John 21:1-14
Déjà
vu – have you ever experienced it? Here is the Wikipedia definition for deja vu: “It is a French word that literally
means "already seen" and refers to the phenomenon of having the
strong sensation that an event or experience currently being experienced has
been experienced in the past, regardless of whether it has actually happened”.
This seems a little confusing.
Let’s see if this helps.
- In 1959 the Kingston Trio released a
song titled “Charlie of the MTA”. It was about a man who was trapped on
the Boston subway system. No doubt he must have had a sense of déjà vu as
he repeatedly traveled the same route.
- Then in 1970, Crosby Stills Nash and Young released an album by the
title of “Déjà vu” with one of the songs on it having the same title. The
lyrics include this line: “We have all been here before”.
- Finally, in 1993
the movie titled “Groundhog Day” was about a weather man who, while
covering Punxsutawney Phil, discovers that he is doomed to live Groundhog
Day over and over and over again.
Today’s
story must have felt like déjà vu to the disciples as something
very similar took place in Luke 5 when Jesus originally called Peter, James and
John to follow him. On that occasion, Jesus was speaking to a crowd when he
asked Peter to take him out on his boat in order to be heard better.
After he was finished speaking, he told Peter to go out
to the deep water and drop his nets again, despite the fact that he had been
fishing all night without catching anything. Peter argued briefly with Jesus,
but ultimately did as he was told. The result was that the nets were so full of
fish that Peter needed help to pull them in. Then Jesus told Peter to “come
follow me and I will make you a fisher of men”.
In
the passage today however, Jesus is on shore preparing a nice breakfast for the
disciples. Of course, they had been fishing again all night without catching
anything. Jesus gives them another tip, once again resulting in a huge catch.
Actions
speak louder than words, and in this story Jesus is shouting. His message is
clear. “Come on guys. Are you going to return to your old way of life by
fishing for fish? Or are you going to follow me by fishing for men?”
Déjà
vu – have you ever experienced it? Has Jesus ever had to tell you something
more than once? Have you ever needed to relearn the same lesson over and over
again? Have you struggled with the same hurt, hang up or habit time after time?
The Good News is that Jesus is always there for us – like déjà vu only real.
