wandering out of the way when the sun went down, and all was dark. Not knowing what to do, or whither to turn, a certain venerable old man appeared to them, and led them to the city. There they were hospitably entertained; a table was spread, and their weary limbs were refreshed with sleep. When the morning was come, as they went out of the city, the old man said to them, ‘My brethren, doubt not that you will return to your own country in the greatest prosperity, for God will make your way prosperous. And for love of your king I will keep my eyes upon you in all the way by which ye go. I am John, the Apostle of Christ, who entertain the utmost love for your king because of the merit of his chastity. Take back to him this ring which he once gave me in the habit of a pilgrim. Tell him that the day of his departure draws nigh. Within six months I will visit him, that with me he may follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth.’ When he had said thus he disappeared.” 

For this reason those who love virginity and purity are wont to ask S. John to be their patron, and to invoke his aid, especially when they are troubled with assaults of the flesh: and they experience his help. To give a single example out of many: S. Colette, a virgin of wonderful austerity and sanctity, the reformer of the Order of S. Clare, that she might keep her virginity spotless, chose S. John as her patron. And not in vain: for S. John appeared to her, and by a golden ring betrothed her as a virgin spouse to himself.

When Simon Peter heard, &c., he girt, &c. Greek τὸν ἐπενδύτην διεξώσατο, he put on his tunic over his clothes. Whence it is plain that he was not before wholly naked, but only, after the fashion of workmen, stripped of his outer garment.

And cast himself into the sea: either swimming, as Chrysostom and others think, or by wading through the sea, as Bede and Maldonatus say. For the shore was near. Peter being the more fervent came to Christ more promptly than the others. It is improbable that Peter upon this occasion walked upon the waters. For this would have been rash, since Christ did not now bid him do it.

[8] Alii autem discipuli navigio venerunt ( non enim longe erant a terra, sed quasi cubitis ducentis), trahentes rete piscium.
But the other disciples came in the ship, (for they were not far from the land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes.

Two hundred cubits: Mystically, Bede says, by the 200 cubits is expressed the two-fold power of charity. For by love of God and our neighbour we draw nigh to Christ.

From The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by J-J Tissot (1897)

Fishermen when at work, especially in the shallow waters inshore, often wore nothing more than a little linen girt about their loins and reaching halfway down their thighs, as prescribed by the Jewish law.  To this, however, they added a net slung over their backs and wound round their bodies, which served as a bag for holding fish.  Then nets were, as already stated, of the kind known as sweep-nets.  In the winter the upper part of the body was covered, but the climate was so mild that the limbs could be left bare and untrammelled in the spring.  At the time of year of which we are speaking it was already warm on the lake.

When Saint Peter heard Saint John say: "It is the Lord", he put his gibeh on again out of respect to the Master and cast himself into the sea.  The water was, no doubt, only up to his thighs, for where the seine-net could be used, the lake cannot have been deep, and the beach was not encumbered with rocks as in the north.  The hundred steps would bring Peter to the land, whilst his companions also approached to join Him Who had hailed them.  The account of Saint John is full of typical details betraying an eye-witness, and, when this is borne in mind, the passage quoted above is pregnant with import.  The character of the two Apostles, Saints Peter and John, is clearly brought out.  John is the first to see the Lord, Peter takes the first decisive step.  John looks on and meditates, Peter acts and rushes forward.  Throughout the remainder of their lives the same peculiarities distinguish them, one is fall of the zeal and activity of the missionary, the other of thought for contemplation.

Totus tuus ego sum 

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam