Remember when Jesus asked the disciples to cast their nets again after they had caught nothing all evening. When they did they caught so many fish their nets were ready to break. The final count was 153 fish. To me that seemed like such an odd number, I mean why tell us 153 fish?
Today I read about the meaning of those 153 fish- at least one person's opinion anyway. Seems that in Exodus God commanded that the Torah be read in its totality every seven years. The Jews broke the Torah up into 153 readings called 'sedarim' to complete the reading every three years. The article went on to say Jesus is the fulfillment of the Torah- which still didn't clearly define for me the purpose of 153 fish.
Another author pointed out for our math majors that "St. Augustine rightly observed its significance. 153 is the triangular of 17. That means that if you add all the numbers decreasing from 17, you get 153. That is to say, 17 + 16 + 15 + 14 +13 + 12 + 10 + ... + 1 = 153." And that 17 is an important number in the Bible- 12 baskets of bread plus 5 loaves equals 17, Joseph was taken to Egypt at age 17, and there were 17 nations at Pentecost (where 17 represents all nations just like the number 70- interesting 10 + 7 equals 17 and 10 x 7 equals 70). So maybe the fish represented all nations. Lastly 153 is the sum of its cubes: 1 x 1 x 1 plus 5 x 5 x 5 plus 3 x 3 x 3. Was God having fun with math?
So maybe the fishy number meant the disciples would catch men with the Gospel in all nations- or maybe not, maybe there is no meaning to the number. I certainly would have been one of the disciples asking questions after this event or after parables to learn what Jesus was trying to say. If I were one of the disciples He would have had to speak in even simpler terms. Jesus would have told me straight up- 153 fish represents all the nations where my followers will be fishers of men. I can guess we'd end our list of disciples with 'Keith- the slow one'. Maybe the Holy Spirit would have inspired me to write a very simple book with no hidden meanings. My gospel would have had more pictures than parables and clearly pointed out why there were 153 fish.
I heard a pastor tell a story about a member who wrote him a very nasty letter. And she concluded the letter by telling him he was nothing but a donkey, a big donkey. And he said this term just stuck in his head and gnawed at him for some reason. Soon after he went to lunch with a fellow pastor who told him God was using his ministry in a powerful way. And just before they parted ways and without knowing about the donkey letter, the other pastor said, you know what they say about the donkey don't you? Even the donkey knew the palm branches and cloaks on the road weren't for him but for the man on his back - stay humble.
That's exactly the kind of straight talk from God I need. I'm still not sure of all God is trying to tell me from my latest cancer adventure. I do have a greater appreciation for each new day I'm given. I have an even greater appreciation for my wife and family and friends. Most of all I appreciate God's great gifts of hope and faith even more. If these were His points for me well then I got them.
The Bible makes plenty of plain and simple important points to be sure, the most famous being John 3:16 maybe. Some like to dig for deeper insights and meanings which I am sure exist as a reward for those who will take the time to study God's Word. It's exciting when even I uncover one of these jewels. Let me encourage you this week to spend some time in God's Word- I think if you do the math, you'll clearly see we are blessed with an awesome Savior who loves us beyond simple words!
Blest Regards,
kp
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