What was the Origin of Number 153?

Abstract

The number 153 in John 21 : 11 is the numerical value of two key words of the Greek title “the Mother of the Lord.” This interpretation is based on serious arguments, above all on the analogy between Luke 1 : 43 and John 21 : 2. There are two key clues, or patterns, in John 21 : 2 which help to encrypt the Marian dignity as “the Mother of the Lord”: the primary pattern 3 + 2 and the secondary pattern 5 + 2. These patterns were very well known and they were used in the main structure of Matthew, composition of the Miracle Chapters (Mt 8 : 1–9 : 34), the Matthean genealogy, Feeding the Multitude and John 21 : 9–13. In Matthew and John there are indirect analogies to the Greek title “the Mother of the Lord,” too. There is no doubt that at the beginning of Christianity Mary was merely called the “Mother of Jesus” or “His Mother.” It was much later in the apostolic times that the title “the Mother of the Lord” was emphasised. The view on Jesus’ resurrection was changed as well. In the early creedal formula the resurrection of Jesus was seen as the act of God who resurrected Jesus. Not until the Assumption of Mary was it perceived as an act of Jesus himself, who raised from the dead. The Assumption of Mary explains the change of the theological view on Mary and the resurrection of Jesus. Her body was raised from the dead, just like the body of Jesus, Her Son, the Lord, so She really is the Mother of the Lord. John’s patterns emphasise the dignity of Mary as “the Mother of the Lord” in the Gospels and they prove that Matthew, Luke and John knew about the Assumption of Mary.

Keywords

• Number 153, Mother of the Lord, the structure of the Gospel according to Matthew, Matthean genealogy, Matthean Infancy Narrative, Miracle Chapters in Matthew 8 : 1–9 : 34, Feeding the Multitude, the composition of the Gospel according to John, Jn 21 : 9–1