Note that the disciple who had just shown the most zeal for his Master, is now showing the quickest obedience. Is this always the case? Peter may not have been the only one bringing in the catch, but he might have been the one organizing the bringing of it to shore.

The fish are counted, probably so that the shares could be assigned to all on board when they were sold. It is also a universal truth that fishermen, above all other people, are very interested in preserving the details of unusual catches. The number may, or may not, have some significance.

The net did not break as it had during the previous like miracle (Luke 5:6). The net has been likened to the church and the gospel and it is to be noted that even though both have enclosed millions of converts, they have never broken. Strachan sees the significance of the unbroken net as signifying “that the Church’s resources, with Christ in its midst, are never overstrained.”

Luke 5:6  When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.

There has been a great variety of interpretations for the 153 fish caught, but whether any of them are valid is unknown. The most believable is by Jerome, who, when commenting on (Eze 47:9-12) said that there are 153 different kinds of fish and this catch symbolized every kind of fish and thus that some day men from every nation would become saved.

Ezekiel 47:9-12  Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live.  Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds—like the fish of the Great Sea.  But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt.  Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.”