CHAPTER XXI

Verse 1. Wherefore Jesus appeared to His disciples (having risen from the dead) on the sea of Tiberias... 4 After His Resurrection, Jesus Christ was not with His disciples constantly, as before, but appeared to them only from time to time. The expression "appeared" and others like it show that Jesus Christ, by the nature of His already incorruptible body, was invisible to ordinary eyes, but only by His condescension and by the special purposes of God's Economy He was sometimes visible. The sea mentioned here was in Galilee, where the disciples went, again encouraged in spirit.

Verse 1... And when it appeared... 5 As the Evangelist goes on to say.

Verses 2-3. And Simon Peter, and Thomas, who is called the Twin, and Nathanael, who was of Cana of Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, "I am going to fish." And he said to him, "Let us also go with thee..." 6 Since the Saviour was no longer constantly with the disciples, and the other Comforter had not yet come, and the preaching had not yet been fully entrusted to them, they had nothing to do, and turned to their former occupation, and engaged in fishing, but not for selfish purposes, as before.

Verse 3... And he went out and went out into a ship...,1 which belonged to Peter, or to the sons of Zebedee, or to someone he knew.

Verse 3... and that night there was nothing... 2 This happened according to the dispensation of God, as will be said later. Probably, says Chrysostom, the rest of the disciples followed them along the dry path as spectators, in order to occupy idle time, and spent the night with them.

Verse 4. And in the morning, Jesus stood by the breeze: but we did not know the disciple, for Jesus exists.3 Perhaps the appearance of His incorruptible body appeared in greater splendor than before, or He was not recognized by the disciples by the special will of God.

Verse 5. And Jesus said to them, Children, eat what you eat?.. 4 He called the disciples children (παιδια), using the usual name of laborers, and he called them so because they were now in the prime of life and full of strength for the labors that lay ahead of them. Jesus Christ speaks to them as if He wants to buy something from them.

Verses 5-6. He answered Him, "No." And he said to them, "Cast in the right hand of the ship, and ye shall find..." 5 The disciples did not yet know that this was Jesus Christ, although they should have known: how could an ordinary person know that if they cast a net on the right side of the boat, they would catch? Jesus Christ definitely instructed to cast the net on the right side, so that the fishing would not seem accidental.

Verse 6... And he was plunged... 6 (Immediately the disciples obeyed, either because they assumed that the one who spoke to them knew by some sign that a fish was swimming in this particular place, or because they themselves might have seen that it had already rushed there.)

Verse 6... And therefore thou canst not draw it away from the multitude of fishes.7 In the absence of the Saviour, the disciples caught nothing, but in His presence they caught a net of many fishes, so that we might know that without Him we do nothing useful, but with Him we do very much. Therefore, in obedience to the commandments of the Saviour, we must work and remember the right side, because this side is praiseworthy (Find in the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Luke the passage where it says: "And James and John the son of Zebedee, who is the best of Simon's promise" (Luke 5:10),8 etc., and read the interpretation of this passage. which also goes to these words).

Verse 7. And the disciple of that disciple, whom Jesus loved, said to Peter, "The Lord is..."9 concluding from the successful fishing and from the fact that as if by His command such a multitude of fish were gathered in one place.

Verse 7... But Simon Peter, hearing that the Lord was, girded himself with an ependite, for he was naked, and was cast into the sea.10 John was more perceptive because of the greatness of his purity, and Peter was more ardent because of the fervor of love. Therefore, John recognizes Jesus Christ before Peter, but Peter comes to Him before John. As soon as Peter heard that this was the Lord, he immediately threw down everything that he had in his hands, and without waiting for the ship to approach the shore, he threw himself into the sea in order to come to Him as soon as possible. Ependite was a sleeveless linen garment that covered the body up to the knees. It was usually used by fishermen for the sake of convenience and decency. Peter was naked, i.e. he had no other clothes on him, but only one ependite and even then not girded; it was quite unseemly to be completely naked. Now, girded himself, he expressed his reverence for Jesus Christ.

Verse 8. And the friends of the apprentice came by ship, not far from the land, but like two steles of fish, dragging the fish to death.1 They sailed up, dragging the ropes with the help of which the net was pulled.