Gone Fishing by Ryan Neer

Описание: The meaning of the number 153 centers around the New Testament event sometimes referred to as the miraculous draught or catch of fishes (John 21:1 - 11). It is only mentioned in the Gospel of John.

This amazing miracle involving 153 was performed by Jesus, after his resurrection from the dead, in his next to last appearance with his eleven disciples before ascending into heaven. By understanding what led up to this miracle of fishes we can gain a broader perspective of what the number 153 represents.

After his resurrection Christ appeared a number of times to his innermost circle of eleven disciples. He first showed himself alive to all the disciples, except Thomas, on the Sunday night after his resurrection (John 20:19 - 24). Eight days later he met with the disciples when Thomas was present (John 20:26 - 29).

An unknown period of time later he met with all the apostles at the appointed mountain in Galilee (Matthew 28:16 - 17). It was sometime after this meeting in Galilee, but before Christ's ascension on May 18th, that the miracle of 153 fishes occurred.

One day Peter decided he wanted to go back to his pre-conversion job of being a fisherman (John 21:2 - 3). Upon hearing his plans several of the other disciples (Thomas, Nathanael, James, John and two unnamed disciples) went with him to fish on the Sea of Tiberias (Sea of Galilee). The men fish for an entire night and catch nothing.

In the morning, a man on the shore (they did not know it was Jesus) yells to them and asks if they caught anything. They answer no. They are then told to drop their net on the right side of the ship. When they try to bring the net out of the water it is so FULL of fish that it requires being dragged to the shore! The disciples now realize it was Jesus talking to them. On shore, Peter counts a total number of 153 'great fish' in the net.

Symbolizing abundance, 153 can even represent an OVERFLOW blessing from God. The Bible states the disciples marvelled at the fact that their net held together even though it contained so many large fish (John 21:11)!

Additionally, the catching of 153 fish happened only after Christ became involved in the work. This is a subtle (or perhaps not so subtle!) reminder that without Christ the disciples' (and any believer's) attempts to accomplish something great on their own will fail, but that with Jesus all things are possible (John 15:5).