Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
Peter went up—into the boat; went aboard.
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—The manifest reference here to the former miraculous draught (Luke 5:1-11) furnishes the key to this scene. There the draught was symbolical of the success of their future ministry: While "Peter and all that were with him were astonished at the draught of the fishes which they had taken, Jesus said unto him, Fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men." Nay, when first called, in the act of "casting their net into the sea, for they were fishers," the same symbolic reference was made to their secular occupation: "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Matthew 4:18-19). Here, then, if but the same symbolic reference be kept in view, the design of the whole scene will, we think, be clear. The multitude and the size of the fishes they caught symbolically foreshadowed the vast success of their now fast approaching ministry, and this only as a beginning of successive draughts, through the agency of a Christian ministry, till, "as the waters cover the sea, the earth should be full of the knowledge of the Lord." And whereas, at the first miraculous draught, the net "was breaking" through the weight of what it contained—expressive of the difficulty with which, after they had 'caught men,' they would be able to retain, or keep them from escaping back into the world—while here, "for all they were so many, yet was not the net broken," are we not reminded of such sayings as these (John 10:28): "I give unto My sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of My hand" [LUTHARDT]? But it is not through the agency of a Christian ministry that all true disciples are gathered. Jesus Himself, by unseen methods, gathers some, who afterwards are recognized by the constituted fishers of men, and mingle with the fruit of their labors. And are not these symbolized by that portion of our Galilean repast which the fishers found, in some unseen way, made ready to their hand?
that disciple whom Jesus loved, said, It is the Lord—again having the advantage of his brother in quickness of recognition (see on John 20:8), to be followed by an alacrity in Peter all his own.
he was naked—his vest only on, worn next the body.
cast himself into the sea—the shallow part, not more than a hundred yards from the water's edge (John 21:8), not meaning therefore to swim, but to get sooner to Jesus than in the full boat which they could hardly draw to shore.
Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing John 21:11:
Ezekiel 47:10
Acts 5:23
Revelation 3:20
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