_APPEARANCE AT SEA OF GALILEE._
"After these things Jesus manifested Himself again to the disciples
at the Sea of Tiberias; and He manifested Himself on this wise.
There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and
Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other
of His disciples. Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a-fishing. They
say unto him, We also come with thee. They went forth, and entered
into the boat; and that night they took nothing. But when day was
now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach: howbeit the disciples knew
not that it was Jesus. Jesus therefore saith unto them, Children,
have ye aught to eat? They answered Him, No. And He said unto them,
Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and ye shall find. They
cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the
multitude of fishes. That disciple therefore whom Jesus loved saith
unto Peter, It is the Lord. So when Simon Peter heard that it was
the Lord, he girt his coat about him (for he was naked), and cast
himself into the sea. But the other disciples came in the little
boat (for they were not far from the land, but about two hundred
cubits off), dragging the net full of fishes. So when they got out
upon the land, they see a fire of coals there, and fish laid
thereon, and bread. Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which
ye have now taken. Simon Peter therefore went up, and drew the net
to land, full of great fishes, a hundred and fifty and three: and
for all there were so many, the net was not rent. Jesus saith unto
them, Come and break your fast. And none of the disciples durst
inquire of Him, Who art Thou? knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus
cometh, and taketh the bread, and giveth them, and the fish
likewise. This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to
the disciples, after that He was risen from the dead."--JOHN xxi.
1-14.
The removal of the doubts of Thomas restored the Eleven to unity of
faith, and fitted them to be witnesses of the Lord's resurrection. And
the Gospel might naturally have closed at this point, as indeed the last
verses of the twentieth chapter suggest that the writer himself felt
that his task was done. But as throughout his Gospel he had followed the
plan of adducing such of Christ's miracles as seemed to throw a strong
light on His spiritual power, he could not well close without mentioning
the last miracle of all, and which seemed to have only a didactic
purpose. Besides, there was another reason for John adding this chapter.
He was writing at the very close of the century. So long had he survived
the unparalleled events he narrates that an impression had gone abroad
that he would never die. It was even rumoured that our Lord had foretold
that the beloved disciple should tarry on earth till He Himself should
return. John takes the opportunity of relating what the Lord had really
said, as well as of recounting the all-important event out of which the
misreported conversation had arisen.
When the disciples had spent the Passover week at Jerusalem, they
naturally returned to their homes in Galilee. The house of the old
fisherman Zebedee was probably their rendezvous. We need not listen to
their talk as they relate what had passed in Jerusalem, in order to see
that they are sensible of the peculiarity of their situation and are in
a state of suspense.
They are back among the familiar scenes, the boats are lying on the
beach, their old companions are sitting about mending their nets as they
themselves had been doing a year or two before when summoned by Jesus to
follow Him on the moment. But though old associations are thus laying
hold of them again, there is evidence that new influences are also at
work; for with the fishermen are found Nathanael and others who were
there, not for the sake of old associations, but of the new and common
interest they had in Christ. The seven men have kept together; they
participate in an experience of which their fellow-townsmen know
nothing; but they must live. Hints have been thrown out that seven
strong men must not depend on other arms than their own for a
livelihood. And as they stand together that evening and watch boat after
boat push off, the women wishing their husbands and sons good-speed, the
men cheerily responding and busily getting their tackle in trim, with a
look of pity at the group of disciples, Peter can stand it no longer,
but makes for his own or some unoccupied boat with the words, "I go
a-fishing." The rest were only needing such an invitation. The whole
charm and zest of the old life rushes back upon them, each takes his own
accustomed place in the boat, each hand finds itself once more at home
at the long-suspended task, and with an ease that surprises themselves
they fall back into the old routine.
And as we watch their six oars flashing in the setting sun, and Peter
steering them to the familiar fishing ground, we cannot but reflect in
how precarious a position the whole future of the world is. That boat
carries the earthly hope of the Church; and as we weigh the feelings of
the men that are in it, what we see chiefly is, how easily the whole of
Christianity might here have broken short off, and never have been heard
of, supposing it to have depended for its propagation solely on the
disciples. Here they were, not knowing what had become of Jesus, without
any plan for preserving His name among men, open to any impulse or
influence, unable to resist the smell of the fishing boats and the
freshness of the evening breeze, and submitting themselves to be guided
by such influences as these, content apparently to fall back into their
old ways and obscure village life, as if the last three years were a
dream, or were like a voyage to foreign parts, which they might think of
afterwards, but were not to repeat. All the facts they were to use for
the conversion of the world were already in their possession; the death
of Christ and His resurrection were not a fortnight old; but as yet they
had no inward impulse to proclaim the truth; there was no Holy Ghost
powerfully impelling and possessing them; they were not endued with
power from on high. One thing only they seemed to be decided and agreed
about--that they must live; and therefore they go a-fishing.
But apparently they were not destined to find even this so easy as they
expected. There was One watching that boat, following it through the
night as they tried place after place, and He was resolved that they
should not be filled with false ideas about the satisfactoriness of
their old calling. All night they toiled, but caught nothing. Every old
device was tried; the fancies of each particular kind of fish were
humoured, but in vain. Each time the net was drawn up, every hand knew
before it appeared that it was empty. Weary with the fruitless toil, and
when the best part of the night was gone, they made for a secluded part
of the shore, not wishing to land from their first attempt empty in
presence of the other fishermen. But when about one hundred yards from
the shore a voice hails them with the words, "Children"--or, as we would
say, "Lads"--"have you taken any fish?" It has been supposed that our
Lord asked this question in the character of a trader who had been
watching for the return of the boats that he might buy, or that it was
with the natural interest every one takes in the success of a person
that is fishing, so that we can scarcely pass without asking what take
they have had. The question was asked for the purpose of arresting the
boat at a sufficient distance from the shore to make another cast of the
net possible. It has this effect; the rowers turned round to see who is
calling them, and at the same time tell Him they have no fish. The
Stranger then says, "Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye
shall find"; and they do so, not thinking of a miracle, but supposing
that before any man would give them such express instructions he must
have had some good reason for believing there were fish there. But when
they found that the net was at once absolutely loaded with fish, so that
they could not draw it into the boat, John looks again at the Stranger,
and whispers to Peter, "It is the Lord." This was no sooner heard by
Peter than he snatched up and threw over him his upper garment, and
throwing himself into the water swam or waded ashore.
In every trifling act character betrays itself. It is John who is first
to recognise Jesus; it is Peter who casts himself into the sea, just as
he had done once before on that same lake, and as he had been first to
enter the sepulchre on the morning of the Resurrection. John recognises
the Lord, not because he had better eyesight than the rest, nor because
he had a better position in the boat, nor because while the rest were
busied with the net he was occupied with the figure on the beach, but
because his spirit had a quicker and profounder apprehension of
spiritual things, and because in this sudden turn of their fortune he
recognised the same hand which had filled their nets once before and had
fed thousands with one or two little fishes.
The reason of Peter's impetuousness on this occasion may partly have
been that their fishing vessel was now as near the land as they could
get it, and that he was unwilling to wait till they should get the small
boat unfastened. The rest, we read, came ashore, not in the large vessel
in which they had spent the night, but in the little boat they carried
with them, the reason being added, "for they were not far from
land"--that is to say, not far enough to use the larger vessel any
longer. Peter, therefore, ran no risk of drowning. But his action
reveals the eagerness of love. No sooner has he only heard from another
that his Lord is near, than the fish for which he had been watching and
waiting all night are forgotten, and for him, the master of the vessel,
the net and all its contents might have sunk to the bottom of the lake.
What this action of Peter suggested to the Lord is apparent from the
question which a few minutes later He put to him: "Lovest thou Me more
than these?"
Neither would Peter have sustained any serious loss even though his nets
had been carried away, for when he reaches the shore he finds that the
Lord was to be their host, not their guest. A fire is ready lit, fish
laid on it and bread baking. He who could so fill their nets could also
provide for His own wants. But there was to be no needless
multiplication of miracles; the fish already on the fire was not to be
multiplied in their hands when plenty were lying in the net. He directs
them, therefore, to bring of the fish they had caught. They go to the
net, and mechanically, in their old fashion, count the fish they had
taken, one hundred and fifty and three; and John, with a fisher's memory
can tell you, sixty years after, the precise number. From these
miraculously provided fish they break their long fast.
The significance of this incident has perhaps been somewhat lost by
looking at it too exclusively as symbolical. No doubt it was so; but it
carried in the first place a most important lesson in its bare, literal
facts. We have already noticed the precarious position in which the
Church at this time was. And it will be useful to us in many ways to
endeavour to rid our mind of all fancies about the beginning of the
Christian Church, and look at the simple, unvarnished facts here
presented to our view. And the plain and significant circumstance which
first invites our attention is, that the nucleus of the Church, the men
on whom the faith of Christ depended for its propagation, were
fishermen.
This was not merely the picturesque drapery assumed by men of ability so
great and character so commanding that all positions in life were alike
to them. Let us recall to memory the group of men we have seen standing
at a corner in a fishing village or with whom we have spent a night at
sea fishing, and whose talk has been _at the best_ old stories of their
craft or legends of the water. Such men were the Apostles. They were
men who were not at home in cities, who simply could not understand the
current philosophies, who did not so much as know the names of the great
contemporary writers of the Roman world, who took only so much interest
in politics as every Jew in those troublous times was forced to
take--men who were at home only on their own lake, in their fishing
boat, and who could quite contentedly, even after all they had recently
gone through, have returned to their old occupation for life. They were
in point of fact now returning to their old life--returning to it partly
because they had no impulse to publish what they knew, and partly
because, even though they had, they must live, and did not know how they
should be supported but by fishing.
And this is the reason of this miracle; this is the reason why our Lord
so pointedly convinced them that without Him they could not make a
livelihood: that they might fish all the night through and resort to
every device their experience could contrive and yet could catch
nothing, but that He could give them sustenance as He pleased. If any
one thinks that this is a secular, shallow way of looking at the
miracle, let him ask what it is that chiefly keeps men from serving God
as they think they should, what it is that induces men to live so much
for the world and so little for God, what it is that prevents them from
following out what conscience whispers is the right course. Is it not
mainly the feeling that by doing God's will we ourselves are likely to
be not so well off, not so sufficiently provided for. Above all things,
therefore, both we and the Apostles need to be convinced that our Lord,
who asks us to follow Him, is much better able to provide for us than we
ourselves are. They had the same transition to make as every man among
ourselves has to make; we and they alike have to pass from the natural
feeling that we depend on our own energy and skill for our support to
the knowledge that we depend on God. We have to pass from the life of
nature and sense to the life of faith. We have to come to know and
believe that the fundamental thing is God, that it is He who can support
us when nature fails, and _not_ that we must betake ourselves to nature
at many points where God fails--that we live, not by bread alone, but by
every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, and are much safer
in doing His bidding than in struggling anxiously to make a livelihood.
And if we carefully read our own experience, might we not see, as
clearly as the Apostles that morning saw, the utter futility of our own
schemes for bettering ourselves in the world? Is it not the simple fact
that we also have toiled through every watch of the night, have borne
fatigue and deprivation, have abandoned the luxuries of life and given
ourselves to endure hardness, have tried contrivance after contrivance
to win our cherished project, and all in vain? Our net is empty and
light at the rising sun as it was at the setting. Have we not again and
again found that when every boat round was being filled we drew nothing
but disappointment? Have we not many times come back empty-handed to our
starting-place? But no matter how much we have thus lost or missed every
man will tell you it is much better so than if he had succeeded, if only
his own ill-success has induced him to trust Christ, if only it has
taught him really what he used with everybody else verbally to
say,--that in that Person dimly discerned through the light that begins
to glimmer round our disappointments there is all power in heaven and
on earth--power to give us what we have been trying to win, power to
give us greater happiness without it.
But this being so, it being the case that our Lord came this second time
and called them away from their occupations to follow Him, and showed
them how amply He could support them, they could not but remember how He
had once before in very similar circumstances summoned them to leave
their occupation as fishermen and to become fishers of men. They could
not but interpret the present by the former miracle, and read in it a
renewed summons to the work of catching men, and a renewed assurance
that in that work they should not draw empty nets. Most suitably, then,
does this miracle stand alone, the only one wrought after the
Resurrection, and most suitably does it stand last, giving the Apostles
a symbol which should continually reanimate them to their laborious
work. Their work of preaching was well symbolised by _sowing_; they
passed rapidly through the field of the world, at every step scattering
broadcast the words of everlasting life, not examining minutely the
hearts into which these words might fall, not knowing where they might
find prepared soil and where they might find inhospitable rock, but
assured that after a time whoso followed in their track should see the
fruit of their words. Not less significant is the figure of the net;
they let down the net of their good tidings, not seeing what persons
were really enclosed in it, but trusting that He who had said, "Cast
your net on the right side of the ship," knew what souls it would fall
over. By this miracle He gave the Apostles to understand that not only
when with them in the flesh could He give them success. Even now after
His resurrection and when they did not recognise Him on the shore He
blessed their labour, that they might even when they did not see Him
believe in His nearness and in His power most effectually to give them
success.
This is the miracle which has again and again restored the drooping
faith and discouraged spirit of all Christ's followers who endeavour to
bring men under His influence, or in any way to spread out this
influence over a wider surface. Again and again their hope is
disappointed and their labour vain; the persons they wish to influence
glide out from below the net, and it is drawn empty; new opportunities
are watched for, and new opportunities arrive and are used, but with the
same result; the patient doggedness of the fisherman long used to turns
of ill-success is reproduced in the persevering efforts of parental love
or friendly anxiety for the good of others, but often the utmost
patience is at last worn out, the nets are piled away, and the gloom of
disappointment settles on the mind. Yet this apparently is the very hour
which the Lord often chooses to give the long-sought-for success; in the
dawn, when already the fish might be supposed to see the net and more
vigilantly to elude it, our last and almost careless effort is made, and
we achieve a substantial, countable success--a success not doubtful, but
which we could accurately detail to others, which makes a mark in the
memory like the hundred and fifty and three of these fishers, and which
were we to relate to others they must acknowledge that the whole weary
night of toil is amply repaid. And it is then a man recognises who it is
that has directed his labour--it is then he for the moment forgets even
the success in the more gladdening knowledge that such a success could
only have been given by One, and that it is the Lord who has been
watching his disappointments, and at last turning them into triumph.
The Evangelist adds, "None of the disciples durst ask Him, Who art Thou?
knowing that it was the Lord"--a remark which unquestionably implies
that there was some ground for the question, Who art Thou? They knew it
was the Lord from the miracle He had wrought and from His manner of
speaking and acting; but yet there was in His appearance something
strange, something which, had it not also inspired them with awe, would
have prompted the question, Who art Thou? The question was always on
their lips, as they found afterwards by comparing notes with one
another, but none of them durst put it. There was this time no
certification of His identity further than the aid He had given, no
showing of His hands and feet. It was, that is to say, by faith now they
must know Him, not by bodily eyesight; if they wished to deny Him, there
was room for doing so, room for questioning who He was. This was in the
most delicate correspondence with the whole incident. The miracle was
wrought as the foundation and encouraging symbol of their whole vocation
as fishers of men during His bodily absence; it was wrought in order to
encourage them to lean on One whom they could not see, whom they could
at best dimly descry on another element from themselves, and whom they
could not recognise as their Lord apart from the wonderful aid He gave
them; and accordingly even when they come ashore there is something
mysterious and strange about His appearance, something that baffles
eyesight, something that would no longer have satisfied a Thomas,
something therefore which is the fit preparation for a state in which
they were to live altogether by faith and not at all by sight. This is
the state in which we now live. He who believes will know that his Lord
is near him; he who refuses to believe will be able to deny His
nearness. It is faith then that we need: we need to know our Lord, to
understand His purposes and His mode of fulfilling them, so that we may
not need the evidence of eyesight to say where He is working and where
He is not. If we are to be His followers, if we are to recognise that He
has made a new life for us and all men, if we are to recognise that He
has begun and is now carrying forward a great cause in this world, and
if we see that, let our lives deny it as they may, there is nothing else
worth living for than this cause, and if we are seeking to help it, then
let us confirm our faith by this miracle and believe that our Lord, who
has all power in heaven and on earth, is but beyond eyesight, has a
perfectly distinct view of all we are doing and knows when to give us
the success we seek.
This, then, explains why it was that our Lord appeared only to His
friends after His resurrection. It might have been expected that on His
rising from the dead He would have shown Himself as openly as before He
suffered, and would specially have shown Himself to those who had
crucified Him; but this was not the case. The Apostles themselves were
struck with this circumstance, for in one of his earliest discourses
Peter remarks that He showed Himself "not to all the people, but unto
witnesses chosen before of God, even to us who did eat and drink with
Him after He rose from the dead." And it is obvious from the incident
before us and from the fact that when our Lord showed Himself to five
hundred disciples at once in Galilee, probably a day or two after this,
some even of them doubted--it is obvious from this that no good or
permanent effect could have been produced by His appearing to all and
sundry. It might have served as a momentary triumph, but even this is
doubtful; for plenty would have been found to explain away the miracle
or to maintain it was a deception, and that He who appeared was not the
same as He who died. Or even supposing the miracle had been admitted,
why was this miracle to produce any more profound spiritual effect in
hearts unprepared than the former miracles had produced. It was not by
any such sudden process men could become Christians and faithful
witnesses of Christ's resurrection. "Men are not easily wrought upon to
be faithful advocates of any cause." They advocate causes to which they
are by nature attached, or else they become alive to the merit of a
cause only by gradual conviction and by deeply impressed and often
repeated instruction. To such a process the Apostles were submitted; and
even after this long instruction their fidelity to Christ was tested by
a trial which shook to the foundations their whole character, which
threw out one of their number for ever, and which revealed the
weaknesses of others.
In other words, they needed to be able to certify Christ's spiritual
identity as well as His physical sameness. They were so to know Him and
so to sympathise with His character that they might be able after the
Resurrection to recognise Him by the continuity of that character and
the identity of purpose He maintained. They were by daily intercourse
with Him to be gradually led to dependence upon Him, and to the
strongest attachment to His person; so that when they became witnesses
to Him they might not only be able to say, "Jesus whom you crucified
rose again," but might be able to illustrate His character by their
own, to represent the beauty of His holiness by simply telling what
they had seen Him do and heard Him say, and to give convincing evidence
in their own persons and lives that He whom they loved on earth lives
and rules now in heaven.
And what we need now and always is, not men who can witness to the fact
of resurrection, but who can bear in upon our spirits the impression
that there is a risen Lord and a risen life through dependence on Him.