As a cold front comes through our area -- even causing some schools to start late! -- it can remind us of one cold story in Scripture. After Jesus was arrested, Peter secretly waited outside in a courtyard. John tells us, Now the servants and officers who had made a fire of coals stood there, for it was cold, and they warmed themselves. And Peter stood with them and warmed himself (John 18:18, NKJV). The Gospel writers usually dont give us the details of the weather, so the fact that John mentions it means something. What that something is becomes clearer when we see that Peter has just denied Jesus once, and he denies him two more times later (John 18:25-27). The cold was not simply a weather report; it was a reflection of the darkness coming through. But Jesus doesnt allow Peter to remain that way. The word for fire of coals in John appears another time. A stranger cooks some fish over a fire of coals a number of days later (John 21:9). It turns out that the stranger is the risen Jesus! Jesus then has a conversation with a very uncomfortable Peter. He asks Peter three times if Peter loved Jesus. The third time, Peter gets the hint. Jesus knew about the denials, and it grieves Peters heart. Yet Jesus reinstates Peter and tells Peter three times to take care of Jesus sheep. This task would one day cost Peter his life, but Peter was no longer in the same state as he was shivering by the fire of coals. Jesus had forgiven Peters grievous sin. Perhaps, the cold weather coming through our area doesnt bother you half as much as the cold you feel over your soul. Perhaps there are some ways that you have denied the Lord in your own life. That stranger with the fire of coals will come to you if you, like Peter, jump out of your boat (John 21:7) to come to him. Leave those things behind, and the cold darkness that ran away from Light of the world will run away from you as well.
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 22:07:26 +0000