Simon Peter went up, 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. John 21:11

The disciples stared at the figure. They were only a hundred yards offshore, close enough to hear someone from shore, yet not close enough to see anything but the silhouette of the someone.

John peered over the right side of the boat, at the net. The someone had told the disciples to cast their net on the right side of the boat. The net was now so full all seven disciples could not haul it more than halfway out of the water.

John turned to Peter. It is the Lord. Peter threw on his clothes and leapt over the right gunwale of the boat, over the net, and into the water. The boat rolled to the right. John, James, and Thomas dropped their grip on the net and hurled themselves to the left side of the boat, leaning as far as possible out over the water to counter balance the weight of the net.

Nathaniel and the other two who still had hold of the net lowered it back into the water. The boat leveled. Nathaniel, Thomas, and the two others glared at John.

What? John said. So he wants to see Jesus. Thomas squinted at the shore. Oh, right, that guy Jesus. You can see the striking features of the face, and if you look approximately six inches up from the tip of his middle finger yup, there the scar from the nail. Perfect visual identification. Way to go, John.

Who gave man his mouth? quoted John. Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord?

Whats that supposed to mean? Thomas asked. He gave me sight, but made you blind and deaf, so shut your mouth, John told him.

Look at the net, Thomas, James said. The only other time I caught so many fish, he was around. Oh yes, said Nathaniel. Yes. How could we forget the story? Just you, Peter, and John manage by yourselves to haul an entire net busting full of fish into the boats.

Nathaniel and the other two redoubled their efforts to haul the net on board.The boat rolled to the right again.

Lower it, lower it! yelled James. You forgot the next part of the story!

What? The part about the boats beginning to sink? Nathaniel said.Well, we 'll just worry about that when we get the catch on board.

If you get the catch on board, John corrected. Nathaniel and the two others eased the net back into the water. Nathaniel addressed James and John.Hey muscleman, you're more than welcome to take a heave at this.

James and John grabbed onto the net. They tugged despondently for a few seconds. It remained fully submerged, fish flopping inside it.

You know, James said. That last time I went fishing with Jesus, we had four guys in two boats, and our boats just about sank when we got the net on board. This time we have six guys in one boat, and if that gy on shore is Jesus, then that, he pointed at the net, is a Jesus catch, which means we go straight down when John and I haul it on board. So lets just tow it back to shore, okay?

James tied the net to the boat. The other disciples grumbled and grabbed oars. John scuttled back toward the tiller, but tripped as he passed Thomas.Thomas held up Peters oar.

Johnny, there is no wind, so forget about the tiller. Secure it and row."John took Peters oar and secured the tiller. The disciples began to row. Peter was up the shore, chatting with his Lord, hopping around in front of the fire drying his clothes, when the disciples pulled onto the beach, hot, sweaty, and sore from towing the net back to shore. I will make you fishers of men,fishers of men, fishers of men! John sang.

Ahoy, Lord! the disciples called to Jesus. We' ll be right up there.

Hey, bring some of those fish when you come up! Jesus called back.

I 'll be back, Peter told Jesus. Peter scrambled down the shore, waded in to grab the net and dragged it onto the sand. The disciples were stepping into their clothes.

He wants some fish, guys, Peter told them. Yeah, we are just about to count and sort them, John said.

Ah hah! said James.On behalf of John, Peter, and me, we'd like to grant the remaining four of you exclusive rights to sort this pile of fish, since we 've already witnessed one great catch, but you guys haven't yet had the privilege. We 'll be up-shore
talking with Jesus.

Hold it, wise guy, Thomas said. On behalf of the remaining four of us, I propose to grant John, James, and Peter exclusive rights to sort this enormous quantity of fish, since they have more experience. Shall we vote?

The vote ran 4-3 in favor of James, John, and Peter sorting the fish. Peter dragged the net further up shore. John fetched the clay jars.

Oh, all right, James grumbled, We 'll all sort the fish. Nathaniel, Thomas, and the two others didn't move. James sighed. John squatted down beside the pile of fish to separate the clean fish from the unclean fish. James stood beside him to count. Peter stood between James and the clay jars.

John picked up a fish in both hands. His forehead wrinkled in concentration. The wrinkles extended down to his eyes. The disciples couldn't tell if his eyes were open or shut. John tossed the two fish in front of James, then grabbed two more fish, and
tossed them in front of James, then grabbed two more fish, and added them to the pile in front of James, and continued to do so. The pile in front of John shrank. The pile in front of James grew. Clean fish, clean fish, clean fish,clean fish, John said.

Unclean fish! bellowed Thomas.What are you doing, man? You just tossed an eel in with the clean fish! One-two-three-four-five-six-seven, counted James, while Thomas yelled, Six!Six! Peter, toss that eel out!

Peter tossed all the fish into the jars. Hey, are we selling these fresh or salting them? the two others asked Nathaniel. Nathaniel glanced up the shore.

Hmm. I hadn 't thought about that. Well, if we 're going to spend some time with Jesus, we can 't sell them fresh, he said.

Clean fish, clean fish, clean fish, John said.

Twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty, thirty-one, added James. Thomas screamed bloody
murder. Peter chucked the fish into the jars. The two others poked around the fishing boat for the salt. When they returned, five disciples were running around the now-full collection of clay jars. Thomas, waving a catfish in John 's face, screamed, You call
this a clean fish?

Ahem, the two others interrupted. They politely held up the salt. Peter slapped his head. Nathaniel emptied the jars back into a pile. He and the two others began to sort, count, and lay the fish onto a mat for salting. James, John, Peter, and Thomas soon
joined them.

One hundred and fifty and three! John howled. We netted 153 fish in one catch!

Well, James said, Metaphorically speaking, Jesus netted five thousand in one catch when he fed them dinner.

James, if I could do miracles on demand like him, I, too, could net five thousand in one catch fish or converts, Peter said.

Always keep track of the numbers, the two others said.

Up the shore Jesus sat by his fire, preparing some of his own fish. A few loaves of bread lay on palm leaves to the side. A sand dune partially blocked the view of the beach, but not the sound of the bickering disciples. Jesus rose to his feet and waited.

» Kevan Lim is a junior business major at the
University of Puget Sound in Tacoma,Wash.

(Vol.13, Issue 1, pp. 20-21)