There is a beautiful story on miraculous catches of fish in John 21:2-11.
(A) BACKGROUND IN JOHN CHAPTER 20
Perhaps, it is good to look at the background of the story a chapter prior to the miraculous catches of fish; in chapter 20, before drawing a conclusion. Because of space, I shall not attach any verse from John 20. Individuals are encouraged to read their own bible in John chapter 20. A short outline of the story of John 20 unveils below:
– Early in the morning, Mary Magdalene visited the tomb. But she found that the tomb’s entrance was open. She ran to inform Jesus’ disciples (Peter and John) in John 20:1-2.
– The disciples went to the tomb. And the bible records verses 8 to 10 as below:-
| (John 20:8-10, GNT) 8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in; he saw and believed. (9 They still did not understand the scripture which said that he must rise from death.) 10 Then the disciples went back home. |
– Ironically, those disciples believed Jesus wasn’t in the tomb. In other words, it was an emptied tomb.
– Let me repeat again that yes, they believed the tomb was emptied. But after believing that it was an empty tomb, they chose to go home (John 20:8-10). Their hearts weren’t warmed by the fact that Jesus was being resurrected.
– Apparently, after being with Jesus for 3 ½ years, they did not know His way of teaching. They had not understood from Jesus’ sharing that He must rise from death.
– Indeed, Mary Magdalene returned with those disciples a second time. But she remained there and wept outside the tomb even when the disciples went back to their home.
– Obviously, from John 20:13 to 16, Magdalene couldn’t recognize the resurrected Lord who appeared to her.
– Jesus revealed Himself and wanted Mary Magdalene to inform His disciples that: ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ (John 20:17, NIV). Magdalene took heed of Jesus’ instruction in verse 18, by informing His disciples. This time around, she told them not only that the tomb was emptied, but that she had seen the resurrected Jesus physically.
– The following verses on John 20:19 to 29 tell us that Jesus went and appeared twice to His disciples. However, Thomas wasn’t with them in the first round then. On His second visit, Jesus allowed Thomas to put his finger into His wounded hands and told Thomas: “Stop your doubting, and believe!” In a matter of fact, He was clearing Thomas’ doubt.
– Without a doubt, the above demonstrated that the resurrected Jesus:-
1) was very much concerned about His disciples and the continuity of His earthly mission work.
2) wasn’t recognized by Magdalene and His disciples. That means the resurrected Jesus could be totally different bodily.
– Based on John 21:14, the miraculous catch of fish was the third time Jesus appeared to His disciples.
| John 21:12-14 GNT 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and eat.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. 13 So Jesus went over, took the bread, and gave it to them; he did the same with the fish. 14 This, then, was the THIRD TIME Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from death. |
With that, we should have completed the short exposition in John 20.
Just to highlight that there are numerous sermons saying that the resurrected Jesus came to declare peace not just to Jesus’ earthly disciples but it includes new covenant believers.
Thus, believers should have all the peace needed in life no matter whatsoever circumstances they are undergoing, they said. Furthermore, they are saying should you are receiving the right gospel, it shall be living troubleless, carefree lives.
However, let’s look at Luke’s account, below:-
| (Luke 24:36-46, GNT) 36 While the two were telling them this, suddenly the Lord himself stood among them and said to them, “PEACE BE WITH YOU.” 37 They were TERRIFIED, thinking that they were SEEING A GHOST. 38 But he said to them, “Why are you alarmed? Why are these doubts coming up in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet, and see that it is I myself. Feel me, and you will know, FOR A GHOST DOESN’T HAVE FLESH AND BONES, as you can see I have.” 40 He said this and showed them his hands and his feet. 41 They still could not believe, they were so full of joy and wonder; so he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of cooked fish, 43 which HE TOOK AND ATE IN THEIR PRESENCE. 44 Then he said to them, “These are the very things I told you about while I was still with you: everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the writings of the prophets, and the Psalms had to come true.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “This is what is written: the Messiah must suffer and must rise from death three days later, |
Prominently, Luke’s account tells us that Jesus was there to claim His dismayed disciples that He was not a ghost by saying “Peace be with you” and by eating with those disciples.” A ghost doesn’t have flesh and bones”, said Jesus. In any case, a ghost can’t eat. The idea of eating with the disciples was to demonstrate that He wasn’t a ghost
Jesus did not tell the believers peace from all the troubled, tribulations, and the unwanted world, as what the modern-day teaching like to claim. He said “Peace be with you” to claim the terrified disciples that He wasn’t a ghost.
From there, the story of miracle catches of fish unfolding in chapter 21 as below:
| John 21:2-11 GNT 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael (the one from Cana in Galilee), the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples of Jesus were all together. 3 Simon Peter said to the others, “I am going fishing.” “We will come with you,” they told him. So they went out in a boat, but all that night they did not catch a thing. 4 “As the sun was rising, Jesus stood at the water’s edge, but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Then he asked them, “Young men, haven’t you caught anything?” “Not a thing,” they answered. 6 He said to them, “Throw your net out on the RIGHT SIDE of the boat, and you will catch some.” So they threw the net out and COULD NOT PULL IT BACK in, because they had caught so many fish. 7 The DISCIPLE WHOM JESUS LOVED said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Peter heard that it was the Lord, he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken his clothes off) and jumped into the water. 8 The other disciples came to shore in the boat, pulling the net full of fish. They were not very far from land, about a hundred yards away. 9 When they stepped ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there with fish on it and some bread. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” 11 Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net ashore full of big fish, A HUNDRED AND FIFTY-THREE in all; even though there were so many, STILL THE NET DID NOT TEAR.” |
Indeed, this is not just a lovely but a marvelous, candid story. Jesus appeared to them a third to reinstate His identity and strengthen their faith. As a matter of fact, after appearing to them a second time, they had yet to revive their vision and mission of spreading His gospel. They setback to their old habit as fishermen rather than their call as fishers of men (Mark 1:17).
(B) RECEIVE GOD’S WORD WITH REVELATION
Nevertheless, I am very puzzled by some of the modern-day teachings. Among those, there is a teaching saying that believers need to “Receive God’s word with revelation (Let’s give a short name as RGWR)”.
The meaning of “RGWR ” is not the same as “Rhema Word”. It is not the same as God giving Spiritual revelation with certain insight, inspiration, vision, and dreams for upcoming events ahead either.
Rather, the “Receiving God’s Word with Revelation (RGWR)” focuses on certain words or verses in the bible to draw their meaning.
For instance, in John 21:4-11, the “RGWR” is citing 4 Revelation Words as below:-
- 1) Right Side
The “Right Side” is deemed as the key to the miraculous catch of fish (Verse 6). To RGWR, the right side speaks for God’s favor, honor, etc, they say. - 2) Empowerment
The appearance of Jesus empowered Peter to pull the net on the seashore (verse 11) that few strong guys couldn’t drag in the fishing net from the sea (Verse 6) - 3) 153
Not only that, the other Revelation Word for RGWR is “153 fishes”, in verse 11. To them, in Greek/ Hebrew, “153” represents:
# victory,
# I am God,
# I the God,
# wisdom, etc
- 4) The disciple whom Jesus loved
The next Revelation Word for RGWR is “The disciple whom Jesus loved” (verse 7).
It is a form of self-boosting and self-declaring the love of Jesus. Based on this verse, many teachings and believers are self-declaring that they are “THE DISCIPLE WHOM JESUS LOVED” among the Christian community.
(C) MY FINDINGS AND SUMMARY
In the light of seeking His truth, my study on this RGWR is as follows:-
(1) RIGHT-SIDE
Truly, there are quite many verses talking about the “Right Hand” in the bible. Some of the verses of “Right Hand” speak for God’s favour and honour”. But John 21 is talking about “Right SIDE”, not “Right HAND”.
And there aren’t any connecting elements on the “Right Side” as God’s favour or honor in the bible.
However, there is a similar or parallel event in the miraculous catches of fish in Luke 5: 1-6. The context in Luke 5:4-6 as follows:
| (Luke 5:4-6, NIV) 4 When He (Jesus) had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “PUT OUT INTO DEEP WATER, and let down the nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” 6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. “ |
Should we compare and contrast both scriptures in John 21 and Luke 5, we would find out that there are commonalities and differences between these two events, as below:
- There isn’t any mention of the “right side” in Luke’s story.
- In Luke 5, those people were not Jesus’s followers yet.
- Whereas, John 21, was about the downcast of Jesus’ earthly disciples after Jesus was crucified on the cross.
- There were miraculous catches of fish in both stories.
- In Luke 5, Jesus told the pre-disciples to “put out into deep water and let down the nets” (Verse 4).
- Whilst in John 21 verse 6, Jesus told His disciples “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.”
- With two different instructions given by Jesus, both stories resulted in miracle catches of fish.
- And in Luke 5, there wasn’t recorded the exact number of fish caught.
(2) 153
Neither do I comprehend Greek nor Hebrew. Thus, I can’t really explain the meaning of 153. However, I am skeptical about those explanations of the figurative of 153 as victorious, I am God, I the God or wisdom, etc. The Bible doesn’t show another 153 for further study and comparison.
Nevertheless, in Genesis 14:14, it is recorded that Abram rescued his nephew with 318 trained men. I don’t hear any consistent explanation of the meaning of 318 from those same group of bible teachers who teach 153. Thus, no comment.
On the other hand, it seems that Jews should be the ones demonstrating higher proficiency in the Hebrew language. But most of them have not come to know Jesus as their savior.
Since Jews can master the Hebrew language greater than any non-Jewish but have not come to know the Lord, is the bible originally written in Hebrew that important?
Furthermore, those bible teachers who come up with the explanation of 153 might not be able to communicate and command the Hebrew language in day-to-day conversation. Can they teach the Hebrew language correctly?
Besides, many scholars are saying that there are differences between modern Hebrew and ancient (Biblical) Hebrew. It is just like modern English versus ancient English. There were drastic differences between the two in terms of grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and spelling.
Hence, I can only say that the bible is very precise in small detail. Even the exact number of 153 fish being caught and 318 trained men are being recorded.
(3) THE DISCIPLE WHOM JESUS LOVED
Should we continue the story in John 21:15-19, we would notice that Jesus appeared to Peter first after the miraculous catch of 153 fishes. Importantly, Jesus did not appear to the “disciple whom Jesus loved” first. And Jesus appointed Peter as the chief of those disciples. Not John.
The point here is, we can self-declare or proclaim “I am the disciple whom Jesus loved”. But Jesus did not appoint John as the chief. Three times, Jesus did not entrust His sheep/ lamb to “THE DISCIPLE WHOM JESUS LOVED”. In life, usually, we entrust important tasks to our closest friend, especially as the will’s executor or an administrator.
And the resurrected Jesus could be so different bodily that all His disciples and Mary Magdalene can’t recognize Him. That includes “The disciple whom Jesus loved.”
When Peter knew it was Jesus, he was the first to react and jump into the sea and not John… “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” That speaks for his heart for Jesus rather than John.
(4) EMPOWERMENT
Physics would suggest that it is easier to drag a fishing net on the seashore than in the sea that is subject to gravity force and sea tiding. It is not the appearance of Jesus that empowered Peter with physical strength per se.
(D) CONCLUSION
I believe it is not the “Right Side” or left side that is paramount in life. The most important thing in life is to hear the instructions from Jesus and the Holy Spirit. They know where the fish are in the river and ocean.
The Holy Spirit might be revealing and asking individuals to move into the “Right side” or “launch their vessel into the deeper ocean.” Similarly, the Holy Spirit might want individuals to switch careers, change ministry, or relocate to another country. Pure obedience to His instructions is the key to success. I pray that I will take heed and be attentive to His calling.
In conclusion, I believe the “Receiving God’s Word with Revelation (RGWR)” teaching alters the meaning of John 20 and 21. At least, it does not portray these two chapters of scripture rightly.
I would describe John 20 and 21 as Jesus’ appearance to those eye-witnessed disciples:-
– to reinstate His identity,
– strengthen the disciples’ faith,
– focus on His written word and
– urging them to continue spreading His gospel on the earth.
Those disciples were with Jesus physically for 3 ½ years, but they weren’t recognized His way from the bible. Much more can happen to new covenant believers. We can be very familiar with the stories but without knowing the Savior’s heart. I pray that may the Lord unveils my and our eyes to Him from the written word.
Last but not least, it is good to check the biblical meaning by reading the bible, chapter by chapter; verse by verse on the whole portion of the entire message rather than trying to draw His truth with just a few so-called Revelation Words.
Jesus always spent time in His earthly ministry alone with God the Father was an example for believers. Private devotion to Jesus and the Holy Spirit is paramount as a Christian. Hear Him daily.
We all want the presence of the Lord to help us, prosper us, and guide us. But altering the biblical meaning by replacing it with a few so-called Revelation Words might be diluting His truth. Amenbible
READ:
BELIEVE AND THE GOSPEL
WORTHY LIVING
3 JOHN (PROSPER IN ALL THINGS)
ONE FIFTH MUCH MORE RESTORATION
TOP POSTS:-
As He Is, So Are We In This World
See Jesus: (1 Corinthians 10)
End Times:- The Book Of Life Opens
Arise, Shine
OTHERS:-
Full Armor Of God Part 1
Full Armor Of God – Part 2
FULL ARMOR OF GOD – PART 3
Golden Calf (Intercession 1)
Golden Calf (Names Remove)
