Miraculous Draught of Fishes
(Luke 5: 1–1 1)

Christ had gone aboard the fishing boat of Peter to preach to the people from offshore, and afterwards he told Peter and his companions to lower their nets. Peter doubted that they would make a catch but the nets came up so full of fish that James and John who were in another boat nearby had to help bring them in. They were all astonished. "Do not be afraid", Christ said, "from now on you will be catching men." The scene is the Sea of Galilee (or Lake of Gennesaret). The cartoon by Raphael (Victoria and Albert Museum, London ) shows Christ in the boat. Peter kneels before him; behind Peter is Andrew, his hands outspread in amazement. James and John haul in the nets. In John's gospel (21:1–8) the episode is placed after the crucifixion and treated as one of the "appearances" of Christ. In that version, which is somewhat rare in art, the Savior stands on the shore, not in the boat, and Peter impetuously plunges into the sea in his haste to approach him. The scene somewhat resembles Christ Walking upon the Waves, in which Peter likewise steps into the water from a boat. In the latter Christ is standing on the water, not on the shore.