In John 21, the risen Jesus makes his disciples breakfast on the beach — and John names the fire: "they saw a charcoal fire in place" (21:9). That word for charcoal fire appears exactly twice in the whole New Testament. The other time is John 18, where Peter stands warming his hands over a charcoal fire while he denies Jesus three times. Jesus built this fire on purpose. He takes Peter back to the smell and the smoke of his worst failure — and that's where he restores him: three denials by one fire, three "do you love me?" questions by the other. And notice that every question comes with a commission — feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep. Jesus doesn't just forgive Peter; he puts him back to work, and the man restored at this fire becomes the preacher of Acts 2. Jesus doesn't pretend our failures never happened. He walks us back into them, deals with them in grace, and heals us right there.
