October 25, 2011

John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

I’m going to admit today that this post dwells in my geek roots. It’s a geeky post, and full of geeky stuff. I am a geek. So bear with me. Because today I’m going to talk about superheroes.

If you are into superheroes, you’re probably into one of two types of superheroes.

You’re either like me, who likes Superman. Because he’s powerful, and virtuous. Because he flies, and does things no humans could do. He’s the superhero who would leave you wishing you could be something more, like that.

Or you’re more like my wife. Who prefers Batman. For all the opposite reasons. Because Batman IS human. No powers. No flight. No special anything. He’s just a very determined man with very developed skills. He leaves you thinking, with the right motivation and time I could do that too.

We love superheroes for much the same reason at the end of the day. We like a good story, we like the thought of heroes, we like to see conflict overcome.

But right here, we have the best superhero story of all. This man. The Son. As the song that started me down this line of thought puts it, the Savior to the world. The Savior of the world.
Jesus is the best superhero of all. Because he embodies both the attributes I love about Superman, and the attributes my wife likes about Batman. You may be asking what I mean. So let’s take a look.

How is he like Superman? Jesus showed awesome power. Let’s compare.

When you think of Superman’s powers, the first that comes to mind is that he can fly. It seems like most superheroes do these days. But what about Jesus? Well long before we had comic books about flying people, we had this bit of scripture.

Matthew 14: 23-25

After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.

Now, is walking on a lake flying? Maybe not technically. But for anyone who says that’s not as awesome, I’d like to suggest you try walking on water.

What else? Well Superman had a strength like no other.

How about this?

In Luke 9, the disciples argue about who will be the greatest. And Jesus tells them that the greatest should act like the least, or the youngest. You think that would settle that though? Let’s jump forward in Luke over to Luke 22.

Luke 22:24-27
A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest.25 Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors.26 But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves.27 For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.

You know. If it were me. If I had spent years training up these guys. Teaching them over and over again certain principles. And they spent all of their time bickering about who’s better. I would have been angry. I might have lost it. Jesus showed great strength. Not necessarily in some physical way such as lifting cars. But in patience. Have you ever thought about all the things he put up with? Have you ever read something that occurred and thought, “Man if that were me, I’da whipped them good…” But that’s exactly what Jesus didn’t do.
One last thing about this line of thinking. One of my favorite things about Superman? He’s always good. He’s uncompromising. Other heroes are so human that they do evil. Not Superman. He’s the original boyscout. He is the one other Superheroes look to. Now if you ask me, that sounds like he’s based on Jesus.

1 Peter 2:22 tells us:
He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.”

I like how Hebrews 4:14 reminds us:
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.
Well then if he’s like Superman, how is he like Batman?

Batman was an extremely well educated man with great understanding.
That sounds familiar. In Luke we see Jesus has great understanding.

Luke 2:47 says:
Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.
Batman was human. Funny thing, so was Jesus. We often focus on the divinity of Christ, but sometimes it’s important to focus on the humanity of Christ. He experience life as a human. He lived life as a human. He walked, he bled, he cried.

Batman is a beloved character because there’s this small part of the reader. The one who wants to be a super hero that says, “I could do that..” And that’s the truth of Jesus too. He lead a life that potentially we could live. Even the miracles he performed, we can perform.

He said so himself in John 14:12.

Very truly I tell you, all who have faith in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

There’s one thing that makes Jesus more human than any of the fictional superheroes. He has scars. In his hands and feet. Superheroes don’t get scars. They sometimes are created with them, conveniently located to look cool and not be an inconvenience. But Jesus has real scars of real consequence.

We live in a super hero generation. But you know what? There’s no reason to really get lost up on fake superheroes. Not when we have a true hero to aspire after. To follow after. Even to worship. Those of you who know me well know that I have a love for coats. My favorites are trench coats. Because they’re like the modern day cape. You can’t wear a cape anymore, it just looks weird. But trench coats, they’re a good substitute. We often symbolize the superhero with the cape. Flapping in the wind. Standing triumphant.

But what’s great. What’s spectacular. What’s stupendous is that we worship and actual triumphant God. We worship someone who made a true sacrifice. Who had the greatest story of all. A real hero. Jesus. As I finish today, that’s what I want to focus on. Worship of Jesus, of God, of the realest hero in our lives