The smell of charcoal enveloped him as he stepped closer to the fire. And in a rush, it all came back. He was no longer standing on a beach, instead he was sitting around a charcoal fire outside the home of the Caiaphas, the high priest. And it was there that he did the unthinkable: he denied Christ. Not once, not twice, but three times.
The emotions welled up inside of him, he blinked and was back on the shore of Galilee, and Jesus was calling his name.
It’s interesting that the term “charcoal fire” is only used twice in the bible.
The first is found in the story of Jesus’ arrest in John 18:15–18 Simon Peter followed Jesus, as did another of the disciples. That other disciple was acquainted with the high priest, so he was allowed to enter the high priest’s courtyard with Jesus. Peter had to stay outside the gate. Then the disciple who knew the high priest spoke to the woman watching at the gate, and she let Peter in. The woman asked Peter, “You’re not one of that man’s disciples, are you?” “No,” he said, “I am not.” Because it was cold, the household servants and the guards had made a charcoal fire. They stood around it, warming themselves, and Peter stood with them, warming himself.
The only other time we see the term used is in the scripture that was read for us earlier, John 21:7–9 Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and headed to shore. The others stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net to the shore, for they were only about a hundred yards from shore. When they got there, they found breakfast waiting for them—fish cooking over a charcoal fire, and some bread.
Now those are not the only times in the New Testament that fire is mentioned, or even an open fire is mentioned, or even a fire on a beach is mentioned. But those are the only two occasions that that it specifically indicates that the fire was a charcoal fire.
We are told on the website, Bible Hub: The term “anthrakia” refers to a charcoal fire or a heap of burning coals. It is used in the New Testament to describe a specific type of fire, typically one used for cooking or warming.
And we have to wonder if there is a significance to why John specifies not just that it was a fire, but the specific type of fire it was. A charcoal fire. Perhaps John mentions the type of fire because it has significance.
My Dad used to tell the story of the chief mate who returned to the ship one evening after having been ashore and having a little too much to drink. The next morning when he was on the bridge, he was upset to discover that the captain had written in the ship’s log, “The chief mate arrived back on board drunk.”
The mate was a little upset, this was a permanent record and protested to the Captain that it had never happened before, and wouldn’t happen again. The captain wouldn’t be swayed, he said the log was there to record any unusual events.
The next evening, after the captain returned from being ashore the chief mate entered in the log, “Tonight the captain arrived back on board sober.”
And so, we need to wonder, if the fact that it wasn’t just any fire that is mentioned but a particular type of fire is significant in our story. They both involved Peter and were part of the story where his life was dramatically impacted by the events that transpired around the fire.
This is week two of our Fireside Tale series as we look at different tales from the Bible that involved or happened around a fire.
Last week, Pastor Deborah spoke about the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and their encounter with the fire in the furnace.
And as Deb mentioned last week, when we planned this series, we had no idea we would be preaching in the midst of the LA fires or the tragic fire in Sackville last week.
This morning we aren’t just looking at what happened at the fire, but we will also be looking at what brought them to the fire.
The story was read earlier, and it happened after Jesus had been crucified and then rose from the dead. And it involved Peter, Jesus and the other disciples, but it wasn’t all of the disciples who were there.
In John 21:2 we are told,, John 21:2 Several of the disciples were there—Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples. If we wanted to speculate on who the other two disciples were one good guess would be Andrew, because he was Peter’s brother and fishing partner and maybe Phillip because he had been listed alongside of Andrew before.
And they were kind of hanging out, talking. Today if they were doing that in a church we’d say they were “Fellowshipping”. It seems like today Christians get guilt feelings if they aren’t doing something churchy, so they don’t just hang out and have fun they fellowship.
And it was at that point that we read in John 21:3 Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.” “We’ll come, too,” they all said.
It Started When Peter Looked Back
So, there it was, Jesus had risen from the dead, appeared to the disciples, had commissioned them to his service and given them a vital task but nothing was happening, for whatever reason Christ didn’t have them doing anything and it was getting on Peter’s nerves.
From everything we know about Peter we’d have to say he was a type “A” personality. I was in traffic with a friend of mine one day and I mentioned that in relation to the traffic that I was a type “A” personality. So, my friend asked what other types there were and the response was that in the eyes of a type “A” there were Type “A’s” and the people who are in the way.
Well, that was definitely Peter, and if there wasn’t something to do then he was going to make something to do
And so there they were, doing nothing, watching the boats getting ready, the sails going up, the nets being prepared and I can almost hear Peter say, “I don’t know about you, but I’m getting tired of sitting around here twiddling my thumbs, I’m going fishing.” And it was just the spark they needed. “You’re right, count me in Peter” “I’m coming to, what are we waiting for?”
Now I don’t know what it is about Fishing. I have never been able to figure it out. I came out of High School with fairly high marks, I’d been accepted at Kings, could have stepped into management training with Tip Top, instead I joined a rag tag collection of would be adventurers on the Rali 2, a mid-water trawler based out of Paspébiac Quebec.
I mean we all had experience in selling clothes, and advertising, running hotels and renting cars, managing restaurants, driving dump truck, being policeman and digging graves. We weren’t short on experience, just fishing experience.
But fishing we went. At the end of our first summer the boat went to dry dock for some modifications, and we all went back to some semi respectable professions.
But whenever you saw one of the boys, they had a gleam in their eyes and they would talk about sailing in the spring. I’d occasionally catch Dad muttering, “Just sitting here a wishing, I could go a fishing.” We were all making as good, if not better money, we weren’t seasick, we were home, we weren’t cold and wet, and yet when the call came in the spring, we all gave up what we were doing to go a fishing.
How come? I don’t know, maybe the independence, or the sense of conquering nature, I really don’t know, but there was some type of hold. And so, the story continues
John 21:3 Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.” “We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night.
What surprises me about this passage is that it says They went out in their boat The New King James version is a little different because it says, John 21:3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.”
They said to him, “We are going with you also.” They went out and immediately got into the boat, . . .
There hasn’t been any mention of them fishing now for a couple of years and the boat was already to sail. What do you know about that?
Whenever we went back to go fishing it took the ten of us a couple of days to get the equipment ready to use, and these guys go down jump in the boat and sail away.
To me, it tells me only one thing, this wasn’t spontaneous. So, what does this tell us? That he was no longer just looking back, Peter Went Back.
During the days while Peter was waiting, he must have been mending twine, fixing equipment, getting the boat ready for the water.
But he wasn’t just thinking about doing it, now he was doing it. I’m sure that he thought it was harmless. He was just passing time. It was just giving him something to do. Billy Sunday was the Billy Graham of the turn of the century, and he made this statement, “When a man, after starting to be a Christian looks back, it’s only a question of time until he goes back.”
It would kind of remind you of what Jesus said in Luke 9:62 But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”
The day that Peter dug out his boat, he stated that he wasn’t happy with the present.
The day that Peter began getting his gear ready, was the day that he showed his intentions that he planned on returning to yesterday. Whether he knew it or not, it was only a matter of time until he sailed.
And the day that Peter sailed he stepped back into yesterday and stated that he couldn’t or wouldn’t accept what today had to offer.
People do that today. Maybe not in the physical sense, but they do it in the emotional sense and a spiritual sense. Why I remember back in ’04, why back then Rev. So and so was the Pastor here and we used to have hundreds of people, things sure aren’t the way they used to be. We don’t have that problem yet, but someday the temptation will be there.
Yes, the Holy Spirit moved yesterday, and yes wonderful things happened yesterday, but this is now and we need to stay focused on that. In the book of 1 John we read 1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. Not sit in the light or stand in the light, or meditate on the light, but walk. Movement, progression, going forward. You ever hear “Still water runs deep”? Not always. Folks, a lot of time still water is just plain stagnant, and so are immovable Christians.
Yesterday is gone. It’s done. You can’t change even one aspect of it by replaying it over and over in your mind, and it will not come back. As Lee Iacocca said “Yesterday ended at midnight.”
I’m not saying we have to give up our memories; I’m just saying we ought not to live there. As I’ve said before, the past makes a great classroom but a lousy living room.
The story continues, John 21:3–6 Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.” “We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night. At dawn Jesus was standing on the beach, but the disciples couldn’t see who he was. He called out, “Fellows, have you caught any fish?” “No,” they replied. Then he said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it.
And then Peter Came Back They didn’t catch a thing. Man, as a former commercial fisherman, let me try to put this as eloquent as possible; There ain’t nothing more depressing than catching nothing.
Now a lot of things happen suddenly. Jesus is standing on the shore looking out at them. There’s nothing miraculous here. The fisherman in that area often fished close to the shore and so Jesus would have no problem hollering out to them.
Why didn’t they recognize him? Maybe it wasn’t fully light yet, or there may have been a mist in the air or maybe they were just tired, but regardless, notice I didn’t say irregardless, of the why they didn’t recognize him, they didn’t.
And he hollers out to them, “Let your net down on the other side”. You gotta wonder, “Did he see the fish?” It’s possible, there is nothing here to indicate that it was a miracle, but then again maybe it was, maybe Christ created these fish just for the disciples to catch. It really isn’t all that important or that relevant.
What is relevant is that he provided for them, either through a natural means or a supernatural means, the end result was still the same. At this point I don’t know if it was catching all the fish and John remembered that it happened before, maybe he looked at his friends and said, “Hey guys this is like Déjà vu all over again.
This is just like back in Luke chapter 5 verse 7.” And that made him realize that it was Jesus. Or maybe the fog lifted, or the dawn began to break through, whatever it was John turned to Peter and said “It’s the Lord!” Well, that was all Peter needed to hear, he grabbed his tunic, pulled it on and jumped overboard, and swam the hundred yards to shore.
Now it may seem a little strange to us that he put on his outer garment before he jumped over the side, but it was a show of respect. He had probably been working in just a loincloth and that wasn’t enough to wear when you approached a teacher. This was so like Peter, good old impetuous Peter, leaving the other six to do all the work. But when Jesus commanded him to bring some fish, he rushed down to the beach to drag the net in all by himself.
Now if we had of kept reading you would have discovered this interesting note in John 21:11 So Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore. There were 153 large fish, and yet the net hadn’t torn.
If you’ve ever read this passage, did you ever wonder about the significance of the 153 fish? No, well, others have. There have been all kinds of theories through the years about why that number was mentioned, it doesn’t matter. You see, we can get so caught up in really trivial stuff and miss the fact that we need to be obedient to Christ today.
When Peter saw Jesus, he was willing to come back to the present and to leave the past behind him. We need to recognize that Jesus wasn’t just there 2000 years ago, but is here today, January 19, 2025.
Wow. 2025. In just another 500 years we will discover if man is still alive and if woman can survive. Sorry, that was a tangent.
Not yesterday, or last month or last year but here today. And today is when he wants you to serve him.
And here comes the question.
Everyone has finished their breakfast and Jesus looked at Peter and this is what he said, John 21:15 After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”
Who do you think Jesus meant when he said these?
Personally, I don’t think he meant anybody. I don’t think he was talking about a “who” I think he was talking about a what. He wasn’t asking Peter if he loved him more than he loved his friends. That seems a little juvenile.
And I don’t think he was asking Peter if he loved him more than the other guys loved him.
I think that what Jesus was saying to Peter was, “Once I called you from a scene very much like this, way back in Luke chapter 5 verse 3, and you followed me.
But here you are back in your old life. So, Peter, are you going to abandon me? Are you leaving the adventure? Do the old ties still tug at your heart? Peter, why are you here? Do you want to stay fishing, or is your love for me greater than your love for your boat, and your net, and your independence?
Is your love for me greater than these things? Greater than your yesterdays? Greater than all of these things that represent your past? Greater than your boat and all your gear?
“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” And Peter looked at Jesus and said “Yes, Lord, you know I do!” and Jesus said, “Peter, is that your final answer?”
You say no, he didn’t. Oh yes, he did, maybe not in those words, but he asked Peter the same question 2 more times.
Peter had denied Jesus three times, around a charcoal fire, and here around another charcoal fire Jesus is allowing him the chance to confess his love three times. Aren’t you glad we serve a God of the second chance?
Jesus is asking you the very same question today.
“Will you serve me today?” Not “Did you serve me yesterday?” or “Will you serve me tomorrow?” But “Will you serve me today?”
Remember we learn from yesterday and we can dream for tomorrow, but we need to live for today. Isaiah 43:19 For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.