What Am I Missing – Lesson 5 – Why Does John Tell Us About A Charcoal Fire?

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WHAT AM I MISSING?  |  LESSON 5  |  JOHN 13, 18, 21

Why Does John Tell Us About the Charcoal Fire?

This series looks at how Scripture tells its stories. Sometimes a repeated word, two similar events placed beside each other, or an earlier conversation brought back much later connects parts of the story and points us toward what we are meant to understand. John uses several of these devices to tell the story of Peter’s denial of Jesus and what happened between Peter and Jesus afterward.

Most details in a Bible story pass by quickly, and we rarely stop to ask why they are there. We hear that someone entered a house, sat beside a well, walked down a road, or stood beside a fire, and we keep reading. But when an unusual detail appears again later, we have a reason to stop and compare the two scenes.

John does this with Peter and a charcoal fire. On the night Jesus was arrested, Peter denied Jesus while standing beside what the King James Version calls “a fire of coals” (John 18:18). After Jesus rose from the dead, Peter came ashore and found Jesus waiting beside another “fire of coals” (John 21:9). The Greek word John uses for this charcoal fire, anthrakia, occurs only in these two places in the New Testament.

Once we put the two fires beside each other, more connections appear. Peter is questioned three times at the first fire and denies Jesus three times. At the second fire, Jesus questions Peter three times and gives him responsibility for His sheep. Before either fire, Peter told Jesus, “I will lay down my life for thy sake” (John 13:37). After the second fire, Jesus tells Peter that one day following Him really will lead to Peter’s death.

John has connected events spread across his Gospel through repeated words, numbers, questions, and statements. Following those connections helps us understand Peter’s failure and what Jesus does with Peter afterward.

Peter Was Certain He Would Follow Jesus Anywhere

The first connection appears before Peter ever stands beside the fire. Jesus and His disciples were together on the night before the crucifixion. Judas had left to betray Jesus, and Jesus was preparing the remaining disciples for His departure. Peter wanted to know where Jesus was going.

John 13:36–38 36 Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards. 37 Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake. 38 Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.

 

 

Two statements in this conversation will come back later. Jesus tells Peter, “thou shalt follow me afterwards.” Peter then says, “I will lay down my life for thy sake.”

Peter believes he is ready for whatever following Jesus requires. He has been with Jesus for years. He has watched the miracles, listened to His teaching, and left his former life to follow Him. Peter is certain that even the threat of death will leave his loyalty unchanged.

Jesus tells him exactly what will happen instead. Before the rooster crows, Peter will deny Him three times.

John uses a device we have already seen in this series: he tells the reader something before it happens. When Peter is questioned later that night, we already know what Jesus said Peter would do. John also gives us two phrases to remember, “follow me” and “lay down my life.” Both will return after Peter’s failure.

Before John brings those words back, he uses another technique to help us understand what happens on the night of the arrest.

John Places Two Questionings Beside Each Other

Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane and taken to Annas. Annas had previously served as high priest and was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the current high priest. Peter followed Jesus and entered the courtyard outside.

John then begins moving between two scenes. John 18:15–18 tells us about Peter entering the courtyard and being questioned by the woman watching the door. Then verses 19–24 take us inside, where the high priest questions Jesus. Verse 25 takes us back outside to Peter, where his questioning continues.

John could have told the complete story of Jesus’ questioning and then told the complete story of Peter’s denial. Instead, he places the two events beside each other so we experience them together.

The questions are different, but both Jesus and Peter are being asked to identify themselves publicly. The high priest asks Jesus about His disciples and His teaching. Jesus answers:

John 18:20 20 Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing.

 

 

Jesus points to the public nature of His ministry. His teaching has been open. People know where He taught and what He said.

Outside, Peter receives a question about his connection with Jesus: “Art not thou also one of this man’s disciples?” Peter answers, “I am not” (18:17).

John lets the two scenes explain each other. Jesus is being questioned by religious authorities after His arrest and speaks openly. Peter is questioned by people in the courtyard and denies that he is even Jesus’ disciple.

As John moves us back outside to Peter, he gives us a small detail about where Peter is standing. That detail will return three chapters later.

The First Charcoal Fire

John tells us why a fire had been built in the courtyard.

John 18:18 18 And the servants and officers stood there, who had made a fire of coals; for it was cold: and they warmed themselves: and Peter stood with them, and warmed himself.

 

 

The expression “fire of coals” translates the Greek word anthrakia, a charcoal fire. The detail fits naturally into the scene. It was cold, and Peter was warming himself while he waited to see what would happen to Jesus.

Peter’s denials take place around this setting. The woman at the door asks if Peter is one of Jesus’ disciples. He says, “I am not” (18:17). Later, while Peter is standing by the fire, others ask him the same basic question: “Art not thou also one of his disciples?” Again Peter answers, “I am not” (18:25).

The third question becomes even more direct. One of the high priest’s servants is related to Malchus, the man whose ear Peter had cut off when Jesus was arrested. He asks Peter, “Did not I see thee in the garden with him?” (18:26). John 18:27 says, “Peter then denied again: and immediately the cock crew.”

Jesus’ prediction has been fulfilled. Three questions have produced three denials.

John then continues through Jesus’ trial, crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. Peter appears again when he and John run to the empty tomb, but the charcoal fire disappears from the story. Until John 21.

John Brings Back the Same Rare Word

After the resurrection, Peter and six other disciples are together near the Sea of Galilee. Peter decides to go fishing, and the others join him. They fish throughout the night and come up empty.

As morning comes, Jesus stands on the shore, though the disciples take a moment to recognize Him. Jesus tells them to cast their net on the right side of the boat. They obey, and the catch is so large that they struggle to pull it in. John realizes who is standing on shore and tells Peter, “It is the Lord” (John 21:7). Peter jumps into the water and makes his way toward Jesus.

John then tells us what Peter and the other disciples find when they reach shore.

John 21:9 9 As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread.

 

 

“Fire of coals” is anthrakia again. This Greek word appears only twice in the New Testament: John 18:18 and John 21:9. Both occurrences are in John’s Gospel. Both involve Peter. One is the setting for his denial, and the other is the setting for the conversation Jesus is about to have with him.

John gives us the connection only through his choice of words. He leaves out any claim that Peter smelled the charcoal and suddenly remembered his denial, however effective that might sound in the retelling. The same rare word links the two scenes and tells us to read them together.

Once we do that, another repeated feature becomes obvious.

Three Questions Answer Three Denials

Jesus has breakfast ready for the disciples. After they eat, He begins speaking directly to Peter.

John 21:15 15 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?

 

 

Peter answers, “Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.” Jesus tells him, “Feed my lambs.” Then Jesus asks him a second time, “Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?” Peter again says that he does, and Jesus responds, “Feed my sheep.” Then Jesus asks the question again.

John 21:17 17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me?

 

 

John specifically tells us this is “the third time.” The number already matters in Peter’s story. Jesus predicted three denials. John then recorded three denials. Now John deliberately counts Jesus’ questions until he reaches the third one.

The repeated number connects the two scenes just as the repeated charcoal fire does.

There is also a repeated response from Jesus. Each time Peter answers, Jesus gives him responsibility: “Feed my lambs,” “Feed my sheep,” and “Feed my sheep.” Jesus is speaking about caring for people who belong to Him. Peter will soon become one of the leading figures in the early church, and Acts will show him preaching Christ and helping lead the first believers.

The second charcoal fire therefore does more than remind us of Peter’s failure. It shows what Jesus does with Peter after that failure. The three denials are followed by three questions, and the man who denied being a disciple is given responsibility as a disciple.

John Returns to Peter’s Earlier Promise

Before Peter denied Jesus, he had made a confident promise: “I will lay down my life for thy sake” (John 13:37). Jesus had answered, “Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake?” and then predicted Peter’s three denials.

That night, when following Jesus became dangerous, Peter denied knowing Him instead of laying down his life.

After the three questions beside the second charcoal fire, Jesus returns to the subject of Peter’s life and death.

John 21:18–19 18 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. 19 This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.

 

 

John explains Jesus’ words so that His meaning comes through clearly: Jesus was speaking about Peter’s future death.

Now the conversation from chapter 13 and the conversation from chapter 21 fit together. Before Peter’s failure, Jesus said, “thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards.” Peter answered, “I will lay down my life for thy sake.”

Peter failed that night. Yet Jesus’ statement about Peter following Him “afterwards” was still unfinished.

After the resurrection, Jesus tells Peter that a day will come when his faithfulness to Christ will lead to his death. Then Jesus finishes with the same call that Peter had talked about before his failure: “Follow me.”

John has brought Peter’s story back to where it began. Peter once announced what he was prepared to do for Jesus. Now Jesus tells Peter what following Him will actually require.

What Were We Missing?

John has connected Peter’s story across several chapters. A quick reading can leave us with separate events: Peter makes a promise, Peter denies Jesus, Jesus rises from the dead, and Jesus later asks Peter three times if he loves Him. John’s literary choices show that these events belong together.

Five devices make the connections visible:

•     John tells us ahead of time. Jesus predicts Peter’s three denials and tells him that he will follow Him “afterwards” (13:36–38).

•     John places two scenes beside each other. Jesus is questioned inside while Peter is questioned outside. Jesus speaks openly while Peter denies being His disciple (18:15–27).

•     John repeats a rare word. The only two charcoal fires named with anthrakia in the New Testament appear in Peter’s denial scene and his later conversation with Jesus (18:18; 21:9).

•     John repeats the number three. Peter denies Jesus three times, and Jesus questions Peter three times (18:17, 25–27; 21:15–17).

•     John returns to an earlier conversation. Peter said he would follow Jesus and lay down his life. After Peter’s failure, Jesus tells him that he will eventually die as His follower and says again, “Follow me” (13:36–38; 21:18–19).

 

 

These devices help us understand what John is doing with Peter’s story. John carries Peter’s story forward, beyond the moment of his worst failure, to a later conversation in which Jesus deals with Peter directly, gives him responsibility, and calls him to follow again.

When We Fail

Peter’s denial was sin. Jesus had warned him plainly, and Peter still denied three times that he was His disciple. John states Peter’s sin plainly, and he carries Peter’s story forward, well beyond the first charcoal fire.

That matters because Christians still sin after they begin following Christ. First John 1:9 tells believers what to do with that sin: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Confession brings the sin into the open before God and agrees with what God says about it.

The three denials in the courtyard were already spoken, permanent facts Peter had to carry. What Jesus gave him was a way forward. Peter could answer honestly, care for the people Jesus entrusted to him, and follow Christ from that point forward.

John also shows a change in the way Peter talks about himself. Before his failure, Peter confidently tells Jesus what he will do: “I will lay down my life for thy sake.” At the second charcoal fire, Peter says, “Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee” (21:17). This time, Peter leaves the judgment of his own heart with Jesus, rather than telling Him how strong his commitment is.

I can bring the same three steps to my own sin when it is exposed. Admit the sin God has shown me. Receive the forgiveness He has promised. Then obey what He has put in front of me now. Peter’s failure remained part of his story, though Jesus turned it into a beginning rather than an end.

John makes that point through the story itself, rather than a paragraph explaining it. He gives us two fires, two conversations, two calls to follow, three denials, and three questions, and expects us to put them together.

That is what careful Bible reading helps us do.

A charcoal fire can look like a small detail, until John lights the same fire again.