A hundred and fifty and three…The possible meaning of the number 153 in Luke 5…In his parables and teaching Jesus often referred to people in the world as sheep, different types of soil, but He also used the analogy of fish.…When Jesus went out searching for 12 men to be his disciples he was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee one day…Luke 5:1-16…One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee,[a] great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. 2 He noticed two empty boats at the water's edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. 3 Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon,[] its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there.4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish."5 "Master," Simon replied, "we worked hard all last night and didn't catch a thing. But if you say so, I'll let the nets down again." 6 And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! 7 A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking.8 When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, "Oh, Lord, please leave me-I'm too much of a sinner to be around you." …9 For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him.10 His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed.…Jesus replied to Simon, "Don't be afraid! From now on you'll be fishers of men!"11 And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.

And because His first disciples were fisherman Jesus used the example of fish referring to the lost people of the world…After teaching them for three years He gave them instructions to go out into the world and spread the Good News: …Acts 1:8…But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere-in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and tothe end of the earth."…So we ended up calling this instruction the Great Commission when the disciples started out to spread the gospel…Three years laterJohn writes in his gospel about another catch but this time the nets were strong enough, they even counted the number of fish that they brought to shore on that day.…John recorded it in:…John 21:11…11 So Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore. There were 153 large fish, and yet the net hadn't torn.…The reason why the disciples were careful to count, must surely involve symbolism, as there seems to be no other reason for it. …A clear example of people being saved (Fish being caught) happened on the day of Pentecost after Peter delivered his first sermon 3000 people were saved …Acts 2:41…41 Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day-about 3,000 in all.…This number 153 is interesting

It has been calculated that there were 153 distinct nations in the world at the time of Christ (the number is not much different today); …And on the day of Pentecost 17 ethnic groups were mentioned that were present …Acts 2:8-11…4 And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages,[] as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.

5 At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. 6 When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers.7 They were completely amazed. "How can this be?" they exclaimed. "These people are all from Galilee,8 and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages! 9 Here we are-…1Parthians,…2Medes,…3Elamites, people from…4Mesopotamia,…5Judea, …6Cappadocia, …7Pontus, the province of…8Asia, …10 9Phrygia, …10Pamphylia,…11Egypt, and the areas of…12Libya around…13Cyrene, visitors from…14Rome 11 (both…15Jews and converts to Judaism), …16Cretans, and…17 Arabs. And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done!"(Numbers added)…The number 17 is also symbolic: when all the numbers are added up through 17 (that is, 1+2+3+…+16+17), they add to 153. …Furthermore, the digits in 153 (i.e., 1+5+3) add to 9, which when multiplied by 17, again makes 153. …It is also interesting that there are three digits in the number, and if each is multiplied by itself three times, then the total once again adds to 153. …That is: (1 x 1 x 1) + (5 x 5 x 5) + (3 x 3 x 3) = 153. …There seems no other number that could possibly be more appropriate to represent all the peoples of the world than this number, and it is surely more than coincidence that the Creator saw to it that exactly 153 great fishes were counted that entered the "gospel net."

├ö├ç┬¬. There were 153 large fish, and yet the net hadn't torn.…

Indicating that, if the human "fish" were securely caught in the gospel net, they would surely be drawn to shore.…It is probably noteworthy in this connection that the greatest passage on security in the Bible lists exactly seventeen things that can never separate us from God's love in Christ, the last being "nothing in all creation."…35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble(1) or calamity(2) or are persecuted(3), or hungry(4), or destitute(5), or in danger(6), or threatened with death(7)?36 (As the Scriptures say, "For your sake we are killedevery day; we are being slaughtered like sheep."[a]) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death(8) nor life(9), neither angels(10)nor demons(11),[] neither our fears for today(12)nor our worries about tomorrow(13)-not even the powers of hell(14)can separate us from God's love. 39 No power in the sky above(15)or in the earth below(16)-indeed, nothing in all creation(17) will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Numbers added)…No one is ever more secure than the loved ones of the Savior! One might even multiply this seventeen-fold security by the nine-fold fruit of the Spirit…Galatians 5:22-23…22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love(1), joy(2), peace(3), patience(4), kindness(5), goodness(6), faithfulness(7), 23 gentleness(8), and self-control(9) . There is no law against these things!

and again the results of effectiveness in true evangelismis 153-fold! …Then also, one could note that the word "sign" or "miracle" occurs 17 times in John, and there are 9 "signs" described in John's gospel (the seven performed by Christ before His resurrection plus His own resurrection plus this symbolic post-resurrection miracle). …Again we have 17×9 suggested. …That is not all, but it should be obvious that all of this simply could not be mere coincidence. …It's symbolic, parabolic, or typological significance is real and powerful.