“Children!” echoes toward them early in the morning. Everyone turns their heads in the direction from which the call came, and the voice continues to call, “Do you have anything to eat?” Everyone calls back, “NO!” “Well, then you have to do something about it!” Everyone rubs their eyes in amazement, and Joe whispers to his friend, “We're already up early, aren't we?” And then they hear the encouraging command, “Children, let's do it again!” And immediately the children go back to work. But wait a minute: children? What are children doing on the lake early in the morning?

Well, this is how this special morning soon after the resurrection unfolded. Jesus suddenly stands unrecognized on the beach and shows concern for the seven. Peter had told his comrades during the night that he was going fishing. His companions Thomas, Nathanael, James, John, and two other disciples replied, “We'll go fishing with you too.” But it was a wasted effort. That night they caught nothing, absolutely nothing. Not a single fish went into their nets. It was in this gloomy mood that the Lord appeared to them. It was - The Third Time.   

So what is the problem?

John had actually already concluded his Gospel with chapter 20. The words in verses 30 and 31 clearly mark the end: "Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."   

What is incomprehensible is that John, who works systematically, adds a chapter to his Gospel that does not seem to fit in with his orderly approach. So what is the purpose of chapter 21? After careful consideration, it becomes clear: in chapters 1 to 20, the apostle describes events of the past to show the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah, and in chapter 21, John describes the glorious future of ISRAEL. Even though the first scene, verse 3, is very reminiscent of the beginning 2000 years ago, see Matthew 4:18, that is intentional, because this is about a new beginning. In the last chapter, John does not intend to tell about fishing for fish, but according to their calling, the Seven are to continue fishing for people. The 21st chapter of the Gospel tells all disciples on earth that there will be a sure hope for ISRAEL at the end of this dispensation.     

A screenplay of exceptional quality for the twin

John 21 is presented to us as a role-playing game, as it were. The seven play themselves in the future, but as representatives of their people, such as Peter, the leader, or John, who will still be referred to as “the one whom Jesus loved.” Or Thomas, who is always called “the twin” at the decisive moments. Thus, it is already apparent at the beginning of the chapter that this chapter is all about the twin. The different aspects of the twin were distributed among the seven protagonists. What caused us a lot of headaches for a long time was the question: Who are the two whose names John left us as a riddle, so to speak? Can we solve the puzzle?

The apostle's favorite number in his Gospel is the number 3.

Right at the beginning, in chapter 2:1, John indicates with the phrase “and on the third day” the time in which the still veiled prophecy takes place. The third time in the morning from chapter 2:1 refers to the early time of the prophetic third day or, in other words, to the early beginning of the third millennium. The memory of God's promises among the Jews is rapidly increasing. They will speak in unison: “He will revive us after two days; on the third day he will raise us up.” Hosea 6:2.   

With the number 3, John emphasizes certain historical events, and these now point to the third time when Jesus speaks to the Jews from heaven. The third stage, i.e., the end times, also begins with the third day, as in chapter 2:1. Regarding the rebuilding of the temple in three days, John explains that Jesus was speaking of the raising of his body. The raising of the body must be understood both literally and figuratively, for in extension of our Lord's statement, we Christians form his body, and he also raises it on the third day. The construction of the true third temple will be completed at the beginning of the third day (the third millennium). And so we note in passing that the Rapture has always been set for the beginning of the third millennium.

Another example: Peter's threefold denial of the Lord can also be applied to the threefold denial of the Jews. Only after their threefold denial will they accept Jesus as their Messiah. Another example: In the Gospel of John, we learn that Jesus celebrated Passover three times during his ministry; John 2:13; 6:4; 11:55. And now to our last example, which leads us to the actual subject of our commentary. John 21:14: “This is now the third time that Jesus revealed himself to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.”

Before we get to the elaboration and interpretation of chapter 21, we would like to remind you that the Gospel of John can be symbolized by an eagle, which means that John takes a bird's-eye view, that is, he is in heaven when he tells us about future events. The Gospel can be divided in different ways, but we have chosen the following variant:

Well, one might believe it or not, but even the number of chapters is not random. Although they were first added in the Middle Ages, the structure of the text already existed. All it took was a little inspiration to mark the individual chapters. And so the number 21 gives us a first clue to the endgame in our age and the accompanying completion of the earthly people: ISRAEL. After 21 times, that is three times seven, (all of) Israel will be saved in the 21st century.

The 21 times correspond to the threefold course of the postal route of Asia Minor, on which the seven churches of Revelation are located. See the first graphic at simson-project.com/. It should be noted that the third and final round has a slightly different course than the historical one, but can be traced using Table 1b. (The table can be found on the same website.)

The number 3 as an important marker in the Gospel of John

Through the three Passover feasts, John shows the three attempts to save Israel. The first time in John 2:23: “But Jesus did not entrust himself to them, because he knew them all.” The listeners believed only because of the signs that Jesus performed. It was not genuine faith in them, but they were driven by dishonest motives. In the run-up to the second Passover, chapter 6:4, the people want to make Jesus the “bread king” after they have been fed by the miraculous multiplication of bread. They did not understand that he wanted to give them spiritual food to eat. Alluding to his flesh and blood, Jesus paints a picture of spiritual food before their eyes, similar to the German proverb: “You are what you eat.” By eating spiritual food, the Jews were not only to become one with their Messiah, they were to become more and more like him.  

The third Passover is announced in chapter 11, then in chapter 12 it says that there are still six days until the feast, and in chapter 13 it says, “before the Passover feast...” (Here, too, a hidden sequence of three is recognizable.) We know from history that the Jews had also rejected their Messiah Jesus at his third Passover, especially the leaders of the people. It was not until Pentecost that a remarkably large crowd converted, and many more joined them every day, as it says in Acts 2:47. In the early days, it was exclusively Jews who converted to Jesus, and their number reached into the tens of thousands, as it says in Acts 21:20b: “You see, brother, how many tens of thousands (Greek: myriads) of Jews there are who believe.”

John 21 – Bible Text

From the following nine characteristics, we will work out the prophetic meaning to prove that God has not forgotten his people ISRAEL. He loves them. And that is also why it is written: “And Isaac loved Esau.” Genesis 25:28  (This verse is significant, but cannot be explained further here.)

1-Chapter 21 was conceived as an appendix to tell the Jews: Not once will I turn to you, not twice, but a third time, at the end of days. I will save you in the last days. No matter what has happened in the past, I love you, I will forgive you, and I will keep all my promises.

 

2.The disciples pursue their former professions, Peter foremost among them. However, this is not really about fishing, but on a figurative level, the fishers of men are to save Jews from the sea of nations, or in other words, not to break the connection to their twin and to rescue him from the floods.

3.The fishermen fish at night, but catch no fish, not a single one. It was not the time for fishing. Many bitter nights hardened many hearts. A beautiful new day is needed for the fish to go into the net.   

4.Seven disciples are working, five of them are named, two remain nameless. Once again, the names of the five: Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, James, and John. And what are the names of the other two? Let's see.   

5.Peter is naked. His condition is very reminiscent of Adam and Eve's nakedness after the Fall. Is it the same nakedness as seen in the church of Laodicea? The Lord said to them: You are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked, describing the actual condition of ISRAEL. All the Gates and Soros, Musks and Pages, Brins and Zuckerbergs believe they are rich, but their gold can never save them from the coming wrath. No matter what bunker you build and how high you set your nest, only Jesus the Messiah can save you.    

The phrase “whom Jesus loved” appears five times, and only in the Gospel of John. Why does John emphasize that Jesus loved him? We believe that John needed this special love and actively sought it. We can see this already in the first chapter. John follows Jesus out of an inner compulsion; he did not need to be called to follow, he wanted to do so himself. The race with Peter to the empty tomb also shows that John wants to be the first. And so he is also the first of all the visitors to the tomb to grasp the resurrection with his heart and believe.

John is by nature the second-born son who, by all means and through his faith in Jesus, became the firstborn. We read the same thing about Jacob, who, as the second-born, ardently desired the birthright. John wants even more; indeed, he wants everything. And this is particularly clear in his request to the Lord that he and his brother James may sit on the right and left sides of the Father's kingdom.

The ominous number 153. We have already indicated above that John has an affinity for numbers. He must have taken great delight in the number 153. In contrast, many scholars must have racked their brains over this number because they could not come up with a plausible solution. Using appropriate methods and modern technology, the properties of any natural number can be displayed in seconds (as shown here: https://de.numberworld.info/153). However, this website is of no help in this case, as it only offers the factorization of the number: 153 = 3*3*17. The result of the factorization could certainly keep one busy for a long time, but for eternity, one would not earn a cent for food.  

A good idea is to break down the number as follows: 153 = 3 x 3 plus 12 x 12. Will this lead us to the right solution? In any case, the partial results remind us of familiar content from the Bible. Well, let's take a closer look at the partial results. 3 * 3 = 9. The number 9 stands for completion and is symbolized by the Greek capital letter Ω, which in turn stands for Jesus, who brings everything to completion. The chain of associations is quite good, isn't it?

Now for the second partial result: 12 * 12 = 144. This number is a shortened form of the number 144,000, which stands for 12 * 12,000, the total number of the 12 tribes of Israel. John writes about the 144,000: “They follow the Lamb wherever he goes.” In doing so, they show the same devotion to Jesus as John, because, as we now know, he also wanted to be (always) where Jesus was.   

What else do we learn about the 144,000? Rev. 14:4b: “These were redeemed from among men as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.” These firstfruits are firstborn, or as James (attention! attention!) puts it: “That we (the Jews) might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.” (There are firstfruits (firstborn) of the first class and firstfruits (firstborn) of the second class. The firstfruits who are bought from the earth will rule over the earth in dependence on heaven. They are the big fish that Peter, John, and the other comrades are to fish for.   

The threefold question to Peter: Do you love me? and his threefold answer bring about a complete restoration. In this matter, too, he sets an example for Israel. Let us take a closer look at one particular aspect of Peter's story. On the night when Peter was warming himself in the courtyard of the high priest, for it was cold, the cock crowed after the third denial. The crowing of the rooster was a last resort to wake Peter up to something even worse. We must not forget that this night was a matter of life and death. Peter, who had been heroic at the Last Supper, failed miserably in the courtyard of the high priest because he was faced with the horror of death. The big fish will fare similarly. Whether they want to or not, they will end up in the coal fire, perhaps not all of them, but a large number of them. In Zechariah, the LORD had already announced that he would bring a third of ISRAEL into the fire; see Zechariah 13:9. Therefore, the LORD commanded: Bring here some of the fish you have just caught. The event reminds us (the authors) of Daniel's three friends who were thrown into the fire because of their faithfulness to God. But the Lord did not leave them alone; he was with them in the fire. He protected them in the fire, and the next morning he rescued them from the fire.  And we read in Daniel 3:30, among other places, that the three friends were “Big Fish”: “Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.” And so the Big Fish became Very Big Fish.  

The mysterious statement of the Lord about John: “If he remains until I come...” We (the authors) have often wondered why Jesus said this about this disciple, even though he knew that John would die many centuries before his return. In any case, the LORD and John wanted us to think about this, because John emphasizes that Jesus did not say that he—John—would not die, but that he would remain if the Lord willed it. We noticed that the emphasis is on the word “remain.” And that is what we will look at now. The Greek word for “remain” is meno (μενω) and, as we discovered, it is the key to understanding the deeper meaning of the sentence. The word can be translated as: remain, linger, wait, continue to exist, endure, (in a relationship) remain permanent, be inseparably united (indwelling, adhere).

Before we present our solution, let us briefly discuss the meaning of the name John. It is derived from Hebrew and literally means: favored/preferred by Yahweh. This is another reason why John is the “disciple whom Jesus loved.” In paternal sovereignty and special love for John, Jesus adopted him while he himself was suffering on the cross. How much must John have suffered in his love for his Lord?   

As we have already pointed out in another script, the adoption of John is foreshadowed in the adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh by Jacob. And just as the patriarch preferred his youngest son above all his other sons, and later also preferred his grandson Ephraim above Manasseh, so Jesus also prefers John above all his other disciples.   

The Greek word meno, meaning “to remain,” actually provides the crucial clue. John has a lasting and inseparable relationship with Jesus. He was already following Jesus even before the Lord, from a human perspective, had noticed him, for Jesus only turned around when he realized that someone was following him. And so he asked “the clingers” (John and Andrew), “What are you looking for?” And promptly came the counter-question: “Where are you staying?” The question should not be understood too narrowly. John and Andrew were not concerned with a specific place, because discipleship is not static, it is dynamic and therefore characterized by constant movement. On that day, John and Andrew wanted to be wherever the Lord would be. In this way, John foreshadows the 144,000, for they too never leave Jesus' side.    

Those who know us (the authors) know that we are passionate players, and we especially love puzzles. But before we tire our minds at our desks, we get plenty of exercise in the fresh air and play hide-and-seek. We are looking for the seven fishermen. What motivates us in our search is the question that constantly nags at us: What are the names of the two unknown fishermen?     

We must admit that we already have a slight idea, and that is why we are now setting off immediately to visit the seven churches of Revelation one after the other. And because the fishermen and the big fish are all Jews without exception, we are taking the direct route to Laodicea according to God's itinerary, for the letter addressed to them refers to the first FEAST OF THE LORD, the Passover. Who might have been hiding there? In the letter, we hear the harsh words: Because you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked... And so we call out: One, two, and three, Peter, we've got thee.  

It was not difficult to find Peter in Laodicea. Anyone who presents themselves naked in public is bound to attract attention, or not?    

We are heading west, to Ephesus, according to God's timetable, and there we will search for the twin. We have long suspected that Thomas has something to do with the stories about twins in the Old Testament. What we have already found out about him is that he looks a little older than the one in heaven. Thomas the twin is the firstborn according to the flesh, and long ago he abandoned his first love, which is why the Lord removed his lampstand from the midst. The twin became the proverbial “doubting Thomas.” In our days, the LORD reminisces: “I remember the affection of your youth, the love of your betrothal, your walking after me...” Now Thomas also believes: Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah of ISRAEL, who died and rose again to save him too. One, two, and three, Thomas, we've got thee.  

Now we're off to the north, to Smyrna. Before we leave, we are given a tip to look for a certain fig tree. That shouldn't be too difficult, because there is only one fig tree in this region, and it should be in full bloom at this time of year. Incidentally, the name of this fisherman gives us a second clue: Nathanael – given by God. What does God give us? Or to put it more directly: What can only God give? Of course, eternal life. In the letter to Smyrna, the Lord delivers the promise in black and white: “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” One, two, and three, Nathanael, we've got thee.  

And where are we going now? According to God's timetable (Leviticus 23), we are heading east to Philadelphia, because Pentecost is just around the corner and we are looking for one of the sons of Zebedee there. The only question is, which one: James or John? James was probably the older of the two, because the repeated phrase, “James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John,” gives us the decisive clue. James is therefore the firstborn according to the flesh and should therefore also be found in Philadelphia. Bingo! One, two, and three, James, we've got thee. .

James, the son of Zebedee, as we have just explained, is the firstborn, and so the simplest solution is to take John as the one who, from an earthly perspective, is the second-born. This is not a question of spiritual position, but of earthly facts. James was born first and then John, so the second-born must be found in Sardis.     

To deepen our understanding, we refer once again to the last seven letters of the New Testament, which we have assigned chronologically to the seven churches, see Table 4 at:  https://simson-project.com/struktur_der_bibel.html It follows that the second letter of John is addressed to Sardis.  

Sardis means red. Edom means also red. And Edom: That is Esau. And it was precisely this Esau who once held the right of the firstborn, but despised this right and sold it to Jacob, leaving him only with the right of the secondborn. John, who is by nature a secondborn, writes his second letter to the twin who became the secondborn through his own actions and has since been given the nickname Edom: red. One, two, and three, John, we've got thee.  

And now: ponder, ponder, study, where are the last two fishermen's body? According to God's calendar, we must first travel to Pergamum, to the great Day of Atonement, which is one of the three mandatory Jewish festivals. There we must locate the sixth fisherman. Then, with great anticipation, we will travel to Thyatira, to the Feast of Tabernacles, to identify the last fisherman.

We don't want to keep our readers in suspense any longer. So, let's make it short. In Pergamum, one fisherman bravely stands up to his adversaries, while in Thyatira, another sits on the throne and smashes a lot of china, because he resents above all those who have rebelled against God's justice. In the early days, Thyatira is like a bull in a china shop, with many useless clay pots being smashed and thrown away.

And now we come to the names: A certain Jacob is staying in Pergamum. He argues with the adversaries from the synagogue of Satan. One, two, and three, Jacob, we have got thee. Thanks to Jacobs efforts, the other one in Thyatira can now ascend the throne and enforce God's justice. His name is Judah. One, two, and three, Judah, we've got thee.  

We would like to underscore our interpretation with a verse from the prophet Isaiah.

And I, the LORD, will

bring forth a seed out of Jacob,

and out of Judah a possessor of my mountains;

and my chosen shall possess it,

and my servants shall dwell there.

God keeps the promises he made to Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham.

The details of the battle that James wages in Pergamos can be found in his letter to the 12 tribes in dispersion. And in the letter of Jude, the author describes how judgment will be executed upon the ungodly. Between the letters of James and Jude, we find much study material about the end times. None of the seven are catholic (in the sense of general) letters; they are Jewish letters written by Jews for Jews.    

Berlin, November 30, 2025