Articles
O Captain, My Captain!
Walt Whitman penned this elegy to Abraham Lincoln, after Lincoln's shocking assassination by the hand of John Wilkes Booth. The poem mourns the loss of the nation's leader, the Captain being Lincoln and the ship being the country, which suffered much contention and division before, during, and after the Civil War. Whitman, though not initially a supporter of Lincoln, came to appreciate him and his efforts through time, and eventually saw him as the true leader of the nation, and worthy of his support.
In the Bible, the concept of one being the 'captain' of others is applied to a couple of people worthy of our consideration, and the similarities are likewise worthy of our consideration.
David. When David had been praised by the people more than Saul, King Saul grew envious and angry because of it (1 Sam. 18:6-9) and eventually tried to kill David by throwing a spear at him, though David escaped (1 Sam. 18:10, 11).
While David was on the run from King Saul, we find that he escaped to the city of Nob (1 Sam. 21:1), where Saul tried to trap him, then escaped into Gath (1 Sam. 21:10), and eventually to the cave of Adullam (1 Sam. 22:1). We then find “when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them” (1 Sam. 22:1, 2). David was chosen to be King by God (1 Sam. 16:1, 12-13) but, for now, he was merely the captain of the distressed, the debtors, and the discontented!
This doesn't exactly sound like a group of individuals who would make anything of themselves, but it is amazing what a true leader can do with those who might not seem to be worth the effort. David took these 400 men and delivered Keilah from the Philistines (1 Sam. 23:1-5) and later, after the number had grown to 600, took another 400 and delivered the captured women and flocks and herds from the Amalekites who had plundered them while David and his men had been away (1 Sam. 30:1-20).
Jesus. In the New Testament, the writer of Hebrews points to the fact Jesus was “for a little while was made lower than the angels” by the Father “so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone,” (Heb. 2:9; ESV), and then noted “it was fitting for” God “to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings” (Heb. 2:10; NKJV). The writer will later make the same point that it was by the suffering on the cross that Christ “became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (Heb. 5:8, 9). Though He uses two different Greek words in these passages for what Jesus became for us, there is no mistaking the point: Jesus is the captain and cause [i.e., the originator and the reason] for our salvation.
And, much like David, Jesus has become captain of the distressed, the debtors, and the discontented. It was He who once appealed to those who heard Him, saying, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30). Friends and brethren, we are the distressed, the debtors, and the discontented!
The Distressed. The psalmist put it in terms I think we could all understand when he wrote, “There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your anger, nor any health in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me” (Psa. 38:3, 4). For the soul who discovers and does not deny his own guilt of sin, it is truly a distressing matter to learn and to live with the fact we are all guilty before God (cf. Rom. 3:23) and face separation from Him because of it (Rom. 6:23a).
But the great part is, our Captain has provided a means of alleviating the distress and burden of our sins by taking them from us! The good news of the gospel is the fact “Christ died for our sins” (1 Cor. 15:3); no one else could do that, for He alone has been sent to be the Savior of man (cf. Acts 4:12).
The Debtors. When Jesus went into the house of Simon the Pharisee, Simon showed Him no basic hospitality, yet a woman who was a known sinner came into the house, washed the feet of Jesus with her tears, wiped them with her hair, and kissed His feet and anointed them with a costly fragrant oil (Luke 7:37-39). Simon, meanwhile, watched with disgust and thought only about the sinfulness of the woman (Luke 7:39). Because Jesus perceived Simon's thoughts, He then told him a story: “There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both” (Luke 7:41, 42).
The point of the story was to remind Simon that he, too, was a sinner, and that he could not pay the price for his sins, either. Jesus pointed out that at least the woman recognized her sins, and came to Jesus seeking relief from her debt, while Simon remained blissfully ignorant of his own sin and, thus, his own debt. Jesus paid the price that we could not pay, and purchased the church with His blood (cf. Acts 20:28). We are free from the debt of sin, but now we who believe and obey Him are willingly indebted to Him for all He has done.
The Discontented. It is obvious to honest observers that mankind is searching for happiness in anything and everything, and it is just as obvious that man is failing in that search. What many do not see is that they are searching in the wrong place and for the wrong things because happiness and contentment is not in a place nor is it made possible by any thing. Some of the least materially wealthy are the happiest and most content, and some of the most materially wealthy are the most miserable.
But the apostle Paul gives us the secret to contentment: “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content” (Phil. 4:11), and notes it is because he learned, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). Contentment and happiness is not found in things, places, or even people, but comes when we surrender ourselves fully to the Lord and learn to trust Him completely, knowing He knows our needs and knowing He loves us unconditionally. As the writer of the book of Hebrews admonished us, “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’” (Heb. 13:5). Our contentment can be achieved not by some meaningless psychological mumbo-jumbo or self-deception, but by learning to trust in our Creator and heavenly Father.
Having Jesus as our Leader and Captain should be of great comfort to all who have elevated Him to that position in their own lives. It was He who gives us peace of mind and promises eternal rest; it is He who alleviated the burden of the debt of our sins and has completely forgiven us; and it is He who will be the source of true contentment and eternal joy — if He is our Lord.
While Whitman mourned the death of his Captain, we rejoice in the death of our Captain Jesus Christ, for He was raised to live again, giving us hope. — Steven Harper
