There are two fish meals in John’s gospel.
The first fish meal was a buffet with thousands of people. Five small barley loaves and two small fish miraculously multiplied, with twelve basketfuls of leftover bread at the end that Jesus had them gather up: “Let nothing be wasted.”
The second fish meal was an intimate fireside brunch with a few disciples. After a long night with not a single catch, they suddenly had more than they could hardly haul in. And when they arrived on the shore, there was Jesus by the fire, ready to clean some and cook them breakfast.
And at this meal, the denying Peter was lovingly forgiven and welcomed back into the fold. The broken pieces of his character, the broken pieces of his heart, the broken pieces of his relationship with Jesus, gathered up and put back together.
Let nothing be wasted.
