Charcoal Fires--A Reflection on Mercy and Mission

As I sat at the kitchen table staring into the backyard at the extinguished ashes in the grill from a BBQ the other night, I noticed a couple of unburned charcoal briquettes.  Leave it to the Holy Spirit to prod me into a reflection on charcoal!!!

There are two charcoal fires in the Gospel of John. The first is mentioned at John 18:18, the charcoal fire in the high priest’s courtyard around which the slaves and guards warmed themselves when the gatekeeper says to Peter, “You are not one of this man’s disciples are you?” and Peter says, “I am not.” Questioned like that two more times, Peter, now warming himself at the same fire, denies being a disciple of Jesus two more times.

The second charcoal fire is the one on the shore of the Sea of Tiberius*, apparently prepared by the risen Lord Jesus (21:9), where Peter is again questioned three times.  But this time he is questioned by Jesus, “Do you love me?” and the disciple now affirms his allegiance three times.

So in one place a charcoal fire is the setting for a threefold denial of discipleship, and in the other place a charcoal fire is the setting for a threefold affirmation of discipleship. Was this a coincidence?  I think not. The evangelist John uses that detail to help us link those episodes together. And who is to say that the association does not go back to Jesus Himself, helping Peter to realize that the denier is being given a fresh start in his relationship to the Lord.

I can’t help but to put myself in Peter’s shoes.  There have been times (probably more than 3!) when I’ve denied Christ, and just as many times when Christ—through the Sacrament of Reconciliation—has forgiven me. 

And this seaside scenario is not only a matter of astounding forgiveness and mercy; it is also a commissioning: “Feed my lambs; feed my sheep.” The Good Shepherd is enlisting His errant sheep in His own work of shepherding.  Peter is given an opportunity to demonstrate the love he professed by sharing in the mission of the risen Lord.  Ultimately, it’s going to be a matter of being led where he does not want to go. Loving the head shepherd will entail following Him even to a death like His.  But he need not fear. The Lord stands there full of risen life, a life Peter (and we) can also share already in the act of following.

In our own small way, each of us who claims to be a disciple of Jesus is invited into that same act of trust with mercy, as people forgiven and assigned our particular task.

*The Sea of Tiberias went by a few other names in the New Testament, as well: Lake Gennesaret, and the Sea of Galilee.  In the Old Testament, it was called the Sea of Chinneroth.