When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish that you have just caught." So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." Now none of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish.

When the disciples dragged that catch to shore, look at what was already there. Verse 9. "When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread." Jesus already had breakfast cooking. He didn't need their 153 fish. The catch was never about provision. It was about showing Peter that fruitfulness still flows from the voice of Jesus even after failure. But the catch wasn't the point. The point was what was waiting on the shore, and what was waiting on the shore was a meal.

Now I need to slow down here because this is the heart of what I want you to see today.

Verse 12. Jesus says, "Come and have breakfast." That's it. No lecture. No rebuke. No "Peter, we need to talk about what happened." Just... come and eat. And before you move past that too quickly, you need to understand what this meal is. The last meal these disciples shared with Jesus was the Upper Room, and that night ended in betrayal, denial, and scattering. The table broke that night. Now here in John 21, verse 13, Jesus took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. Took and gave. That's the language of the feeding of the 5,000, that's the language of the Last Supper. Jesus is not just cooking breakfast. He's re-establishing a table. He's saying through bread and fish what He hasn't said yet in words... you still have a place with Me.

But there's something else here, and it's incredible. Look at verse 9 again. "They saw a charcoal fire." The Greek word is anthrakia, and that word only appears twice in the entire New Testament. Right here in John 21:9 and in John 18:18, the night Peter denied Jesus. "Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them."

Two charcoal fires in the whole New Testament. One at the denial. One at the restoration.

Jesus built this fire on purpose. He recreated the scene of Peter's worst night, and when the smell of burning charcoal hit Peter's nostrils, his body remembered before his mind could catch up. That scent was in the air the night he cursed and swore he didn't know Jesus. And Jesus didn't avoid it. He walked Peter right back into it. Not to punish him, but to heal him. Because you cannot be restored from a failure you refuse to re-enter. You cannot heal what you will not revisit.

But here's what makes it grace and not cruelty. The first charcoal fire was surrounded by accusers, by servants of the high priest, by strangers pointing fingers in the dark. This charcoal fire is surrounded by bread, and fish, and the voice of the risen Christ saying, "Come and have breakfast." Same fire. Different host.

The table has to come before the task. The meal has to come before the mission. And some of you right now have been trying to serve from a table you haven't sat at yet, trying to pour out for God without letting God pour into you first. That's how nets break. But tomorrow, we'll see what happens when the meal is over, because Jesus is about to ask the question that changes everything.

Spend ten minutes today in quiet with the Lord, not asking for anything, not confessing anything, just receiving. Let Him feed you before you try to serve anyone else.