John 21:1-14

They are back home at the Sea of Galilee – Peter and six other disciples – after the nightmare of Jerusalem: the betrayals, the trial, the crucifixion, and the terror about what would happen next. Here a seaside breakfast cooked over a charcoal fire would have been both familiar and comforting to these distraught fishermen.

A charcoal fire is mentioned only twice in the entire New Testament, both times in relationship to Peter.[i] Back in Jerusalem, when Jesus had been arrested and taken to the courtyard of the high priest, Peter was with a group standing around a charcoal fire as they warmed themselves. It was there that Peter was identified as a follower of Jesus, something which he publicly denied.[ii] Now we read of a second charcoal fire, this along the Sea of Galilee. The Gospel writer, John, is clearly making a connection, and Peter knows it. What happens next is a conversion. Peter is converted. The Greek word for conversion is literally a turning around or turning in a new direction. We witness a conversion, yet another conversion in Peter.

Everyone is in a state of conversion, for better or ill, their entire life. No one of us is ever fully formed… which could invite our patience, and compassion, and humility as we deal with our own selves and with others. Everyone is in a state of conversion, for better or ill, their entire life. Jesus, here along the Sea of Galilee, explicitly addresses the disciples as children: “Children,” he says to them. It is the only time, anywhere in the Gospels, where Jesus explicitly addresses the disciples, these grown men, as “Children.” The disciples are as children, in such a vulnerable and needy state. It is such a disarming turning point, a conversion, for Peter and for these other hopeless, hapless disciples.

So for us all. We all, regardless of our age, are children of God. We are all, always, in a very vulnerable, needy state. Everyone is in a state of conversion, for better or ill, our entire life. In the mean time every one of us shows up poorly in life, at least some of the time, as Jesus knows, and as we should remember.

[i] John 18:18; 21:9.

[ii] John 13:37.