Hornswoggled: Captured In His Love

It wasn’t a dream

  After a year or so Andrew returned back to Capernaum and took off where he had left before going to Jerusalem and learning under the leadership of the Baptist. It was in the cool of a late afternoon, looking up, Simon saw a man walking toward him on the beach. Thinking little of it for this was a common occurrence, but in a few minutes looking again, saw that it was Andrew. After their genuine and affectionate greetings, both sat under the clear cooling sky, a time that the birds gathered close to the shore to stock up on food for the night ahead, they talked.

  At first the brothers caught up on the day to day occurrences, and then slowly worked their conversation to more important issues. Now Andrew had a lot to say, and Simon was certainly willing to listen. Simon was only running one boat now because this was the time of the year that fishing fell off, but the larger of the fish frequented these northern waters, making it still profitable, even though the count was down. Both men leaned on the side of the beached boat and talked, they talked about how the fishing has been and they talked about what went on in Jerusalem. Andrew was astonished with the happenings in and around the river Jordan and felt his life, at least his soul, had been rejuvenated, the reunion was great and it wasn’t hard to tell that both enjoyed each other’s company, but as the sun was now almost completely set, the two walked toward Simon home, and would, that night, spend the entire evening together.

  The next morning Andrew was to travel east to see their parents and catch them up on the happenings of down south, and the changes that were going on within him. He left with excitement, and thought their parents also were looking forward to his return.

  It wasn’t but a few days that Andrew and Simon were back together fishing, leastwise when they could, they couldn’t fish as much, the numbers were down, but the size and weight of each fish had substantially improved. A living, they provided, but not much more than that, but fishing is what they knew, and fishing is what they did.

  The two could easily keep up with the work, and still they had plenty of time to spend sharing the many experiences that Andrew had down south. He had an excitement in his voice, and pep in his walk, Andrew was glad to be home, and not once did he ever regret going to Jerusalem and meeting and listening to the man called the Baptist. Although the rumors of the Messiah were all over the countryside, Andrew heard the prophet explain in detail the words that God had given him, and now the younger brother wanted to share them. At times, while expounding on the events prophesied, a small group would gather to listen to Andrew speak, but probably not with the same authority that was carried in the man standing in the river Jordan.

  Now Simon would be what I’d call a skeptic, that is a man wanting to learn, but then again wasn’t going to follow just anybody’s ideas of a prophet, yet he wouldn’t write him off either. He would set to heart the things that his younger brother told, yet he wasn’t willing to jump over barrels; that is, jump to conclusions, so he stashed the sayings away to be pondered later.

  It was now getting to be close to noon, but this was one of those days that they could afford to use in a different direction, so as both sort of tinkered with getting the boat ship-shape, they talked; well, really Andrew did most of the talking. A large gathering of seagulls had congregated on the shore some hundred meters up the coast, and about twice that many were making circles above them. Both men stopped just to watch them. They were eating something, what, no one knew, but it was enjoyable to watch the hierarchy of the birds take their turn as some would glide in as others would sail away. It was unrecognizable at that distance, but the catch of the day could not be accredited, but to so many, it was a feast. The day was nice, warm but not too hot, just one of those days to get caught up with the chores that were left undone for the last few days, and reacquaint themselves, and also to hear the groundbreaking news from younger brother Andrew. Both cherished days like this.

  Andrew had much to say, and Simon was just as eager to hear. Something was stirring intrigue inside of him, and wondered if the Baptist, as told by his brother, was right in that the Messiah was to come and rescue their land. Even though Simon had a wonderful life, being married recently helped to fulfill his seen life; outwardly, things couldn’t go better, but on the inside, something was still missing. Emptiness filled the depths of his soul, and he knew the desolation of the man within, for surely his man within had a purpose, but was now emptied with a void. Business was good; his wife was great, lots of friends, but hollowness was felt in the pit of his stomach, especially when things got quiet. So he worked, and work he was good at; successful, he was in every way, except when no one was around but himself. He would often ponder in the afternoons of what he called lazy days, a rainy or wind struck day, he could only do so much, so he meditated on the things of life. Somehow through all his thinking, he’d end up in the same place he had started, a despondency of the richer things of living. He had a wonderful wife, and their relationship was great, but what I’m talking about is that deep lonesomeness that cannot be filled with the stuff seen in this world, a yearning. Simon was not antsy, nor was he looking for adventure, he just knew something was missing, creating this void. With all the stories being told around the country and Andrews’ first-hand knowledge, slowly a picture was being formed within him, and the wandering of his mind took him many places.

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  A few months later John the Baptist was still drawing people by the droves to the banks of the Jordan River. Some say he was inflicting havoc, others thought him to definitely be a prophet, it depended on whether you were a noble or a common man as to which way you were swayed. But certainly his words were powerful, and many climbed in that river with him. His claim was to prepare a way, a path for the Messiah that He would be welcomed and would walk through. A people readied for the arrival of the soon to be revealed Christ. “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His path straight.” People listened, lives were changing, an awakening was happening throughout all of Judea, but as of yet, he had not met the Messiah. The Baptist himself claimed that it was God that created his life for this purpose, and was following the Spirit in every way, and would know the Messiah when that time came.

  Yes, people were coming from all regions, and the Baptist made quit-a-stir, most were everyday people and were moved to hear this man that certainly was preparing the way of something, for he held nothing back.

  “But when he saw many of the Pharisees coming, he said to them, ‘Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bare fruits worthy of repentance, (change your way of thinking), and do not think to say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father. For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones… I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, (to change the way you think), but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry, He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and Fire.” These words were powerful and many took them to heart, but few, if any, completely understood a single one, but they were still hid in the hearts of many of those that were listening. John didn’t care what you thought about him, he was raised for a mission, he knew his part, and he spoke with zeal.

  It was not many days later that he met and baptized the Christ of God.

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  In the early days of Jesus’ ministry he began to journey north, some month or so after crossing back west from the wilderness on the other side of Jordan, teaching along the way. Soon He found himself in Capernaum, and walking along the shore, sky cloudy, wind blowing, but a good day to travel, he saw two fishermen with their father Jonah, casting a net into the waters of Galilee. As he came closer he said to the younger men; “follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” And immediately Simon
and Andrew looked at their dad, who shrugged his shoulders and then leaving their nets to follow him, asked as he looked upon His being with intrigue; “What shall we do Lord?” And he said; “change the world.”

  Simon had sensed an inner voice that spoke to him from the marrow of his bones, and for some odd reason he knew it was the right thing to follow this man, and he assumed Andrew felt the same. They talked for several hours. Jesus and the brothers, under the shade of the trees that grew within sight of the waters of Galilee; and later that evening, as Simon was taking Jesus to his meet his wife, a stir was heard. It was then, as they approached his home, with the sun over their left shoulders, that his wife came running out to meet him, and in an excited shrill voice, she commenced to telling them about her sick mother.

  Now Simon was a hardworking man, he learned this by the labor of fishing with his dad Jonah ever since he could hold an oar at a very young age. Working, and working hard and long, was not one of Simons’ problems, but the gnawing from the inside was. Since maybe the age of thirteen he had this gnawing from the inside that there was more to his life than just catching fish, which he dearly loved. He felt something that continued to grow within him, a prickling, that was neither good nor bad, but was unrelenting and nearly constant, a feeling of knowing something that he just didn’t quite know. He’d talked with his wife about this several times and he thought that she understood, at least as much as possible. Simon normally really didn’t fret over what was going on inside him, but the inner voice, which was a quiet voice, was the steadiness of his life, the part that kept him uniform and grounded to the earth, and knew this time it was to be adhered too. The older of Jonah’s sons was a reactor, for he seldom just responded to a situation, he would just plow into a problem and sort it out later, patching together the pieces as he went. This yearning within him would help as a reminder to keep his feet on the ground, which seldom happened, but it helped. Being raised loving the Lord God was established in him from his youth up, and he loved the stories of old, especially the accounts of King David. It was kind of like loving the Lord but not knowing how to love Him.

  So when Jesus came up the shore of Galilee and said follow me, Simon knew, that leaving with this man of authority was what he was supposed to do, and he went with no hesitation.

  After hearing of her mothers’ sickness, Jesus and the young men went straight towards the center of town, and meeting James and John, all followed Him. But first stopped by the synagogue, as that was the direction Jesus led them. It was there that he healed a man of an unclean spirit. It was there that the four were amazed and questioned amongst themselves; “What is this? What new doctrine is this? He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” And immediately they left the synagogue and went to Simons’ mother-in-laws’ home, where his wife was already by her side.

  As if Jesus knew exactly what to do He and Simon went straight to the bed side of the ailing mother-in-law. The mother-in-law, not old, but not young by any means, lay nested on a pallet, a stack of various blankets, near the window that had a stretch of cloth draped about it. Having this fervent look about Him, Jesus walked over and took the hand of the older woman and lifted her up, and immediately the fever she had been inflicted with, left her.

  Now with all the debate that was going on within Simon these last years, he knew that where he was right now, this place with this man, was where he was supposed to be, and his wife knew it too, that is, that he was to walk with this man Jesus.

  In the months ahead, Simon saw many wonderful, remarkable things happen while walking with this man that was called Jesus. He saw lepers healed, unclean spirits released from several people, he saw the deaf hear, the blind that could now see and he heard many parables and saying that Jesus spoke. Simon spent most of his time with Jesus, but there were times that he would return to his wife, and times that he spent alone. And it was the times walking alone, sometimes by the shore that he noticed that when he was with Jesus, things couldn’t be better, but in solitude, he still had that nagging feeling. It was then that he’d decided to spend as much time as he could with this man called Jesus. As long as he was with Jesus, seeing and listening, things in his heart couldn’t be better. In the mind of Simon, he’d never heard a man speak as this man did, nor do the miracles that He could do, Simon was certainly where he was supposed to be, and now his wife knew it too, with this man that the Baptist called the Christ, the Messiah of Israel. Was he waking up?