I am continuing here from my previous column, “I Go a Fishing,” with the rest of chapter 21 of Saint John.
After the Apostles had caught so many fish, they tied the net and moored the boat. Meanwhile, as I wrote in my last column, Jesus had been waiting on the shore roasting the one fish. Then, Peter left Him to return to the boat. I don’t know what to make of this. Saint Gregory says that Peter alone hauled in the catch of so many fish, thus symbolizing that he as the visible head of the Church and Prince of Apostles would be in charge of bringing all men, Jews and gentiles, into the Church. That being said, all of those other Apostles mentioned probably helped Peter bring in the heavy net.
Who were these others? Thomas is mentioned first, then Nathanael, whose Greek name is Bartholomew, which name in Greek means “son of Ptolemy.” No doubt he was a nobleman. We also know from the Gospel of John that Nathanael of Cana was a friend of the Apostle Philip, who was a friend of Peter, all of them being disciples of John the Baptist. The sons of Zebedee are mentioned as well and two other unnamed disciples. The number of fish were 153. The number symbolizes the plenitude of salvation, the elect. It symbolizes the principal mysteries of the incarnational Faith, the historical Events that took place 2000 years ago on earth and in heaven, as we have them in the mysteries of the Rosary and the 153 Hail Marys.
“Jesus saith to them: Come, and dine. [He] cometh and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish in like manner.”
When I read this I am amazed at the kindness, maternal even, of Our Lord. Jesus knew that they were hungry. He had made sure that during His public ministry they were all fed and taken care of. “When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes,” Jesus asked them at the Last Supper, “did you want anything? But they said: Nothing” (Luke 22:35). So, here, He prepares a meal and then He gives it to them from His own hand.
An aside, if I may: There is something very paternal, godly, in preparing and serving a meal for the ones you love. Well we know that it is certainly a mother’s joy. Even watching the diners, for her, is a joy. If she could, a mother would cook a meal for her children from her deathbed.
Another peculiar thing that is recorded in this chapter is that none of the Apostles “durst ask him: Who art thou? Knowing that it was the Lord.” What could this mean? Did Our Lord assume a form more exalted than what they were used to, such that it would be possible for them not to recognize Him? Apparently so. But He was familiar enough in His resurrected Body to be known from His appearance, voice, and His majestic manner. So, they knew Him even in this unfamiliar investiture of a ceremonious banquet. And they did not doubt, neither did Thomas, that it was He.
“When therefore they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter: Simon, son of John, lovest thou me more than these? He saith to him: Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith to him: Feed my lambs. He saith to him again: Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? He saith to him: yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith to him: Feed my lambs. He said to him the third time: Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he had said to him the third time: Lovest thou me? And he said to him: Lord, thou knowest all things: thou knowest that I love thee. He said to him: Feed my sheep.”
“Son of John.” Jesus honors Peter by calling him by his given name, Simon Bar Jona.” He honors Peter’s father, Jona. It is His commandment: Honor thy father and mother.
Do you love Me? The Lord knew that the repentant Peter now loved Him without presumption. Tears of sorrow had furrowed his weathered cheeks. But, he had to make up by vocal confession for his vocal denials in order to feed “the lambs” who were to be entrusted to him. Cornelius a Lapide, following the commentary of Saint Robert Bellarmine, says: “the word—lambs—signifies that Christ is their Father, yea indeed their Mother, forasmuch as they are those whom He hath by baptism begotten unto God, and adopted as His own children.” (my emphasis) (I refer back to Our Lord’s original salutation and question in verse five: Children, have you any meat?”) Feed My sheep. “Sheep” include the Apostles themselves, bishops, pastors, priests, and teachers.
I read a commentary once that I cannot now locate that in Aramaic Our Lord used three words to signify sheep: new born lambs, yearling lambs, and mature sheep. In the inspired Greek we have “lambs” (arnia) used once, then sheep (probata) repeated twice, whereas the Latin has agnos (lambs) repeated twice in the sacred inquiry and oves (sheep) in the third interrogation. Saint Jerome in the Latin Vulgate chose to use “lambs” twice; he had other codices available (no longer extant) plus he knew Hebrew. If indeed Our Lord used three words for sheep in His native tongue, it would even more clearly highlight that Peter was entrusted with the entire flock of the universal sheepfold.
If you love Me Peter, will you lay down your life for my sheep? You boasted that if all would deny Me you would not, will you now with the help of My grace be steadfast enough, without presumption, to feed My lambs, My sheep, and die for them?
“Peter was grieved . . . Lord, thou knowest all things: thou knowest that I love thee. He said to him: Feed my sheep.” Well, might he be grieved, but he also knew that Jesus could read his heart. “Lord, thou knowest all things . . .”
Thereupon Jesus confirmed to His Vicar that indeed he would shed his blood for the Church and the glory of God. “Amen, amen, I say to thee, When thou wast younger, thou didst gird thyself and didst walk where thou wouldst. But when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee and lead thee whither thou wouldst not. And this he said, signifying by what death he should glorify God.”
Finally, there is a rather mysterious command for Peter from Our Lord: “Follow me!” Was this in the literal sense, as in “come aside with me away from the others”? Perhaps so. But commentaries I read all suggest that the meaning is moral. “Follow me by taking up your cross, even being nailed to it, as I was.” And so he would be crucified in his old age and, in his humility, preferring to be hung upside down, unworthy (as he knew he was) to die in the same manner as His Lord. In this final hour Peter placed no obstacle as he once did to God’s work in him. He would not be a “satan,” an adversary, a scandal, preferring the ways of man over the way of God. (Matt. 16:23) This time he would get behind Christ and follow Him in His passion, as Father Feeney used to say, “feet first”.
