One of the verses in the Bible that have generated a lot of speculation is John 21:11. The context is after the resurrection of Christ. But the disciples did not know that Jesus had risen from the dead. So, they went back to their old livelihood of fishing. They had fished all night and caught nothing (John 21:3). But when the day was dawning, Jesus was on the beach (v. 4), but they did not know was Him. He instructs them to cast their net on the right side of the boat (v. 6). They did, and they caught 153 fish.
“Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not torn,” (John 21:11).
Why 153? Here is a possible explanation.
In the four gospels, 153 individuals received a blessing from Jesus in one form or another. Now we are aware, of course, that Jesus fed 5,000 in Matthew 14:13-21, but here we’re looking at individuals. It’s fascinating to note that in Hebrew, the word Passover has a mathematical value of 153 (See the Gematria Table). Passover is the event where blood was placed on the doorposts of the Israelites’ homes when they were slaves in Egypt. God sent the angel of death to kill all the firstborn in Egypt. But, the angel would ‘pass over’ that house if there was blood on the door (Exodus 12:11–14). All who entered in through that door would be spared. Typically, such doors consisted of three pieces of wood: two vertical pieces and a horizontal piece at the top, which formed a rectangular entrance, a door. Also, Jesus died during Passover (Matthew 26:2; Luke 22:1; John 13:1).
Finally, a small point is worth noting regarding John 21:6, where Jesus tells the disciples the cast their net on the right side. The right side represents salvation. The left represents damnation.
| The leper, Matt 8:2 | 1 |  |
Man, deaf and dumb, Mark 7:32 | 1 |
| Centurion and servant, Matt 8:5 | 2 | Blind man, Mark 8:22 | 1 | |
| Peter’s wife’s mother, Matt 8:14 | 1 | Son of the widow of Nain, Luke 7:12 | 1 | |
| Two possessed with devils, Matt 8:18 | 2 | A woman, a sinner, Luke 7:37 | 1 | |
| Palsied man and bearers [Mark 2:3], Matt 9:2 | 5 | Joanna and Susanna, Luke 8:3 | 2 | |
| Jairus and his daughter, Matt 9:18 | 2 | A disciple, “Follow Me,” Luke 9:59 | 1 | |
| Woman with the issue of blood, Matt 9:21 | 1 | The seventy disciples, Luke 10:1 | 70 | |
| Blind men, Matt 9:27 | 2 | Martha, Luke 10:38 | 1 | |
| Dumb man, Matt 9:32 | 1 | Woman with infirmity, Luke 13:11 | 1 | |
| Eleven Apostles, Matt 10:2 (11) | 11 | Man with dropsy, Luke 14:2 | 1 | |
| Man with the withered hand, Matt 12:10 | 1 | The ten lepers, Luke 17:12 | 10 | |
| The blind and dumb devil, Matt 12:22 | 1 | The blind man, while approaching Jericho, Luke 18:35 | 1 | |
| Brethren of the Lord [Acts 1:14], Matt 13:55 | 4 | Zaccheus, Luke 19:2 | 1 | |
| Syrophoenician woman and daughter, Matt 15:22 | 2 | Malchus [John 18:10], Luke 22:51 | 1 | |
| Lunatic child and father, Matt 17:14 | 2 | Penitent thief, Luke 23:43 | 1 | |
| Blind men while leaving Jericho, Matt 20:30 | 2 | The two disciples at Emmaus, Luke 24:13 | 2 | |
| Simon the leper, Matt 26:6 | 1 | Nicodemus, John 3:1 | 1 | |
| Mary, the sister of Lazarus, Matt 26:7 | 1 | Woman of Samaria, John 4:4 | 1 | |
| Centurion; Matt 27:54 | 1 | Nobleman and sick son, John 4:46 | 2 | |
| Salome, the mother of Zebedee’s children, Matt 27:56 | 1 | Impotent man in Bethesda, John 5:1 | 1 | |
| Mary, the mother of James, and wife of Cleopas, Matt 27:56 | 1 | Woman caught in adultery, John 8:11 | 1 | |
| Mary Magdalene, Matt 27:56 | 1 | The man born blind, John 9 | 1 | |
| Joseph of Arimathaea, Matt 27:57 | 1 | Lazarus, John 11 | 1 | |
| Man with an unclean spirit; Mark 1:23 | 1 | Mary, mother of Jesus, John 19:25-27 = (153) | 1 | |
| Total = | 48 | Total = | 105 | |
| 48 + 105 = 153 | ||||
Whether or not you find this convincing, it is very interesting. In my opinion, this is an obvious demonstration of the inspiration of Scripture.
Also, check out https://153-fish.org/list for another look at the same issue.
Conclusion
The four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, were written years apart. How is it possible that John the apostle could have calculated the total number of individuals who Jesus blesses in the previous three Gospels? Did he have all three of them in front of himself, and he calculated them?
