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Jesus appears to his disciples as they are fishing.
Talibus orantem Deus, et lux ipsa reliquit,-------
nunc hos, nunc adiens alios, et pectora firmans.
Nec priùs evasit mundi mortalibus oris,
quàm quater exoriens dena sol luce rediret. [595]
Fortè igitur Petrus et socii vada salsa secabant
remigiis lembum subigentes, dum sibi victum
arte parant solita, piscesque in gurgite captant.
Et iam per totam vano, quam longa! labore
defessi noctem frustra madefacta legebant [600]
retia; cùm iuvenem egregium videre liquentes
fluctifrago tractus è littore prospectantem:
nec primò agnovere Deum, divinaque membra,
quandoquidem se mortali celaverat ore.
Ipse dehinc tali compellans voce natantes: [605]
“Dextram, ait, affectate, viri: hùc appellite puppim:
hàc dabitur vanum non effudisse laborem.”
Nec mora, praeceptis parent, dextraque per undas
detorquent alacres cursum, nodosaque lina
proiiciunt : moti sonuit plaga cœrula ponti. [610]
Iamque senex tacito sociis Petrus innuit ore,
auxilioque vocat nutuque manuque silentes,
significans praedam innumeram: vix retia cuncti
plena trahunt: capti saliunt per vincula pisces.
Sensit loannes hic numen, et: “Heus,” prior inquit, [615]
“o socii, non fallor, adest Deus, ille magister,
ille quidem: agnoseo divinos oris honores.
Laetitiam ut iactat vultuque oculisque decoris!”
Quod simul accepit Petrus, haud cunctatus, ab ipo
desiliit rate, et aequoreas se iecit in undas, [620]
quò regem, salsos per fluctus, primus adiret,
quamvis multa timens, gliscentibus aequore ventis.
Cetera deinde manus terrae advertuntur, et omnes
remivaga siccum cupidi tenuere carina.
Tum victu ut vires revocent, cerealia mensis [625]
dona onerant iussi; vivosque in littore pisces
unà omnes torrere parant, succensaque pruna
suggeritur circùm: teter petit aethera nidor.
After he had spoken, God and the light passed-------
now to one, now another, firming their souls.
Nor did He depart the world's mortal shores,
until the sun had risen and set forty times. [595]
Later, Peter and his crew braved the brine
rowing their boat, providing themselves with food
in their usual manner by fishing in the deep.
Long labour had brought them nothing, through
the night, exhausted and soaking—empty [600]
nets. Then they saw a resplendent young man
on the shore, gazing across the clear waves.
At first they did not recognise the god
since he’d hidden his divinity in mortal form.
But his voice came booming across to them: [605]
“Steer right,” he said, “take your boat over there:
In that place you will not labour in vain.”
Without delay they obeyed, going right through
the waves briskly, tossing their knotted ropes
with a splash into the sky-blue, restless sea. [610]
Now aged Peter nodded to his comrades
in silence, gesturing with his quiet hands
that they should all draw up the nets—hard work!
They were so full, trapped fish wriggling free.
John sensed the numinous: “Listen,” he said, [615]
“Comrades! If I’m not wrong, God, our master,
is here, now: I recognize his divinity!
What joy shines from his beautiful face and eyes!”
As soon as Peter heard, without delay
he leapt straight into the ocean waves, wanting [620]
to be the first to swim across to the king,
though fearful of the winds that stirred the sea.
The others turned their skiff towards the shore
oaring their boat towards the dry land.
Then they readied their meal by heaping bread [625]
onto tables, and preparing the fish they’d caught
to be grilled over burning charcoal—the
strong odour wafted its way up to heaven.
This episode is from John:
After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself: Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.”The unusually specific number of fish caught, 153, goes unmentioned by Vida, although it has excited theologians.
They said to him, “We are going with you also.” They went out and [a]immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing. But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Then Jesus said to them, “Children, have you any food?”
They answered Him, “No.”
And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish.
Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it), and plunged into the sea. But the other disciples came in the little boat (for they were not far from land, but about two hundred cubits), dragging the net with fish. Then, as soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have just caught.”
Simon Peter went up and dragged the net to land, full of large fish, one hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not broken. Jesus said to them, “Come and eat breakfast.” Yet none of the disciples dared ask Him, “Who are You?”—knowing that it was the Lord. 1Jesus then came and took the bread and gave it to them, and likewise the fish. This is now the third time Jesus showed Himself to His disciples after He was raised from the dead. [John 21:1-14]
Scholars have long wondered whether the 153 great fishes in John 21:11 are to be taken for just that, 153 good-sized fishes, or whether the number 153 carries some other, special significance. If the latter, perhaps we shall never know with certainty what this special significance is, since the biblical writer cleverly concealed it from outsiders. Un- fortunately, with the passage of time, he has managed to exclude insiders as well. Christians, too, have completely missed 153's meaning, but, undeterred, they have employed great imaginative powers in various exegetical endeavors to rediscover the number's meaning. [Neil J. McEleney ‘153 Great Fishes (John 21,11)’, Biblica 58:3 (1977), 411]Theories include the observation that 153 is a ‘triangular number’, and that ancient authorities identified 153 distinct types of fish in the rivers and seas of the world (this apparently goes back to Oppian—a poet writing 150 years after the Gospels were composed, so either he was referencing a much older, now lost other authority or else this is mere coincidence).
McEleney thinks the number is a cypher, which is a pleasantly Da Vinci Code/Imitation Game-y way of approaching the matter. He concludes that John is deliberately concealing the divine name of Christ behind the 153—although why the evangelist should feel the need to conceal something that is all over his narrative anyway is something of a puzzle to me.
Click to embiggen. ‘References to aspects of the miracle,’ says Wikipedia, ‘or to the general idea of being "fishers of men," can sometimes be recognised by uses of the number 153. For example, St Paul's School in London was founded in 1512 by John Colet to teach 153 poor men's children: although the school is now considerably larger, it still has 153 Foundation Scholars, who since the 19th century have worn a fish emblem on their watch-chains, or, more recently, in their button-holes.’
At top of the post: Raphael's 1515 painting of the miraculous draught of fishes.
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It's manifestly a dozen each for the disciples plus a three-quarter serving (nine) for Jesus as he's not all there.
ReplyDeleteMakes sense.
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