10  ^th Resurrection Gospel

(John 21:1-14)

After these things Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise shewed he himself. There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing. But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No. 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. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher’s coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea. And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes. As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught. 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. Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise. This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead.

          People such as fishermen struggle to find themselves sustenance in an ever-fluctuating battle with the elements.  Night is all around them.  Their work is in vain, their efforts are futile, there are no fruits of life.  However, at dawn, the Savior’s outline appears on solid ground.  One could put it another way:  the Savior’s outline brings the dawn.  Having come to help people, Christ first strikes up a conversation with the world: do you, the world, have any food?  No, reply the people.  Throughout the night of our history, we have struggled, but have caught nothing.  We do not have the Truth.  And the people do not even suspect that they are responding to Incarnate God regarding the purpose of His coming.  After the world has confessed the barrenness of its life, Christ, speaking from that same spot, from that figure in the distance, says:  Cast the nets on the right side of your boat, of your human valuables; on the right, on the side of the right, of the truth.  The people cast the nets, and were unable to pull them up for the multitude of fish. The world had only to obey Christ’s direction but a little, and immediately the earth began to fill with the fruits of the Holy Spirit, with that great holiness that it is so difficult for the world to bear.  A night of fruitless human efforts on the sea of life, and in one minute of obedience to Christ, one minute of Christ’s grace is filled with marvelous fruits! “Without Me ye can do nothing.”  The faithful immediately recognize Christ.  The Giver is recognized by his fruits.  “It is the Lord,” says John to Peter, and Peter throws himself into the sea, leaving everyone and everything in order to have one minute more to spend with Christ.  Peter acts as did Mary, Lazarus’ sister, who, leaving everything, hurries to feel the joy of seeing Christ’s most sweet visage...  Christ does not command us all to leave everything upon seeing Him. We, along with the rest of the disciples, can come to Christ in the boat, dragging behind us the net containing our catch.  And  that is worthy discipleship to Christ: To do good works in life through Christ’s power, and to go to Christ, to sail to Him and to bring the net of our labors to the shore of the eternal harbor which shines toward us from not far away.

Archbishop John (Shakhovskoy)