Iron & Altar

When they climbed out on shore, they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread. Jesus said to them: come, have breakfast. This was now the third time Jesus was revealed to his disciples after being raised from the dead.

The disciples have gone back to fishing. Peter said "I am going fishing" and the others followed. They have returned to what they knew before Jesus, because they do not yet know what to do after him. They fished all night and caught nothing.

At dawn, a man stands on the shore and calls out: cast the net over the right side. They do, and the net fills with 153 fish - so many they cannot haul it in. John recognizes him first: it is the Lord. Peter, impulsive as always, jumps into the water and swims to shore.

And there is Jesus, cooking breakfast over a charcoal fire. Come, have breakfast. No lecture about their return to fishing. No rebuke for Peter's denial. No performance review. Just fish on a fire and bread on the ground and the God of the universe saying: sit down and eat.

Brother, this may be the most important scene in the Gospels for understanding how Jesus leads men. He does not meet them in the temple. He meets them at the job site. He does not open with theology. He opens with food. He does not address the failure first. He feeds them first. Come, have breakfast. Everything else can wait until your stomach is full.

The charcoal fire is not incidental. The last time Peter stood at a charcoal fire, he denied Jesus three times. Jesus brings him back to the same kind of fire - not to punish the memory but to redeem it. The place of your worst failure can become the place of your deepest restoration, but only if someone loved you enough to build a new fire there.

In Acts, Peter and John are arrested for preaching. The authorities note that they are uneducated, ordinary men, and they are amazed. The Resurrection does not require credentials. It requires the encounter. Peter had breakfast with the Risen Christ. That was his seminary.

If you have gone back to fishing - retreated to the old life because you do not know what the new one looks like yet - listen for the voice from the shore. Cast the net on the other side. And when you recognize him, do not wait. Jump in. Come to breakfast. He is not angry. He is cooking for you.

Lord, I have gone back to fishing. I went back to what I knew because I did not know what came next. But you are standing on the shore with breakfast ready. I am coming. I recognize you. Feed me, and then tell me what to do. Amen.