After this, Jesus again appeared to His disciples by the Sea of Tiberias. And he appeared thus: Simon Peter and Thomas, who is called the Twin, and Nathanael of Cana of Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, "I am going to fish." They said to him, "We are also going with you." They went and immediately entered the boat, and caught nothing that night. And when morning came, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, "Children! Do you have any food? They answered Him, No. And he said to them, "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and catch it." They threw in and could no longer pull out the nets from the multitude of fish. Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "This is the Lord." And when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girded himself with a garment (for he was naked), and threw himself into the sea. And the other disciples sailed in a boat (for they were not far from the land, about two hundred cubits), dragging a net with fish. 

With the words: "Jesus appeared," the Evangelist expresses the idea that if He had not willed and had not revealed Himself out of condescension, then with an incorruptible body He would not have been visible. Why did he mention the place of the Sea of Tiberias? In order to show that they no longer feared the Jews as much as before, but rejected great fear. They no longer sat shut themselves up, but went out of the house, which they had not dared to do before, and went about everywhere, so that they came to Tiberias, which is not a short distance from Jerusalem. This is a sea in Galilee. "The disciples fished because they had nothing else to do. Jesus himself was not constantly with them, the Spirit had not yet been given to them, and the teaching was not finally entrusted to them; wherefore they took up their former trade. Peter, being very active, cannot remain idle, but ardently strives for the cause, and the others follow him, because they were no longer separated from each other. - Appearing to them when they were toiling and weary, He does not immediately reveal Himself, but first wants to enter into conversation with them. As if wishing to buy something from them, he asks: "Children, do you have anything to eat?" And when they replied that they did not, and at His command, they cast their net on the right side of the boat and received their catch, then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "This is the Lord." Here again we find an indication of the peculiarities in the disciples: John was more perceptive, and Peter was more ardent. Therefore, John was the first to recognize the Lord, and Peter was the first to hasten to Him. By girding himself, Peter showed his respect for Jesus, and throwing himself into the sea, he showed his love. For he did not hold out like the others, but began to swim, although they were about two hundred cubits from the shore. "Ependitis" (Slavonic "ependit", Russian "clothes") is a garment made of linen, with which the Phoenician and Syrian fishermen gird themselves, either on the naked body, or over the clothes, simply to say how painters depict the apostles girded over their clothes. Since Peter was naked when he was fishing, he girded himself with an ependite out of respect (for this is meant girdle), and was the first to hasten to the Lord. This is not a small event, but it is important, because a lot of fish were caught, and then the net did not break.

     When they came to the ground, they saw a fire spread out and fish and bread lying on it. Jesus said to them, "Bring the fish that you have now caught." Simon Peter went and pulled out a net on the ground, filled with large fish, of which there were one hundred and fifty-three; And with such a multitude, the net did not break. Jesus said to them, "Come, dine." None of the disciples dared to ask Him, "Who art thou?" knowing that it is the Lord. Jesus comes, takes bread and gives them fish as well. This was the third time Jesus appeared to His disciples after His resurrection from the dead. 

Coals, fish, and bread, which the disciples now see, also constitute a miracle. For He did not feed so many people with them from a ready-made substance, as before in the wilderness, with five loaves of bread (John 6:9-12) and two fishes, but simply, out of nothing. When the Lord said, "Come, dine," no one asks or dares to ask. They no longer had the courage they had before, but in silence and with fear they were amazed at Him; they knew that it was the Lord, so they did not ask. Seeing that His image had changed and was filled with amazing majesty, they were greatly amazed. At least they would have liked to ask about it, but the fear in the consciousness that it was no other than Him, kept them from asking, and they only ate what He had created for them. How did He create? With full power. For He no longer looks to heaven and does not call upon the Father, for this was then done out of condescension. He commands them to bring the fish they caught, in order to show that what they saw was not a ghost. It is not said here that He ate with them, but Luke says that He ate together (Luke 24:30, 43). How He ate we cannot explain, for it happened in an extraordinary way, not because His nature needed food, but it was a matter of condescension, to prove the resurrection. The Evangelist says: "This is the third time He has appeared," and by this He shows that He did not treat them constantly and not as before. "Understand this, perhaps, in a contemplative sense: when the darkness of idolatry prevailed; It was night then. The prophets who worked then, until the appearance of Christ the Sun, caught nothing. Though they seem to have one of the people of Israel in their net, yet as they often fell into idolatry, they may be said to have caught nothing. But when the Sun of righteousness has shone in the morning, and the apostolic snare has been spread, the doctrine which is truly right, in comparison with which the law and the prophets are represented as the left-hand side, then this net is pulled out, and not only the Gentiles, who may be called "a hundred," but also the Israelites, who may be understood by "fifty," are brought to Christ. For when the fullness of the Gentiles shall enter, then Israel also shall be saved (Rom. 11:25, 26). Three fish mean faith in the Holy Trinity. For the hundred and fifty, that is, the Gentiles and the Jews, are not caught without three, for without faith in the Trinity no one is called caught. The commandment: "Come, dine" serves as a hint that the saints receive peace, contentment and pleasure after their labors. For everything that was then done or said is full of mystery. For example, the fact that Mary considered Him to be a gardener is apparently simple, but there is also something hidden in it. For He was indeed the true worker of the garden, in the garden of the sepulchre, as in paradise, correcting the female race, and converting the first gardener, Adam, from deception and unbelief. For the conversion of Mary and the doctrine of the resurrection indicate that the feminine gender is converted and raised to perfection.

     And it came to pass, when they were at dinner, that Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon Jonah! Do you love Me more than they do? Peter said to Him, "So. God! You know I love You. Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs." Again he said to him another time: Simon Jonah! Do you love Me? Peter said to Him, "Yes, Lord! You know I love You. Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep." He said to him for the third time: Simon Jonah! Do you love Me? Peter was grieved that he had asked him for the third time, "Do you love me?" And he said to Him, Lord! You know everything; You know I love You. Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep." Verily, verily, I say unto thee, when thou wast young, thou didst gird thyself and went whither thou wilt; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you up and lead you whither you do not want to. And he said this, giving to understand by what death Peter would glorify God. 

Since the meal had His purpose, He entrusts to Peter the care of the sheep of the whole world, entrusting the care to none other than him, first, because He was the chosen one of all and was the mouth of all the Apostles; Then, in order to show that he must have boldness, since his renunciation has been erased. He does not remember the renunciation, does not blame it for it, but says: if you love Me, take care of your brethren and now prove that ardent love for Me, of which you said that you were ready to die for Me. He asks him three times, partly in order to show that He cares so much for believers and loves His sheep so much, that caring for His sheep is a sign of love for Himself; In part, by threefold questioning and confession, he heals the threefold renunciation, and with words corrects the fall that was in words. From then on, there was a custom - from those wishing to be baptized, they demanded a triple confession. After the first and second questions, Peter calls Himself as a witness, Who knows hearts; he no longer relies on himself, does not answer in haste, but each time he adds: "You know." When Peter was questioned for the third time, he was troubled whether he was not mistakenly thinking of himself that he loved, while perhaps in fact he did not love, because he had already thought much about himself and his strength, but the consequences refuted him. And now he was afraid of the same thing. That is why he answers with reverence: "Lord! You know everything", both present and future; Thou knowest that I love Thee now, as it seems to me, but whether my love will endure for a time to come, Thou knowest, and I do not stand up for myself. The Lord, having told Peter about his love for Himself, also foretells him about the torment that he will endure. He says this in order to show that if He asks him about love, He asks not out of distrust of him, but out of confidence that he loves, for how can he not love who will be martyred for Him? He asked in order to reveal the love of Peter himself and to teach all the others that if we wish to love Him, we must prove our love for Him by caring for the brethren. How does martyrdom foretell him? Listen. "When you were young, you girded yourself," and so on. Since, he says, thou lovest Me, and hast more than once promised to lay down thy life for Me in danger, be calm; I will grant your wish, so that what you did not suffer in your youth, you will endure in your old age. He reminds him of his former life, in order to show that the spiritual and the carnal are in an inverse relationship. In the affairs of life the young are useful, and the old are useless; In spiritual matters, on the contrary, podvig is more brilliant when old age comes. He says this in order to arouse his love and inflame him to martyrdom. He also hints to him that he too will be crucified. For the words: "Thou shalt stretch out thy hands, and another shall gird up," indicate nothing else but the prostrate on the cross and the bonds. With the words, "When thou wast young," and again, "And when thou art old," he shows that Peter was then neither young nor old, but a perfect man. Why did the Lord tell him that "another will gird you up and lead you whither you do not want"? Although Peter desired martyrdom, and he ardently desired it, the words of the Lord indicate the sympathy of our nature for life and the fact that the soul is reluctant to be separated from the body. For God has arranged it in this way, and has arranged it for good, that we should not kill ourselves. For this reason, no one, even if he be holy, lays aside the body impassibly. The Evangelist, according to his custom, adds in explanation of the words: "And he said this, giving to understand by what death Peter would glorify God." Jesus, he says, said to Peter, "Thou shalt stretch out thy hands," and so forth, to understand that he would suffer punishment for Him. He calls Peter's death the glory of God, because suffering for Him unto death is truly the glory of God. For if the soul is not fully convinced that He is the true God, then man will not die for Him. And therefore the death of the saints is a confirmation of the glory of God. Another, perhaps, will find a difference between the names: "lambs" and "sheep", between the words: "feed" and "feed". By "lambs" is perhaps meant beginners, and by "sheep" are more perfect. Thus, whoever loves Christ must have care for the lambs and the sheep, must "feed" the lambs, that is, have a simpler supervision over them, and "feed" the sheep, which indicates a higher leadership. Sometimes, however, even the most perfect need tender care, and the stewards of the sheep must feed them. "To shepherd" expresses a stricter supervision, and "to nourish" is more gentle. What then shall we render to the Lord, Who has so loved us that He has made it a sign of love for Himself to care for His sheep?

     And having said this, he said to him, "Follow me." And Peter, turning, saw the disciple coming after him, whom Jesus loved, and who at supper, bowing down to His breast, said: Lord! who will betray you? When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord! And what about him? Jesus said to him, "If I want him to remain until I come, what does it matter to you?" thou shalt follow me. And this word spread among the brethren, that the disciple would not die; but Jesus did not tell him that he would not die, but, "If I want him to remain until I come, what does it matter to you?"