HE KING'S BUSINESS
969
ere,-John is the first to recognize the ord, but Peter puts on his coat and roes to Him. Peter had already been forgiven (Luke 24:34) "'Snying, the Lor•l is risen hulee,J, nnd lath UlJlH'·nred unto Shnon." This miracle is a counterpart of that described in Luke 5: 1-8: "A1ul Shnon nuin''ering snhl unto hhn, Jfnster 've hnve toile•l nil the night, and lnYe taken nothing. Nevertheless, at thy wrnrd [ will Jet don•n the net. Arul " 'hen they hnd this clone, they en– C'losed u µ;rent n1ultittule of fishes: and their net brnke. An•l they beckone•l unto their partners 1rhi<'h ·were in the other shitJ, thnt they 11bould come an•l help the1n. And they tnme, and filled both the shitls, so thnt they began to sink." The first miraculous draught of fishes was at the opening of Christ's ministry. This miracle was at the be– ginning of His resurrection work. The first net enclosed many, but some es– caped. So not all those who followed Jesus at the beginning of His ministry, continued with Him until the end (John 6:66) · "Front that thne 1nnny of his (lisciples ft·ent buck ntul wnlketl no 1nore with hhn." In the second instance,- all were &aved, a type of the security of true be– lievers. (John 5:24) '"Verily, Yerily, I 1!i:1y unto you, He that k<"nreth my '\Vor•l, and belte,·eth on hin1 thut sent 1ue, hath everlasting life, and •hall not corne into con•lemnation, but IN 11assed front death unto life." (John 10 :28) "An•l I give unto them eternal life; and they shali never t>f'rish, neithlr."'r .shall any 1nnn i>hack then1 out of 1ny hand. My Father 'vhich gnve then1 unto n1e, 111 greater than nil; n1ul no n1nn is able to t•hwk thent out of 1ny Father's hn1ul." More can be accomplished in one cast, under the guidance of Jesus, than in a lifetime of effort without Him. What is the significance of the figures given, "an hundred and fifty and three"? Colonel Roberts, an English writer, says in "A Double Portion" that 153 is the exact number of persons mentioned who received a blessing dur– ing Christ's ministry, and that exactly twice that number of individual in– rtances of blessing bestowed are record– id as having been conferred by Paul lfo doubt the real reason for giving the exact number is merely to show
that the fishes were counted on this occasion, thus further authenticating the narrative and emphasizing the statement that they were all great fishes. (2) PROVISION and COMMUNION, vs. 9-14 "Jesus saith, * * * Come and dine" v. 12. The word translated "dine" should be rather, "break your fast." Twice before since His resurrection He had eaten with His disciples (Luke 24: 30) "A111l it came to 1•nss, ns he sat at n1eat with them, that he took bre1ul, and bless– ed it, :uul brake, and gave to then1." (Luke 24:41-43) "Anti ·while they yet believed not for .1oy and " 'Ontlered, he snhl unto theni., J-l~n-e ye here nny 1neut? Auel they gn"-e hitn a uiece of broiled fish nrul of an houeycon1 b. Aud he took it nnd dhl ent before th••ru.n Jesus himself had prepared the sim– ple meal of bread and fish of which He invites them to partake. Now He asks them to bring of their own fish also. He provided food and enjoys theirs. (Rev. 3:20) "Behohl I stand nt the door nn
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