Topic(s): Faith, God's Will

Bob Prichard

After the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, the disciples did not know what to do with themselves. Even though Jesus had appeared several times to them, they had not begun their ministry of establishing the church and evangelizing the world. They decided to go fishing, and after a night of unsuccessful fishing, the Lord appeared unrecognized on the seashore. “And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes” (John 21:6). With this great catch, they realized it was Jesus. When “Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken” (John 21:11).

This catch of exactly 153 great fishes has been the subject of much speculation. Cyril of Alexandria, a fifth century theologian, suggested that in the number “153,” “100” stands for the fullness of the Gentiles in the church, “50” stands for the remnant of the Jews, and “3” represents the trinity. Others have suggested that the ancient world thought that there were 153 different kinds of fishes, so that this miraculous catch of 153 fishes could stand for the universal appeal of the gospel to all men.

The number 153 holds special interest, because it is what mathematicians call a triangular number. The number 153 is equal to the sum of the digits 1 to 17. Thus the number 153 can be represented by a triangle of 153 dots, with 17 dots on each side. This lead Augustine to suggest that the number 17 within 153 is special, with “10” representing the law, “7” representing grace, and thus “17” representing all who are saved by divine grace. Another mathematical curiosity about the number 153 is that the digits 1, 5, and 3, when cubed and added together totals 153.

Undoubtedly, some numbers in the Bible have symbolic meaning. There are numbers of perfection, such as 12 (12 apostles, 12 tribes, 12 elders on 12 thrones in heaven), and 7 (7 days in a week, 7 churches of Asia in the book of Revelation). It not the case, however, that all numbers in the Bible have symbolic significance. That is more than likely the case here concerning the number of fish caught. It just so happens that the disciples caught exactly 153 great fishes.

It was the normal thing for the disciples to count the number of fish they had caught. They needed to divide the fish among the seven disciples present. Since this was a miraculous catch, with so many great fishes that they would have expected the nets to break, it is natural that they would remember the exact number caught. John includes this otherwise unimportant fact, the exact number of fishes caught, because of his attention to detail. John was an eyewitness to the life and ministry of Christ. In John 21:8, he says that the disciples “were not far from the land, but as it were two hundred cubits,” indicating his attention to detail. In John 2:6, he records that there were six waterpots at the marriage feast of Cana, another eyewitness detail like the 153 great fishes.