Posts Tagged: strength and weakness

“NO SUPERHEROES”  

On November 28, 2016 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

 

In the ancient Near East, there was Gilgamesh.  In ancient Greece, there was Hercules.  In England, there was Robin Hood.

Superheroes have always been with us—or, at least, stories about superheroes.  Some were demigods.  Others were very shrewd humans with great powers.

The Bible has a few characters who could be regarded as superheroes . . . if you don’t read the whole story.  Moses, Gideon, David, and Solomon could all be considered superheroes, except that each of them is portrayed in his weaknesses, as well as his strengths.  Furthermore, each of them is portrayed as very weak when he doesn’t depend upon God.  And all of these quasi-superheroes are portrayed as ending rather badly.

It is much the same in the New Testament.  The original disciples of Jesus were portrayed as asking the wrong questions, failing to understand when Jesus was speaking literally and when he was using metaphors, as cowards who ran away when Jesus was arrested.  Paul (also called by his Hebrew name “Saul” in the book of Acts) was a murderer.

Jesus is sometimes thought of as a superhero, but I don’t think that there’s much evidence for that.  Jesus was born in a barn, had nowhere to call home on a regular basis, had to borrow a small coin for a sermon illustration, was crucified on a Roman cross (a means of torture and death reserved for non-Roman criminals and runaway slaves), and even had to borrow a tomb.  Some superhero!

And yet . . .

And yet . . .

Jesus did not intend to be a superhero.  He intended to be a servant.  Indeed, Jesus claimed to be not only a servant, but one who would lay down his life, a ransom for many.

What we need is not a superhero, or even a hero.  What we need is a Redeemer.  And I believe that Jesus is that redeemer.  To die for the sins of the world is not heroic, just necessary.  It isn’t pretty, just important.  Indeed, paying for our wrong-doings was not just important.  It was essential.

 

 

 

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