The Captain and The Lord: What One Piece Teaches Us About Following Jesus (Jinbei)

Jinbei: When Authority Submits to Him Who is Greater

Spoilers for Post–Timeskip One Piece

And now, we come to, as of this writing, the final member of the Straw Hat Pirates. Welcome to the finale of The Captain and The Lord.

To wrap up our journey through the Straw Hat crew, we will look at the member who had the longest, winding road to becoming a full-fledged member of the Straw Hat Pirates. One who, by his world’s standards, already had everything one could want.

Yet “The Knight of the Sea,” Jinbei, chose to submit when someone even greater stepped onto the world stage.

“Wealth, Fame, Power…”

“…Gold Roger, the King of the Pirates, attained everything this world had to offer.”

These words were the opening of both the first manga page and the first anime opening of One Piece, setting the stage for the story to come, and offering a glimpse of what being “King of the Pirates,” Luffy’s dream, meant.

Now, in fairness, Jinbei is no Gol D. Roger. But these three things attributed to the late pirate king? A strong case could be made that Jinbei had them all.

Wealth?

He was once a member of the Sun Pirates, captained by the legendary Fisher Tiger—a fish-man who led the slave rebellion at the World Government capital of Mariejois, and later captained a notorious pirate crew during the years of the Great Pirate Era.

Like any pirate crew, they plundered and acquired treasure that kept all the members from lives of poverty. Furthermore, Jinbei was on great terms with King Neptune of Fish-Man Island, literal royalty who safeguarded the treasures of their mutual homeland.

Fame?

After Fisher Tiger’s death, Jinbei would inherit captaincy of the Sun Pirates and develop a serious reputation of his own. So much so that when the World Government created the Seven Warlords of the Sea, or Shichibukai, Jinbei was offered one of its seats.

Accepting it to further protect the people of Fish-Man Island and establish better relationships with the World Government, Jinbei became one of the single most recognizable and feared pirates in the whole world.

Power?

One doesn’t become a Warlord if you can’t fight.

And Jinbei was a master of Fish-Man Karate, able to throw punches so devastating they could shatter buildings and control water itself.

While a warlord is no Emperor of the Sea, Jinbei had strength that rivaled Emperor commanders. He once fought Portgas D. Ace, the future Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, to a draw, and later easily dealt with Who’s-Who, a top-ranked officer of Emperor Kaido’s Beast Pirates. Even fellow Warlord Gecko Moria was made short work of by Jinbei. Moria himself, in a prior arc, required all the other Straw Hats working together to defeat.

And this is where the relationship with The Captain gets truly interesting.

When Jinbei and Luffy met, Jinbei was the stronger of the two.

Luffy had a strong reputation by this point, being considered a “Supernova” of the next generation. But in terms of the triad of wealth, fame, power, Jinbei had him beat.

So what does it mean when someone like Jinbei gives his life and allegiance to Luffy?

The simple answer is this: The Captain — and the Lord — is for everyone.

The meek, yes, but also those who carry authority.

Scripture makes this clear.

Authority Recognizing Greater Authority

The Bible records the time a Roman centurion came to Jesus for help. His beloved servant was paralyzed and suffering.

Keep in mind, this was a Gentile asking Jesus for help—someone not born into the Jewish faith, but who had come to learn about God from his Jewish neighbors, and in turn recognizing something that most of them, even Jesus’ own disciples, had not yet.

Jesus was on His way to the centurion’s house when suddenly the centurion stopped Him. He knew it was taboo for a Jew to enter the house of a Gentile and did not want this to trouble the Lord.

But more than that, the centurion recognized the authority Jesus carried was so great that it could be carried out not with physical touch, as He had done in other miracles, but with a word itself.

But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.

Luke 7:7–8

Scripture records that Jesus was amazed. The faith and understanding of the centurion—of who Jesus was—astonished the Lord.

And just as the centurion believed, a word was all it took.

So too, Jinbei recognized that this young man—his junior by a quarter of a century—was the future King of the Pirates.

Like many of us who come to know the Lord, it was not an immediate process.

Ace, who would not live to see Luffy become King of the Pirates, asked his old friend Jinbei to look after Luffy.

Jinbei’s response was one of skepticism and rebuke:

“Even if he’s your brother, we’re in a pirates’ world. I only help and protect those I have a high regard for!”

It would be during the Summit War of Marineford that Luffy—despite being outclassed by all the world’s top fighters gathered on the opposing sides of the Marines and the Emperor Whitebeard’s alliance—earned Jinbei’s respect.

Jinbei watched over Luffy and made sure he survived the war. And after Ace’s tragic death, he was there to mourn with Luffy and help the Captain remember that he still had his crew, his friends, his nakama, waiting for him.

After two years of the crew training with masters across the world to hone their skills and finally compete with the world’s best, Luffy now had strength that surpassed Jinbei.

He helped save Jinbei’s beloved Fish-Man Island from a coup and placed the island under his protection.

And at last, the offer came. Luffy asked Jinbei to join him.

What Is There To Fear, When My Captain Is the King?

Perhaps as another reminder that the path to follow the Lord looks different for each person, there is a notable gap between when Jinbei agrees to be a Straw Hat and when he officially joins.

In order to keep Fish-Man Island and the Sun Pirates safe during the time skip, Jinbei allied himself with Pirate Emperor Big Mom, using his established reputation in exchange for her protection.

He knew that simply leaving would put his people in jeopardy if Big Mom retaliated, and so he had to be careful about his actions.

Luffy was understanding of this situation, especially after he himself witnessed how petty Big Mom could be. Even Jesus in scripture recognized times where new followers were needed in their own communities, and did not command them to travel with Him.

Furthermore, once Jinbei left the Big Mom Pirates, he stayed behind to make sure the Sun Pirates could escape safely, and did not officially rejoin Luffy until the Straw Hats attacked the base of another Emperor, Kaido.

But in between these events, Jinbei made it abundantly clear that he considered himself a Straw Hat through and through.

When the time came to cut ties with Big Mom, she asked Jinbei if he would give up his own life force to leave.

Big Mom’s ability allowed her to rip parts of a person’s soul from them, and whenever someone dared to leave, they had to pay a toll of decades of lifespan.

She would ask:

“Stay, or Life?”

Most would lose their nerve and decide to stay.

The rare few who chose life would surrender decades of their lifespan in order to leave.

But Jinbei, confidently and without fear, said:

And nothing happened.

Big Mom asked again:

“Stay or Life?”

Still nothing happened.

As it turned out, Big Mom’s abilities required a key ingredient: Fear.

Those who feared her would succumb to their life force being ripped away. Even her own children—who made up the majority of her crew—were afraid of their mother and would fall victim to her power.

But not Jinbei.

“I’m a man who wants to be part of the future Pirate King’s crew…

I can’t be intimidated by a mere Emperor of the Sea!”

For all One Piece fans, Jinbei’s words are astoundingly powerful and demonstrate the absolute faith he has in Luffy.

The Four Emperors, or Yonko, were the looming threat awaiting those who reached the second half—the New World—of the Grand Line. Considered the strongest pirates of the era, it was said the only way to survive the New World was either to ally under one of their flags or challenge them in battle.

Many—including other super rookies of Luffy’s generation—chose the former.

Few chose the latter.

But Jinbei had unshakeable faith that Luffy’s destiny was to surpass them all and achieve the title that had eluded every Emperor before him.

So what did he have to fear?

As it is written:

“Perfect love casts out fear.”

1 John 4:18

The Captain Always Has Been — And Always Will Be — For Everyone

Throughout the journey of The Captain and The Lord, we have seen how different each member of the Straw Hat crew has been.

They differ in strength. They differ in past struggles.

Some have lost those closest to them. Some lost everything they held dear.

Not all have been human. Some are only partially human.

They have been teenagers coming of age, adults who have experienced life, and even a skeleton who had two lives.

For Jinbei, he represents the follower—the crewmate—who the world might question: “Why that man?”

For a man of such status and renown, why choose to serve a boy half his age?

It goes back to the thesis of the whole series:

Luffy has qualities not always obvious at first. But once time is spent with him, he can touch any person he comes across—even men of world renown.

When Luffy chooses to be your friend, a spot on his crew will be open for you.

Not because of what you offer him.

But because of how he comes to love you.

So also it is with the Lord.

He is for you today—whoever you are, however the world sees you.

He loves you and is for you.

Thank you all again for joining me on this journey.

To all my fellow One Piece fans, I hope this series helped illustrate that we too may submit ourselves to the Captain and Lord of our world.

Just like Luffy, He is always ready—whoever you are—to welcome you aboard.