Anthrakian: Meeting Jesus Beside a Charcoal Fire
This interesting Greek word invites us to consider our relationship with Jesus.
Several years ago, my friend Drew pointed out an interesting thing he discovered in the book of John. There is a Greek word that occurs only twice in the New Testament, and both times it happens in John. The word is ἀνθρακιὰν and it means “a heap of burning coals” or “charcoal fire.” Drew pointed out that both times this word showed up, Simon Peter was right there beside the charcoal fire.
In my mind, the words “charcoal fire” ignite a variety of memories in my mind, from bonfires and s’mores with friends in a backyard to deep conversations around a fire at a spiritual retreat. These thoughts brought up similar memories for Drew. But for both of us, the memories are punctuated by the smells of the event. If you spend any time near a charcoal fire, you will smell like it for hours. And so began our intensive deep dive into smells in the Bible. We wrote a book about it.
This publication is the next step in the progression of that conversation and is called Anthrakian because of what this story means in terms of following Jesus. Peter is seen as the chief disciple and the spokesman for the rest of the twelve. And so often in scripture, we are supposed to put ourselves in Peter’s…
