Jesus manifested and miraculous catch of fish (John 21:1-14 ) By
Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce
Christian Arts Ministries: Biblical Precepts
& Gospel music Date :2/23/2026
Jesus and the Miraculous Catch of Fish (John 1-14)
1Afterward Jesus appeared again
to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: 2Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus),
Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples
were together. 3“I’m
going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.”
So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. 4Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the
shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. 5He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered. 6He
said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find
some.” When
they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of
fish. 7Then the disciple whom Jesus
loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment
around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. 8The other disciples followed in
the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about
a hundred yards. 9When
they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some
bread. 10Jesus said to them, “Bring
some of the fish you have just caught.” 11So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It
was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. 12Jesus said to them, “Come and
have breakfast.” None of the disciples
dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13Jesus came, took the bread and
gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14This was now the third time
Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.
By the end of Chapter 20 the Lord had come back as the Spirit, as the pneumatic
Christ, to be with the disciples as everything to them. Therefore, this Gospel
might be considered closed there (20:30-31). But how could the disciples make a
living? What should they do to carry out His commission? How should they follow
His after His resurrection? What would be their future? This additional chapter
is needed that these problems might be dealt with.
Verse 1 this proves that His coming to the
disciples in 20:26 was actually a manifestation, for here it is said that He
manifested Himself again to the disciples. He was again training them to practice His
invisible presence. It was a matter not of His coming but of His
manifestation. Whether or not they were conscious of His presence, He was with
them all the time. Because of their weakness He sometimes of their weakness He
sometimes manifested His presence in order to strengthen their faith in Him.
Verse
3 it must have been because of the trial related to their need to make a living
that Peter returned to his old occupation, thus backsliding from the Lord’s
call (Matt.4:19-20; Luke5:3-11). Peter and the son of Zebedee (John and James)
were professional fishermen, the Sea of Tiberias was large and full of fish,
and night was the right time for fishing; still, through the entire night they
caught nothing. This was a miracle! It must have been that the Lord bade all
the fish to stay away from their net.
Verse
5 Fish is not in the Greek text; however, because the Greek word here refers to
something prepared for eating, fish is implied. When the disciples were in the
right position, as in Luke 24:41-43, they had even in the house more fish than
they needed, so they offered a piece to the Lord. But here they were in a
backslidden condition; thus, after fishing the whole night, they had even on
the sea –no fish, not even one piece!
Verse
6 Morning (v.4) was not the right time for fishing, but when they obeyed the
Lord’s word and cast the net, they caught an abundance of fish. This surely was
a miracle! It must have been that the Lord bade the fish to come into their
net. In Luke 5:3-11 the Lord called Peter by a miracle in fishing. Here 21:6
Jesus recovered Peter to His call by another miracle in fishing. He is
consistent in His purpose.
Verse
9 Here the Lord trained Peter to have faith in Him, for his living. Peter
and those with him had fished the entire night but had caught nothing. Then,
according to the Lord’s word they cast the net, and they caught abundance of
fish. But without these fish, and even on land, where there were no fish, the
Lord prepared fish and even bread for the disciples. This too was a miracle! By
this the Lord trained them to realize that without His leading , even if they
should go to the sea, where the fish were, at night, the right time for
fishing, they would catch nothing; but if they followed the Lord’s leading,
even on land, where there were no fish, the Lord could provide fish for them.
Though they caught many fish according to the Lord’s word, the Lord would not
use these fish to feed them. This was a real lesson to Peter. For his
living he needed to believe in the Lord, who calls things not being as being. (Rom.4:17).
Verse
12 This indicates the Lord’s gracious care for the need of His called ones.
Verse
13 In the Lord’s provision, bread represents the riches of the land, and fish
represent the riches of the sea.
Bibliography,
Lee, Witness. The New Testament (R.V.) Anaheim,
CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1985.
Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie Study Bible (NIV).Chicago,
IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986.

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