“When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it and some bread.” (John 21:9–13 )
Cooking-competition shows can be … uhm, entertaining. People who know how to cook face various challenges to prove their creativity and ability under all sorts of difficult situations. Although my culinary efforts focus on eggs or cheese sandwiches, I enjoy vicarious cooking. I love seeing techniques I’ve never heard of, ingredients I’ve never tasted and the wild energy of high-tempo chopping.
My mind boggles, and I admit to getting lost as chefs describe an amuse-bouche of wagyu beef on a seared round of polenta. It gets worse when we get to their sous vide duck breast with a squid ceviche. My mind doesn’t comprehend, but my taste buds light up as they prepare crème brûlée or sculpt dark chocolate. Watching them at work has even inspired me to venture out of my comfort zone a few times, with limited success.
As much fun as it would be to sample a meal by one of the skilled chefs on these cooking shows, I’d trade that in a second for the opportunity that the disciples had. It had to have been amazing to come ashore and have Jesus serve up breakfast on the beach. The fish and bread probably stirred memories of the miraculous feeding of the five thousand. Jesus never forgets human needs and is a generous provider.
The same one who created the grain and the fish from nothing was now offering them as food after a long night of labor. There was a lot that needed to be said between the Lord and his disciples, but for just a moment try to imagine the marvelous experience of him glancing up from the fire, looking you in the eye—smiling—and asking “hungry?”
Interestingly, He asked them to bring the fish that he had helped them catch when he already had some on the fire. He didn’t need anything but asked them to help anyway. It was an excellent addition to a great breakfast, but Jesus provided the bread. Bread was the essential food of the ancient Israelites.
The very word “bread” could be used generically for any food. Peasants ate meat only on festival occasions, and other foods supplemented bread. Bread was necessary, which is why Jesus tells us that he is the bread of life.
See also how Jesus gives to them abundantly. When He appeared amongst the disciples days earlier and behind closed doors, “they presented Him a piece of fried fish.” (Luke 24:42) It was all they had. But now, He gives to them a hundred times more: 153 large fish. Who can give more to God than what He can give to us? How can you be stingy or afraid to give the crumbs in your hands, when it’s nothing compared to our Lord, who with one word can order His riches to come into our hands?
I haven’t sat along the shore enjoying roasted fish over coals with Jesus, but He is the provider of all that is good in my life, as He was for the disciples. When I pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” I often think of how Jesus called Himself the Bread of Life. I’m hungry for His presence—the daily bread that matters most to my survival. I like fish, but spiritually speaking, I need bread.