Jesus appears to his Disciples at Lake Tiberias, James Tissot c. 1890, Brooklyn Museum, New York City, NY, USA. 

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When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?” They answered him, “No.” So he said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.” So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish.          John 21:5-6.

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Today’s gospel scene is reminiscent of the call of Peter which was the gospel a few weeks ago. At that time, I invited you to put yourself in Peter’s shoes and react appropriately to the holy man, Jesus, who happened to be in that place at that time. Peter had caught nothing, laboring all night long with nothing to show for it. The holy man suggested, no doubt gently, that he should pull out again and cast his net down one more time. Now, if you put yourself in Peter’s shoes, wet, cold, exhausted and craving for rest, what would YOU have said to the holy man who was clearly no fisherman? However there must have been something special about this holy man, because the fisherman did go out again, caught a huge number of fish, and then fell at Jesus’ feet and told him to leave him as he was “a sinful man” (Luke 5-8). Jesus, of course, had no such intention; this was the man to whom he would entrust everything. He was the first leader of Jesus’ church. Now look at this scene in today’s gospel. Once again they have caught nothing, but without question or retort, they cast their net out once more as the Lord instructed them, on the right side of the boat as Jesus specifically told them, and the same miraculous catch resulted. Jesus is to be believed, be followed and obeyed. He was, is and will ever be the road to heaven. 

Now one thing attracted my attention in this scene. Jesus seemed to be very direct when he told the fishermen to cast their net on the right side of their boat. My thought was “what difference does it make? And that’s when at the age of 80 I learned something new. With ancient shipping, as most people are right-handed, steering the boat was, by convention, through a steering oar attached to the right-hand side of the boat, at the rear, or stern. So “steering board” became starboard, the ship’s right-hand side. With the steering mechanism  there, it was clearly easier to dock the vessel on the other side, especially when entering a port, utilizing the left-hand, or port side. When casting their net out to sea therefore, it would be much less likely to be caught up with the steering mechanism if it were cast out on the port side.

The Bark of St. Peter, after a drawing attributed to Giotto, no date, The Royal Academy, London, UK.

So Jesus seemed to have been breaking convention in his instruction to them telling them to cast their net out the starboard side! One might ask why? One commentator suggests that it is very unconventional  to reconcile, to be loving, patient, kind, gentle, understanding and self-controlled. Certainly Hollywood would find that so, being much more used to the opposite! But of course the Lord wouldn’t; it would be normal to him. Another claims “The act of casting the net on the right side of the boat also holds symbolic significance. In biblical and cultural symbolism, the right side is often associated with favor, blessing, and honor”. Yet another says “Jesus is not just giving fishing advice to the disciples in this verse; he is using it as a metaphor for faith and trust in his divine power. Jesus shows them that when they follow his guidance and trust in his words, they will experience abundance beyond their wildest expectations by instructing them to cast their nets on the right side of the boat after they had been fishing all night without success. The disciples witness a miraculous catch of fish by heeding his words, demonstrating Jesus’ authority over nature and emphasizing the importance of faith and obedience in the Christian walk”. With such a difference of interpretation, each one of us has to make up our own minds!

The longer gospel today has an intimate conversation between Jesus and Peter. Jesus asked  Peter three times if he loves him – three times! Anyone familiar with the Passion narrative would instantly connect this triple question with Peter’s three denials in the high priest’s garden that he even knew Jesus! After the Lord asked the question for the third time, Peter responded “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you” perhaps with a little exasperation! It was as if Jesus was making sure that Peter had, indeed, reformed and was now ready for anything. Indeed he was, to the point of martyrdom years later. Now remember here that we are all free agents. The gift of total freedom that each of us enjoys extends everywhere. Jesus, the God-Man, cannot compel us to love him. We are utterly free to respond to the gift of love, the invitation to the company of Jesus, the strength resulting from that and the quiet, confident happiness which springs from it. We are completely free to reject all of it, to the delight of the Devil! Or we can accept it, and the challenges which flow from it, but which makes us all better people. And there is a glimpse of the final result in today’s second reading from the Book of Revelation, the most challenging and strangest in the Christian canon. All present cry out with an ecstatic cry, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches, wisdom and strength, honor and glory and blessing.”  Happiness is always from the other, love isn’t love ’till you give it away, as the song says. The Apocalypse reveals that the other is the Lamb of God, the sinless pure offering made on our behalf and for our salvation, the utter embodiment of life and love for us, always giving and always caring, jumping for the sheer joy of life. 

Revelation Scriptures, The Glorious Majesty of God’s Throne in Revelation 4.

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