After a night of fruitless fishing, a Stranger on the shore gave great advice to the fisherman as to where to cast their net. Suddenly they find their net so full of fish that they can't draw it up into the boat!

"Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, 'It is the Lord!'" (John 21:7). It appears that John was the first to realize who the Stranger was upon the shore. It is likely that the circumstances reminded him of a similar event recorded in Luke 5:1-11 (plus, John seems to be very insightful and full of faith, cf. John 20:8).

Peter, preparing to meet the Lord, puts on his outer garment out of respect and reverence (though it must have made swimming more difficult). Although they were only about 100 yards from shore, Peter cannot wait to see Jesus! He impulsively dove into the sea and swam to shore. The other disciples, taking responsibility for the fish, came to shore in the boat "dragging the net with fish" (John 21:8).

"As soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread" (John 21:9). This sight gave new meaning to Jesus' question in 21:5. He had not come to buy but to supply!

Jesus then instructed them to bring some of the fish they had just caught. "Simon Peter went up and dragged the net to land, full of large fish, one hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not broken" (John 21:11). Peter was the obvious choice for this task since he was already soaking wet. To be able to drag this amount of large fish certainly indicates that Peter was very strong. John records the exact number of the fish to show the magnitude of the miracles (regarding the catch and the unbroken net).

"Jesus said to them, 'Come and eat breakfast.' Yet none of the disciples dared ask Him, 'Who are You?'--knowing that it was the Lord" (John 21:12). On this occasion, there is no doubt in their minds as to Jesus' identity. "Jesus then came and took the bread and gave it to them, and likewise the fish" (John 21:13). The Lord distributed food to them as He had likely done hundreds of times before.

"This is now the third time Jesus showed Himself to His disciples after He was raised from the dead" (John 21:14). This was the third time Jesus had manifested Himself to the apostles as a group. In addition to these appearances, He had also appeared to Mary Magdalene, the women returning from the tomb, the two disciples traveling to Emmaus, and Peter.