153 means “sons of God John 21:1-14, “153 fish were hauled in”
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!
Today’s scripture comes from John 21:1-14, about Jesus appearing again to his disciples in Galilee after His resurrection.
Many people thought his disciples had gone back to Galilee and fishing because they despaired and lost the meaning and purpose in life since Jesus was no longer with them. However, if we study the scripture, the real reason for Jesus’ disciples returning to Galilee was that they were instructed to go there. In all three gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we find, “He is going ahead of you to Galilee, there you will see him.” Even before his crucifixion, Jesus told them, “After I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.” (Matthew 26:32).
As we can see, they were given the specific instruction to go to the mountain in Galilee to meet him up there, which is found in Matthew 28:16. Although the name of the mountain in Galilee was not mentioned in the Bible, we can assume that it was the mountain where they used to go away from the crowd, -to pray, to discuss, to learn-, and where the transfiguration of Jesus occurred. It is Mount Tabor, located in the lower valley in Galilee.
A couple of things should be mentioned before we get to the text. Going to Galilee was important not just because Galilee was the center of Jesus’ ministry with his disciples. In Jesus’ time, there was a belief that the departed soul hovered around the tomb for several days after death. In this context, the disciples might have thought that the ghost of Jesus appeared to them. After all, Jesus appeared to them without opening the door. When the door was locked, Jesus appeared and stood before them. Does that make sense now that Jesus took the time to eat with his disciples after the resurrection and meeting Thomas’ demand to see the marks of his wounds? If it were just a ghost, the ghost would not eat as a living person would eat, nor would it have the marks of fresh wounds.
In this context, going to Galilee with the purpose of meeting Jesus was an act of faith, believing that Jesus, who appeared to them, was not a ghost; if they were to meet Jesus in Galilee again, it would not be a ghost or a phantom but a real person. Furthermore, no one could say that the disciples saw only a ghost of Jesus hovering around His tomb near Jerusalem.
Every move we make in life takes faith to be a victor, meeting Jesus wherever we are. Without faith, we cannot meet Jesus. Would Jesus be here in this remote place at the hospital where I am now, people question. When I visited Fred Kahler at the rehab in Carlinville with Janice before he passed on, he burst into tears when I mentioned that Jesus would never leave or forsake him. He felt so alone there. The day before his death, when I visited him at Gillespie nursing home, he wanted many church people to visit him. A hospital or nursing home is a lonely place; it is difficult to feel that anyone cares for them. Many people question: Would Jesus be here in my empty marriage? Would Jesus be here when I struggle financially? Would Jesus be here, where I feel so alone and abandoned? Would Jesus be here, where I have to deal with the perpetrator who molested my child? To meet Jesus wherever we are, we must know that Jesus is real, not a ghost, whom we can meet in our real situation. Otherwise, we cannot go to Galilee, we cannot call upon Jesus, who can come to rescue us.
In our text today, we see that Jesus’ disciples returned to Galilee to meet Jesus. However, since they did not know exactly when Jesus would be there, they might have been just waiting and tired of it. They decided to go fishing following Peter, vs. 3. Instead of waiting at the mountain where they were told to be, in Matt. 28:16, they came down from the mountain and went fishing, doing their own thing, their old thing.
Jesus told them to return to Galilee, perhaps encouraging them to do what they had learned, experienced, and trained by Him. Jesus might have wanted them to leave the tomb and continue doing what He had taught them. On the mountain, they could at least pray, meditate, and discuss the word of God as they used to, but instead, they went fishing, their old job. The result? All night long, they caught nothing.
Sometimes we must wait upon the Lord, no matter how long it takes, not giving up. But we are getting impatient with the long silence of God, and we resolve to do our own thing, which often fails, or leads to a total disaster. Abraham and Sarah couldn’t wait any longer after they had waited ten years for a promised heir. They devised their own plan to have a child through Sarah’s servant Hagar, and later kicked them out when Sarah finally had Isaac. The current Middle Eastern conflicts are basically between the descendants of Ishmael and Isaac, the children of Abraham. If we have been praying for our family members who are lost or for deliverance from addictions to drugs or alcohol, and depression, let’s not give up on waiting. God will answer our prayers, honoring our long wait for God to act.
To his disciples who, instead of waiting, went out for fishing all night long, catching no fish at all, Jesus commanded them in vs. 6, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat!”
His disciples had been fishing, throwing their net on the left side of the boat and catching nothing, and Jesus commanded them to throw their net on the right side. What does it signify? The word left comes from the Latin word, which means “sinister,” “evil,” or “harmful.”
When the Bible uses the word “left” to describe the left side of the body, it refers to the material world and things that are not spiritual. Conversely, the “right” side of the body describes the spiritual aspect of things and those spiritually awakened or enlightened in God. For example:
In Exodus 29, when they ordained the high priest, they put the ram’s blood on the tip of their right ear, thumb, and the toe of the right foot, representing being anointed with spiritual understanding and guidance.
In Matthew 25, Jesus separated the sheep from the goats, setting the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
In Matthew 6, when people give alms, they should not let their left hand know what their right hand does, meaning when we do something from our heart (the right), do not let the left hand, the world, know what we did.
In this light, when those disciples were fishing in the world, on the left side, they caught nothing regardless of how hard and how long they had tried. They had to change their direction to be fruitful. They heard Jesus say, “Throw your net on the right side of your boat,” and when they obeyed. They caught 153 fish.
Likewise, if we do our own things in the world, living sinful, material, and evil ways, our net will be empty; no matter how hard and long we try, we will come to our empty net. We yell and scream, trying to bring some semblance of order to our home, but it doesn’t seem to work. Our question should be, then, is Jesus the head of our household? The joy and happiness we had when we first married, but now it seems like the well of happiness has dried up. No matter what we try, there are no feelings, no joy. Then our question should be, is Jesus between us and our spouse? We work hard and for long hours, but no money is left in our bank account. Things constantly happen, draining our funds. Our question should be, do we give tithes and thanksgiving offerings? Perhaps, it is time for us to examine our lives, whether we are fishing on the left side of the boat, the way of the world, sinful, material, and evil ways that God does not approve of.
The good news is, Jesus is right there and guides us. “Throw your net to the right side of the boat.” To us, who have left the mountain where we were supposed to wait upon the Lord, doing the old sinful things, Jesus guides us to change our direction. “Throw your net to the right side!” It is time for you to try me, my way. Why don’t you let me into your life, following my lead, then you will have abundance, full of joy and happiness. God will be yours!!
Do we hear Jesus’ voice to change our direction in life, then let us obey to find our net full.
Jesus’ disciple caught 153 fish! The Hebrew alphabet has numerical values corresponding to each letter. According to this, 153 means “sons of God.” They caught 153 fish, “sons of God”! When they obeyed Jesus, their life bore heavenly fruit, fishing “sons of God.” If we do not catch ‘sons and daughters of God’ in our lives, we might want to examine ourselves to see if we are in the spiritual realm of God, connected to God, and whether we are still fishing on the left side of the boat. Jesus, the way, the truth, and the life, says to us, “Throw your net to the right side of the boat!” Amen!
