There’s been a massive trend in the media in the past few years: an insurgence of superhero movies and TV shows. One might ask why this is, but the answer is simple… Because superheroes are awesome!
People (myself included) have always been enamoured by the supernatural and by things outside of our realm of possibility. This is one of the things that I think is so cool about God. He is so far outside of my realm of reality. He operates with ability, power, and omniscience that I cannot even begin to comprehend.
Before I get back to that, I also want to say that I find it interesting when I read the Bible to observe the different paces that scripture takes at different times. There are moments where the narrative moves along very slowly and is so full of detail. However, there are some chapters that you read that are so action packed and full of more epic stories than the ten chapters that preceded them.
This past week as I read Second Kings chapter two, both of these observances were strongly highlighted for me. First of all, this chapter is so action packed and covers so much ground. It’s crazy! They likely could have expanded this chapter into an entire book and it would have still been exciting. Beyond that, the things that happen in this chapter are simply impossible. People often think of God parting the Red Sea for the Israelites to walk through it, but what most people don’t realize is that this type of thing happens 4 times in the Bible! This parting of the water reminds me of X-Men’s Storm who can control the elements of nature through her super powers. And I’m also reminded of Aquaman, who can communicate with sea animals, as Elisha calls out the two bears in judgment on the mocking children. As if that wasn’t enough for one chapter, Elijah also gets taken from earth in a flaming chariot pulled by flaming horses, and Elisha simply heals the entire water supply of a nearby city.
It’s hard to even know how to respond to stories like this from the Bible. All I can simply do is stand in awe of how powerful and incredible our God is. He truly puts any of our modern day superheroes to shame.
As amazing of a representation this is of God’s unfathomable and heroic power, I think that the real superhero qualities show up in our New Testament reading from this past week. In most superhero movies, the hero gets to a point where they need to make a real sacrifice and put their lives on the line to save others. As epic as their powers are, this kind of selfless love is the most epic of all forces that could ever exist. And this is exactly what Jesus did. He laid down His life and proved how heroic and selfless His love for us is.
I recently watched the Batmas VS Superman movie with my small group boys. Despite the fact that I think it is pretty ridiculous that they let the rich guy win the fight against the alien who has super strength and can fly and shoot lasers out of his eyes, the movie was pretty sweet! At the end of the movie, you see Superman’s casket in the ground as he lays there dead. However, right before the credits, there’s this moment where the dirt begins to levitate above his casket signalling that he might come back. This makes me think of Luke 24:5 when we hear the angel’s response to the women looking for Jesus: “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”. In the same way that DC Entertainment is saying, “Obviously we’re not killing Superman off forever… There’s more money to be made on sequels here!”, the angel must be thinking, “So the God who created the universe came to earth to save you… Obviously He’s not going to stay in a tomb!”
When it comes to epic, there truly is no match for our amazing God!
-Ryan Guerra
(Associate Pastor)