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Restoration Breakfast on the Beach

“I’m going fishing.”

Peter didn’t know what to do, so he returned to the only thing he did know, fishing. Even though Peter had seen the resurrected Lord, his three-time denial of Jesus still haunted him. In the changing morning light, about a hundred yards from shore, a man next to a charcoal fire on the beach, called out to them in the boat, “Children, have you any food?”

They answered him, “No.”

“Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.”

Everything about this scene was familiar. Three years earlier, at the beginning of Jesus’s ministry, Jesus told Peter to cast his nets into the deep after another fruitless night of fishing. Then, like now, Jesus divinely rearranged the fish under the surface of the water and filled their nets to overflowing.

John remembered and exclaimed, “It’s the Lord!” Peter quickly put on some clothes, dove into the water, and swam to the shore to meet him.

As Peter drew near to the campfire he saw Jesus had laid out some fish over the charcoals. Instinctively, he held out his hands to warm himself, and he remembered the night he had denied Jesus. He warmed his hands over a different charcoal fire. That fire was in the courtyard of the high priest, as Jesus was standing trial. It was there that instead of dying with the Lord, as Peter had sworn he would do, he denied ever knowing Jesus.

Jesus asked Peter three times, once for every denial, if he loved him. The Greek words Jesus used for love help us understand what Jesus was really asking.

“Peter, do you love me unconditionally (agape)?”

Peter replied, “I have brotherly affection for you (phileo).”

A second time, “Peter do you love me supremely (agape)?”

“Jesus, I really like you a lot (phileo)!”

Then Jesus changed the verb. “Peter, do you like me (phileo)?”

Peter was grieved when he lowered the bar of his love and he appealed to Jesus’ omniscience. “Lord, you know that I love you with brotherly affection.” Peter once boasted he loved Jesus more than all the rest, now he knew better than to trust in himself and hesitated to claim ultimate, unconditional love.

But Jesus did know Peter’s heart, and gave the fisher of men the new title of “Pastor.” The repeated elements of the charcoal fire, and the near-breaking net of fish, were reminders to Peter of Jesus’ sovereignty over his story.

Is your life haunted by the sins of your past? It’s often from the humiliation of our failures, we’re humbled and better equipped to serve others. Do you love Jesus? Maybe, like Peter, you don’t trust yourself to claim true love anymore. Can you at least say you like him a lot?

While Peter’s devotion fell short of what he claimed it would be, the Lord saw his heart and restored and recommissioned him. Jesus’ parting message to Peter was, “Follow me.” No matter what sins lay in your past, you too can come to warm yourself by Jesus’ restoration fire and then go out, and follow him. That’s enough for you to be of use to the kingdom, both now and in the future.

Food for Thought

1. History tells us that Peter did eventually die for the Lord. At his request, he was crucified upside down so as not to be crucified in the same manner as his Lord. Knowing that, do you think that Peter finally learned his lesson about loving Jesus supremely?
2. How does Peter’s restoration story encourage you in the areas of your life where you struggle to love Jesus above other things?
3. How do the repeated elements of the catch of fish, the fire on the beach, and the bestowing of a new title, bring this story full circle in Peter’s life in ministry? What repeated elements in your life do you see God demonstrating his faithfulness to you, and your story?