In this season after Easter, Christians often focus on the stories in the gospels that recount Jesus’ appearances after his resurrection. A site on the shore of the Sea of Galilee that we visit on our Holy Land journeys commemorates one of those appearances. The area is called Tabgha, and the site is the Church of the Primacy of Saint Peter. We find the events that make the site significant in John 21.
Jesus had come to the shore in the early morning, as some of the disciples (including Peter) were on the water finishing a night of fishing with no catch. He called to them and gave instructions to throw their net on the other side of the boat. They did so and caught so many that they had trouble hauling in the net. Recognizing Jesus, they returned to shore to find the Lord with a charcoal fire cooking some fish. He invited them to breakfast. (John 21:1-14)
Peter would have made a connection at this point as he smelled the fire. It was around a charcoal fire in the high priest’s courtyard that Peter denied even knowing Jesus. Yet here around this fire, Jesus invited him and the others to break bread together with him. Following that meal, Jesus asked Peter three times, “Do you love me?” In the asking and answering of that question, Peter was reconciled with his Lord and restored. (John 21:15-17)
A small chapel of dark basalt stone built in 1933 stands over a Byzantine structure dating to the fourth century on the place where tradition has located this remarkable exchange. Around the foundation of the church, we can see the remains of that earlier structure that marked this place as significant for Christians. Inside the church is a projection of limestone called Mensa Christi, “the table of Christ.”
We visit this place in reverence and joy because when we reflect on what happened here (or somewhere nearby), it encourages us. Even when we fail the Lord, he still calls us to join him at his table and to go on serving others in his name. He does not un-call us, abandon us, or hand us over. Jesus, the resurrected Lord of life, restores us.
