APPEARANCE ON LAKE OF GALILEE.

601

their scene of action as yet. They could not begin their CHAP. LXIV. great Apostolic work while their Master was still on earth, and, besides, they needed not only many counsels before He left them, but the power which the Holy Spirit, who was not yet given, could impart. When they returned, to attend the Feast of Pentecost, seven weeks after the Resurrection, they would receive their full heavenly consecration.

The future was still unknown even to the Apostles, and hence, though they held themselves at the command of their Lord, the interval before He required their permanent service, saw them, once more, at their former callings. They seem to have had no idea that this visit to their homes would be the last they would ever make to them as such, or that, within a few weeks, they would remove to Jerusalem, to stay there for a time, and then wander forth to all lands, and see their native country, rarely, or never again. But the long attendance on their Master had prepared them for finally leaving everything for Him, and had fitted them, unconsciously, for the duties that lay before them.

Simon Peter, Thomas the Twin, Nathanael of Cana, John and James, sons of Zabdai, and two whose names are not given, apparently because they were not Apostles, had, among others, betaken themselves to the well-known shores of the Lake of Galilee, and had quietly set themselves, once more, to the occupation familiar to most of them—that of fishermen. They had been out on the Lake all night, but had caught nothing, and were rowing to land in the early dawn, when they saw on the shore a stranger, whom they could not recognize in the twilight, as any one they knew. It was nothing strange that a person should come to them. as they were landing, to buy their catch. The simple habits of the East, moreover, made it common to sell even single fish, which were prepared and cooked on the spot, in the open air, by the buyer. They thought nothing, therefore, of the stranger presently asking them, with a kindly familiarity not unusual in antiquity in addressing the humbler classes, 26" Children, have ye anything to eat?"; as if wish- 20 Meyer, Kom ing to buy for his morning meal. "Nothing at all," cried the fishermen.

iii. 573. Matt. 28. 16.

John 21.1-24.