Then, as soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread.
John 21:10
Peter may have swum to the shore that day for many of reasons. One may have been that he had yet to have a private moment with Jesus to discuss his betrayal. He could have hurried, simply to have a moment alone with Jesus. When he arrived at the shore, he was wet, and it was a cold early morning.
As he walked up to Jesus, Peter would have smelled the fish and saw the fire. This type of fire, a “fire of coals,” is only mentioned twice in the New Testament: here in this passage and the night Peter denied Christ when he warmed his hands on a fire of coals. One cannot help but wonder if Peter was not reminded of that night as he warmed his hands around this early morning fire. It could have been precisely the reason Jesus made that fire of coals. He was recreating the moment.
We all know that sometimes we blow it. But the good news is that our failures are not final. The Resurrected Jesus lives to bring restoration—for Peter, for you, and for me. When we follow Jesus and fail, we have the opportunity to go through the situation again. The Resurrected Jesus recreates the moment, not to throw our failures in our faces, but to help us to confront them and conquer them.
Jesus recreates the moment because He is not only interested in forgiving Peter but also in restoring Peter. Forgiveness releases us from the debt; restoration brings us back to wholeness and purpose. When the moment is recreated and we successfully apply the strength given us to do the right thing, we become conquerors.
When a tire is losing air, one can submerge the tire underwater and find the leak. Then, once the repair has been made, the best way to test if wholeness has been restored is to plunge the tire back underwater.
Every person has experienced defeat, situations where we failed to measure up to our best intentions. When a similar circumstance comes around again, do you swim toward Christ or hide in the boat? The Resurrected Christ is waiting for you on the shore, not to condemn but to empower you to overcome.