John 21:15: Jesus said to Peter, “Feed my lambs.”

There are two charcoal fires in the last chapters of John’s gospel, and Peter is at both of them. He warms himself by the charcoal fire in the court of the high priest. There he denies Jesus, and when Jesus looks at him across the courtyard he goes out and weeps bitterly. When Jesus rises from the dead, Peter joins Jesus for breakfast beside the sea at another charcoal fire. Two fires, two altars, two loyalties.

For several days, Peter must have thought that rebuking glance across the courtyard was the last time he would see the face of Jesus. But the resurrection is the good news of second chances, and third, and fourth.

Jesus doesn’t stay dead, and Peter does not stay estranged. Resurrection means reconciliation and reunion. Resurrection brings another charcoal fire, and a meal with Jesus.

The second fire is the occasion for a re-commissioning. Peter renounced his apostleship in the high priest’s courtyard, but at breakfast Jesus reinstates him. Jesus questions Peter about his love, and also commands him three times: Feed My lambs . . . . Tend My sheep . . . Feed My sheep. Peter is reunited with Jesus so that he can minister with Jesus in His flock.

Our Eucharist today is a breakfast Eucharist. Jesus invites us to deny our denials, betray our betrayals, and join him for breakfast. And Jesus sends us out to feed His sheep and to tend His lambs. Jesus feeds us His own flesh. He gives His life so we may live. And then, He commissions us, burning with the fire of His Spirit, to offer our flesh as food for the hungry.