But thanks be to God, who in Christ always lead us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. --2 Corinthians 2:14
When you fall in love, the poets say your heart is taken captive by your beloved. You lay down your weapons, put away your defenses, and become very vulnerable to your lover. She may catch your eye before she captures your attention, but if you are smitten by her, you may fall heels over head for her. The imagery is quite violent, but when you are in the midst of it, you don't seem to mind. Love makes you hand over your heart voluntarily. It makes you lay aside your desires and work diligently for what she wants or needs.
It's not all romantic. The same feeling comes over you when you hold your child in your arms. Your heart is captivated by his smile, his every need is yours to meet, his every desire is your heart's desire. You truly would rather die than to see your child harmed in any way. You would gladly give up your life for his. If given a choice between breathing and loving your child, you would use your last breath to tell him how much you love him.
O, that we could love God in this way. How sweet it would be if our love for Jesus was so great that we could willingly lay down our life for Him the way that He laid down His life for us. How wonderful to be captivated by the Spirit such that if our bodies were taken prisoner we would still praise Him. As we look into the gospel of Mark, there are three such stories.
Captivated by force
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." --Mark 1:14-5
John the Baptist had been preaching the good news that Jesus was on the way. But when Jesus began His ministry, John was put in prison for speaking truth to power. He had been preaching a message of repentance--the only way to God is to put aside willful sin, and Herod had willfully divorced his own wife Phasaelis and had bedded his sister-in-law Herodias. Herod put John in prison to shut him up, because he feared an insurrection--according to historian Josephus, John was so powerful a preacher that Herod feared he would lead the people to rise up against him. Apparently Herodias was not too fond of John either, because she is the one who suggested putting him to death. When her daughter Salome had danced seductively for her drunken stepfather Herod, he promised her whatever she asked, up to half his kingdom. Salome asked her mother Herodias what she should ask of Herod, and her mother demanded the head of John the Baptist on a platter.
I think that if John was such a captivating speaker that Herod feared him, then it may have been difficult for Jesus to get the crowds to follow Him. I believe it was God's will for John to be imprisoned and martyred, so that John's own words would be fulfilled: "He must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3:30). Jesus may have had John in mind when He said, "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13). Yes, I know that Jesus was speaking prophetically of His own death, but on a different level I think he was also speaking of all of the the martyrs, those who would lay down their lives for Him.
How deep is your love for Jesus? Deep enough to be taken captive for Him, and to risk your own life rather than renounce Him? O, that God would grant me that undying love for Him. "If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword he must be slain." --Revelation 13:10 (cf Jeremiah 15:2). If it is the will of God that this happen to you, He will give you grace to fulfill it.
Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men." And immediately they left their nets and followed Him. --Mark 1:16-18
Very often men get their identity through their profession. Very often in Scripture men are identified by what they do. "Simon the fisherman" is different than "Simon the tanner". If you have a common first name, perhaps people will list you in their phone logs by what you do: "John the accountant" or "Dave the plumber."
When Jesus approached these two brothers, he offered them a chance to change their identity by changing their occupation. He recognized them as fishermen; He offered them a new identity as evangelists, or "fishers of men." I can't imagine what might have gone through their minds at this moment. I'll bet the two brothers looked at each other and grinned before leaving their nets. God had to have been working in their hearts beforehand, because this was not a decision to be taken lightly. At that very moment, however, they responded decisively.
When Jesus calls, one always responds. He either responds positively, following the call of Christ, or he responds negatively, rejecting the call. No one knows how many chances he may get. God is gracious, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, but His Spirit will not strive with man forever. This calling may be the last call, the last chance to respond to His will. I want to be so in love with God that when His Son calls, I respond decisively. I want to be captivated by His calling.
Paul gave this advice to his young protegee Timothy, "And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will." (2 Timothy 2:24-26). I would much rather be captivated by God's calling to do good than to be captured by the devil to do evil.
Captivated by love
And going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in the boat mending the nets. And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him. --Mark 1:19-20
James and John had strong family ties. The two brothers were practically inseparable. Whenever the disciples are listed, the three who are always listed first are Peter, James and John, perhaps indicating that they were considered leaders in the group. James and John were present at the Transfiguration of Jesus (Mark 9:2-8; also Matthew 17:1-8 and Luke 9:28-36). They shared a strong temperament, as Jesus called them Sons of Thunder (Mark 3:17). Their mother called Jesus aside and asked that her two sons be seated in places of authority when Jesus came into His kingdom, one on his right side and one on his left (Matthew 20:21).
So when they left their father with the hired servants to help him care for his fishing nets, it was not because they did not love their father. Their love of God the Father was greater. Jesus said, "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me." (Matthew 10:37). In the Gospel of John, the younger brother referred to himself as "the disciple whom Jesus loved." At Jesus' crucifixion, John was designated as the caretaker of Mary, the mother of Jesus.
It was John who penned one of the most recognized verses in all the Bible, John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, what whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." This, my friends, is the gospel: that Jesus loved us more than Himself, so that we could love Him more than we love ourselves. That is the love that captivates us, that conquers all, that commands us to follow Him.
In the mid 19th century a man by the name of George Matthison was engaged to be married. However, the girl broke the engagement when she found out that George was going completely blind. Years later, when George's sister was getting married in 1882, he wrote this hymn out of an anguished heart, remembering his broken engagement:
O Love, that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in Thee;
I give Thee back the life I owe,
That in Thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.
O Light, that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to Thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in Thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.
O Joy, that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to Thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain
That morn shall tearless be
O Cross, that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from Thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.
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