4: Charcoal Fire Experiences
His mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning.
THE CHURCH OF THE Primacy of Saint Peter is a modest Franciscan chapel located at Tabgha on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. My wife, Denise, and I have been there twice. It’s a holy place. It’s here where Jesus reinstated Peter after Peter had denied knowing Jesus three times.
The scene opens as the disciples, who were fishing, saw Jesus on the shore at Tabgha preparing breakfast. I love how specific the text is. It says that Jesus was using a charcoal fire.
There is one other charcoal fire mentioned in Scripture, and that is in John 18:18. It’s the fire where Peter stopped to warm himself the night he denied Jesus.
Charcoal fires have a distinct smell to them. In my memory, I can smell it as I write these words.
What did Jesus do? He used one of Peter’s senses to bring him back to the night of his denial. As Peter smelled this fire, he would have relived the events that happened around the other fire. One can only imagine the battle of the mind Peter was fighting as he dealt with the shame of his betrayal.
Jesus was deliberate in how He gently, and yet firmly, reinstated Peter. Three times Jesus asks, “Do you love me?” Three times Peter responds, “Yes, you know I do.” Three times Jesus calls Peter to serve Him.
We know Peter was used in a supernatural way to begin establishing the church from this point forward. I wonder how many times Peter would either return to Tabgha physically or in his mind as he faced tremendous odds.
If you feel that you have let Jesus down or failed Him, let Him reinstate you. Ask for His forgiveness. Trust in His forgiveness, forgive yourself, and move ahead with your Rabbi.
My friend, you are accepted and loved by Jesus. There is nothing that can separate you from the love of the Father. Lamentations 3:23 says that God gives us new mercies each day. He forgives and forgets, and today He wants you to move forward in strength and newness.
Questions
- As you reflect on Peter’s charcoal fire experience, have you had similar experiences that bring you back to a time in the past?
- In what ways do you need to be reinstated with Jesus?
- What did Peter need to face in order to move forward? What do you need to face in order to move forward in your life?
- Who do you need to forgive?