John 21:9Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The ninth was when He appeared to the disciples as they reclined at supper; see Mk 16:14. The tenth was when He was no longer seen on earth, for He ascended in a cloud into heaven; see Mk 16:19 and Lk 24:50-51.

“The third time” refers not to the number of appearances, but to the days. In other words, the first day includes all His appearances on the day of the Resurrection. The second day comprises the events eight days later, when Thomas saw Him and believed.

Now the third day is the day on which they catch fish. And so on, up to the day of His Ascension.

Observe also that here it is said what they ate for dinner. We shall say something sweet and saving about this meal, if He deigns to make us participants in it.

Earlier it was said that, when these disciples came out onto the land, they saw coals laid there, and a fish lying on them, and bread; compare Jn 21:9. This should not be understood to mean that the bread also lay on the coals.

Rather, “they saw” should be supplied. If we repeat this verb where it must be understood, the whole sentence may be spoken thus: “They saw coals laid there, and a fish lying on them; and they saw bread.”

Or even thus: “They saw coals laid there, and a fish lying on them; they saw also bread.” At the Lord’s command they brought some of the fish they themselves had caught.

Although the narrator does not state that they did this, he does not pass over in silence that the Lord commanded it. For he says, “Bring some of the fish which you have now caught” (Jn 21:10). Since He commanded this, who would believe that they did not do it?

So the Lord prepared a meal for His seven disciples. It was, of course, from the fish they had seen lying on the coals, with some of those they had caught added to it, and from the bread which the narrative says they saw.

The roasted fish is Christ who suffered. Augustine uses a play on words here: Piscis assus, Christus est passus. He is also the bread which came down from heaven (Jn 6:41). The Church is incorporated into Him, so as to share eternal blessedness.

For this reason it was said, “Bring some of the fish which you have now caught.” Thus all of us who nourish such hope may know that, through this sevenfold number of disciples, which in this passage prefigures our communion, we share in this mystery and this blessedness.

This is the Lord’s meal with His disciples. With this John ended his Gospel, although I am convinced that much else could have been said about Christ, with great attention to great matters.

Here the catch of one hundred fifty-three fish prefigures the Church as she will be when she consists only of the good. Through this meal, those who believe this, hope for it, and love it are shown their participation in such blessedness.

Toward morning someone from the shore asked whether they had anything edible, not bread, but what is added to bread at table, here fish. The disciples answered, "No." Then the One standing on the shore advised them to cast their nets on the right side of the boat and promised success. The success was extraordinary. Seven men could not draw in the nets because of the multitude of fish. Later they counted twenty-two large fish for each brother, except one. This success in fishing probably reminded John of their former miraculous catch. He guessed that the Lord Himself was on the shore and immediately told the others of this thought. As soon as Simon Peter heard it, he threw himself into the water, so as to draw nearer to Jesus more quickly, or so that He might not withdraw from them. The others also arrived there at once. On the shore, it was no longer they who offered Him refreshment or a meal from their catch, but He Himself. He distributes bread and fish to them. If the fishing foretold to the disciples the action of their preaching, then the drawing of the catch to the feet of Jesus was a foreshadowing. It showed how their action in this ministry must end, and what successes they were to expect. The meal of Jesus signified the reward from Him in His kingdom, or the supper in the kingdom of heaven. Thus this supper recalled the Last Supper in Jerusalem before the Passion. But it also had a further special relation to those events.

Already among the disciples of Jesus Christ this conditional expression was understood to mean that this disciple would not die. When the Evangelist John wrote his Gospel, and at that time he was about ninety years old, it could well be that some Christians remembered those words of Jesus Christ about His beloved disciple and thought he truly would not die. Therefore the Evangelist John explains with particular care that those words of the Lord must be understood conditionally (21:22-23). Moreover, in the prediction to Peter of the destiny awaiting him as preacher and confessor of Christ, the destiny of all Christ's followers is also foreshadowed. It shows their relation to the unbelieving world, in the midst of which the Gospel of the kingdom of God will be preached. The time of this appearance cannot be precisely determined. In general, it belongs to the time when the apostles, by the command of Jesus Christ, returned from Jerusalem to Galilee. It was the third appearance among the appearances to many disciples, the first being 20:19 and the second 20:26. The purpose of this appearance was the restoration of the Apostle Peter, who had denied Christ three times, to his apostolic dignity. Therefore the Risen One appears not just anywhere, but precisely on the Sea of Galilee. He appears precisely while the apostles are fishing, and after a miraculous catch at Christ's word. All this was meant to remind Peter and his companions of the history of their calling to follow Jesus. Then they had been promised that one day they would become fishers of men (Lk 5:1ff.). As the fishing figuratively pointed the apostles to their preaching labors, which would succeed with Christ's help, so the meal afterward arranged by Christ could point its participants to the enjoyment of the blessings of eternal life. This would be their reward for faithful and zealous service to the Gospel. It may also have had significance that the Lord prepared this meal by means of fire. This fire was to remind Peter of the fire in the high priest's courtyard, near which he had denied Christ.

On the shore they all, it seems, saw not without amazement a fire, fish on the fire, that is, on the coals, and bread awaiting them for the satisfaction of their bodily needs. There is no need to ask how the fire, bread, and fish appeared when the Lord was there. Food was offered on the shore by the Lord to His disciples, just as thousands of people had been fed with five loaves and two fish. The food offered to the disciples was ordinary food, their daily food. For "the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Rom 14:17). The Lord offers food to fleshly men to sustain their strength. Thus the demands of the flesh would not cloud their minds or draw them away from higher things, from the spiritual table which the Lord would set before them, "speaking with them concerning the kingdom of God" (Acts 1:3).