Victory/Our Glorious Captain

Welcome! Today we conclude our series called Facing Your Enemy; today’s message is entitled Our Glorious Captain. Throughout this series we have explored the Bible’s military analogies to our roles and positions as Christian soldiers, looking at the battles we face, both from within and without, battles for our hearts, battles for our desires, battles for what we are to do while we remain on this earth. We are called “soldiers” on multiple occasions in Scripture, and part of our role as soldiers is to spread the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ far and wide, being Christ’s hands and legs and mouth as we proclaim the salvation that is only found in Christ. 

Our roles on this earth include being godly parents, being godly spouses, being godly singles, being people who seek to remain pure and undefiled in this world, being people who seek to share the knowledge of Christ’s love all around us, being people who seek to work with other believers to demonstrate Christ’s love in “body life,” and so much more. All of this, even in an earlier age, could make one quite busy; in our modern times, with all the modern demands on our time, all of this can seem to be quite exhausting. 

Some of our busyness can be due to not making the best choices about how we spend our time. But, even when this is not the case, when we make good choices, our lives will still be quite full. And in our busyness it is easy to lose sight of our glorious Captain. When this happens, it is an absolute tragedy. It is entirely possible to win a battle, even multiple battles, but lose the “war.” Christ didn’t come to the people who would become His disciples and just give them some rules to follow, some teachings to understand, and some tasks that would be good to fulfill; He said, “Follow Me.” He said it to Simon and Andrew, and they literally dropped their nets and followed Him (Matthew 4:18-20). Philip similarly followed right away when Jesus said “Follow Me” to him (John 1:44). Jesus said “Follow Me” to Matthew, sitting in the universally hated tax collector’s booth, and Matthew immediately stood up and did just that (Matt. 9:9). He said it to a rich young man who claimed to keep the commandments since birth, but when He explained that in this man’s case, following Him meant first selling his vast possessions to the poor, the man balked and turned away sadly.  The Greek word translated as “follow” is akoloutheo which comes from alpha (as a particle of union) and kelouthos (a road). “Come with Me down this road.”

Recall that when Jesus was arrested, three times Peter denied he knew Him, and a crowing rooster (predicted by Jesus) caused Peter to leave the scene in total despair. Later Jesus was crucified after experiencing a mockery of trials and brutal beatings. He died, but three days later He rose from the dead and began appearing to His disciples. In the book of John we read about Jesus’ encounter with Peter. Three times Jesus asked Peter if he really loved Him, and each time Peter said “Yes.” After each affirmation, Jesus told Peter to feed or take care of His sheep or lambs, meaning to care for those who also believed in Christ. Then Jesus told Peter that when he became old, he would die in a manner similar to how Christ had died. What did Jesus say next to Peter? “Follow Me!” (John 21:19b).

As believers, we are to follow Christ, not just at the moment when He calls us out of our former lives like He did with Simon and Andrew and Matthew and Philip and others, but also over the course of our entire lives. He is our leader, and there has never been a leader who is wiser, more filled with goodness, more capable, or more caring than Him. Never did a leader love his troops more and do all he could for them more than Christ. 

When you follow a leader, not just from afar, but up close and personal, with intimacy, you are changed. Following that leader doesn’t just change where you go and what you do, it changes who you are. You become like who you follow. When you serve a wise captain, over time you become wise. When you serve a good captain, you become good. When you serve a captain who loves others sacrificially, you become one who loves others sacrificially. When you serve a captain filled with grace and truth, you become filled with grace and truth.

And so, who is Christ? Who is our captain we are called to follow? First of all, He is who He is. That phrase comes from Exodus 3, where Moses approached that strange sight: a burning bush that did not become consumed by the fire. From this bush God spoke; first identifying Himself as the same God who had led Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, God them pronounced Himself I AM WHO I AM. Christ identified Himself as one and the same when He said, before Abraham was born, I AM. (John 8:58). The Jews hearing Him understood what Jesus meant and tried to stone Him, but He slipped away because His time to die for the sins of man had not yet come.

Because Jesus is God, as we follow our Captain, we start to grow in what we might call godliness; we grow in righteousness, we grow in caring about others, we grow in generosity and giving, we grow in wisdom. And because the Holy Spirit is also God, we grow in the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. We grow in all of these things as we truly seek to follow our glorious Captain.

In the gospels, we see Jesus add to the “I AM” name of God on multiple occasions and in multiple ways. For example, in John 14, there is a conversation between Jesus and Thomas. In verse 5 we have the following:

Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we don’t know where You are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” – John 14:5-6

From a “naturalistic” non-religious perspective, what would a really good captain look like? Well, he would provide you with accurate data; that is, he would determine the truth about your situation and your mission and tell it to you. Well, Jesus not only knows and tells the truth, He is the truth. Again, what would a really good captain look like? A good captain would also tell you how to do your mission; that is, he would tell you the way to succeed and he would give you what you need so you could succeed. Well, Jesus not only tells the way and provides the way, He is the way. Asking the question again about a good captain, a third answer is that a good captain would keep you alive through the battle; his leading would be life-preserving. Well, Jesus not only preserves our lives, He is our life.

There is mystery in these sayings. What does it really mean that Jesus is the way and the truth and the life? One thing we can say with certainty is that knowing about Jesus is not enough. If Jesus is to be my way and my truth and my life, I need to enter into and maintain a real relationship with Him, one in which, through prayer, I really open my life up to Him. It is good to read about Him in our Bibles; in fact, it is necessary so that we know who He really is and don’t replace this with what we would like Him to be in our minds. But reading about Him is only the beginning. If He is to truly be our Captain, we have to really let Him lead us day by day.

Another “I am” passage that comes to mind is from John 6:

 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty. – John 6:35

Again, we can think about what a good “worldly” captain would be like. A fundamental necessity for a good captain is that he keeps you provided with nourishment; you can’t fight a battle while starving. What Jesus said was shocking to His hearers; earlier He had provided the crowds with bread, but not only does He give them bread, He tells them (and us) that He is the bread – of life. He Himself is vital nourishment. Later in the same conversation in John 6 He says, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” (John 6:51) and He also says, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” (John 6:53-4) He feeds us – with Himself, even at the expense of His own life.

Another “I am” passage of Jesus is the following:

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” – John 8:12

Again, what can we say about a really good captain? He would provide maps and other aids to know your surroundings; if needed he would provide lights to help you see (or in modern times, night vision goggles). Well, Jesus doesn’t just bring some torches; He restores sight to the blind, but even that is secondary to the fact that He Himself is the light. Again, He provides Himself. I am reminded of the description of the New (heavenly) Jerusalem: The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. (Rev. 21:23)

And then there is the following passage:

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know My sheep and My sheep know Me—just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father—and I lay down My life for the sheep.” – John 10:11-15

A good captain would keep his battalion or squadron together, not letting any get left behind, doing whatever it took to keep them together, protecting them from the attacks of the enemy, never giving way to fear regardless of what it might cost him personally. Jesus is all this and more. Yes, we are called to be soldiers, but often we are really like helpless sheep. Jesus doesn’t abandon us because of this; instead He does quite the opposite: He protects us with His own life, giving everything to save us. One other verse I think of is this: But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. – 2 Thes. 3:3

One more “I am” passage:

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing. – John 15:5

A good captain would ensure that his battalion or squadron remains connected to the rest of the army, that supply lines would remain open, that his people would get the supplies they need. Military strategists through the centuries have known that if you can cut off the supply lines, you can turn the tide of an entire war. Well, Jesus knows this; He Himself is our supply line. It is through staying dependent and connected to Him that we are empowered as soldiers; if we cut ourselves off from Him, we will wither as surely as a branch that is chopped off a vine or tree. Dependent on Him, He fills us with His Spirit which empowers, teaches, and guides us.

Our glorious Captain is the way, the truth, the life, the bread, the light, the good shepherd, and the vine. And He is more: He is our King.

Our future home is not a democracy or a republic; it is a kingdom and Christ is King. Jesus spoke of the kingdom frequently when he traveled with His disciples, implying that His Kingdom is not only in the future but also here and now, but one passage that really sticks out to me is at His trial when He stood before Pilate. Pilate asked Him,

“Are You the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about Me?” Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered You to me; what have You done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.” Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”  Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” – John 15:33b-38 (NASB)

Was there ever a more ironic question? Jaded Pilate implying that truth is how you spin it or is whatever you want it to be, speaking before the one who is the truth, Jesus Christ! Pilate, fixated on trying to make Jesus guilty of claiming to be a king, oblivious to the fact that He stands before the King of kings, the one to whom every knee will bow and tongue confess that He is Lord, Lord of lords!

It is unheard of for a king to fight his own battles. The whole point of armies and captains and all the rest is that to protect the king is to protect the kingdom. But as Jesus said, His kingdom was not of this world. To win souls for eternity, He had to lose His own life here on Earth. His death was no accident of bad planning or military mistake; from Day 1 He had planned to redeem mankind with the only thing that could ever atone for all sins – His very life. The King became Captain, and the Captain died for His men. Never was there a greater captain than Christ!

When I was in High School, at one point I was a violinist in an honors orchestra made up from several cities and high schools near to where I lived in California. For whatever reason, I was chosen as chair of the “second violins”; for those who don’t know, the violins in an orchestra are usually separated into two sections each playing different parts. The first violins include the very best players and get the “glory” parts; the seconds tend to play harmonies or accompaniment. In past years I had been in the back of the first violin section, but this time I was the front player in the seconds. At first I was disappointed about, well, “playing second fiddle.” But then I realized that the conductor we had that year was truly amazing. He worked us super hard but produced out of us a quality that I had previously not imagined possible with a high-school group. I also realized that, as head of the seconds, I had an important role; I actually had to lead my section. This meant counting rests correctly, always bowing up when you should bow up and down when you should bow down, and so on. There were even times the conductor would, in a practice, ask me to play a small section of a piece solo to show the other seconds how it should sound. As a result, I began to practice fervently, admittedly partly out of fear of embarrassing myself if I didn’t, but also out of a genuine desire to be my very best for this conductor.

How much more we should be like this for Christ! He is our glorious Captain! And He is a master conductor, conducting the greatest “orchestra” the world will ever see. We each have parts to play; there are no small parts. As we “face our enemy,” let us do it for Him, for His glory.

Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is He, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty—He is the King of glory. – Psalm 24:7-10

As we remember our glorious Captain's victory by taking the bread and the cup, let us praise Him, for He is worthy!