A Resurrection Code

The account of the appearance of the resurrected Jesus to his disciples, that is given in In the 21st chapter of John, bestows on us a seemingly insignificant item of information: A number. The disciples were fishing. Jesus directed them where to place their net, even though they had caught nothing all night long. John, who was there, included the number of fish they miraculously caught, by following Jesus’ instructions. Into restless hearts, driven to find an outlet in the physical labor with which they were so familiar, the risen Christ brings his deeply held mystery. Why would he include this detail? There is something in that number that we need to know.

First, hadn’t Jesus already told the fishermen of his followers that he would make them “fishers of men”? Didn’t Jesus go on, after this, to instruct them to make disciples of all nations? The fish seem to be symbols of the new converts that were to be made, and the body of believers called the church. Jesus did, after all, in this same narrative, implore Peter to “feed my sheep.”

Next, the prevalence of the number three, in the story, which means resurrection, seems to establish the overall meaning of this entire interaction. This visitation was the third one to his disciples, since his rising, on the third, separate day of his appearances to his disciples, early in the morning. Jesus repeats his question, to Peter, three times to emphasize his mission to evangelize.

The number of fish was 153. This number has many astounding mathematical properties. In the gematria, this is the same resulting number as for Pesach, which is the appointed time for the resurrection of our Lord. 153 is the product of multiplying 3 times 3 times 17. He rose early in the morning on the 17th day of the first month of the Hebrew year. There are two resurrections in view here, in the number 153. It seems to mean that the next resurrection, the second one, will also be on the 17th day of the month, but in the second month. It could be that this same meeting of the Lord and His disciples took place on the 17th of the second month, before he ascended. One other place in the Bible that has the number 153 is 2 Chronicles 2:17 (HA! That location...). Solomon hires foreign workers to build the temple. These were stone cutters, 153,600 in number, and those who worked with them. Reminds of where Jesus said, “I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God.” Again, because these workers are the fish, the foreigners which shall join the commonwealth of Israel, to assist them in the worship of their God.

These foreigners show up as types, in the Old Testament. There is Solomon’s wife, the Shulamite, Elijah the Tishbite, Joseph’s Egyptian wife, Boaz’s Moabite wife, Ruth the Canaanite, and Issac and Jacob’s wives, retrieved from Ur of the Chaldeans.