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All You Want to Know about the Bible in Pop Culture
By Kevin Harvey Thomas Nelson
Copyright © 2015 Kevin Harvey
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-7180-0555-9
CHAPTER 1
MAYBEthe S Stands for SAVIOR
They flood our movie theaters every summer and our streets every Halloween. They fill the shelves of comic book stores and the hallways of Comic-Con. Some can fly and catch bullets with their teeth; others are mere mortals with cool gadgets. Some consider their alter ego a curse, while others see it as their calling.
Whatever the case, whoever the superhero, the world is fascinated with them. Considering that almost eighty years after Superman's comic book debut in 1938, movie audiences will be lining up to see him in a (please, please, pleeeaaase be) legendary movie that also stars Batman and Wonder Woman, it's safe to say the extreme popularity of superheroes is not just a fad trending online for a few days. And perhaps there is something to say about that. Maybe our fascination with superheroes is because we are being drawn to something innate in us. A longing for something more. Something perfect. Something supernatural.
At some point in their lives, most people look in the mirror and see their deep flaws. They realize their physical limits, that they are not as invincible as they thought they once were. They have come to terms that they are not capable of rescuing themselves out of every hole they fall into. And they know they need help.
And a few of these flawed, limited humans created superheroes for the world to enjoy. People who were capable of doing what we couldn't. But is it possible that Superman, the world's first comic book superhero, was inspired, intentionally or not, by the only real Superhero? Take this verse, for example: "Even though you've been raised as a human being, you are not one of them. They could be a great people ... if they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all, their capacity for good, I have sent them you, my only son" (1 Superman 3:1).
Did I have you there for a minute? This sounds like something God might've told Jesus as he was being baptized, right? It's at least more biblical than some of what others seem to think is in the Bible, such as the faux verse "God helps those who helps themselves."
Jesus was raised as a human being, although he wasn't exactly like the rest of them. Check.
Jesus told us he is the light of the world. Check.
Jesus is God's only Son. Check.
It turns out Superman had a few things in common with Jesus. The previous quote is taken straight from the 2006 film Superman Returns. It was even chosen as the narration for the film's preview that was released the previous year. And to top it all off, the actual line delivered by actor Marlon Brando was taken from cut footage of the original 1978 Superman.
Superman may have been the first superhero (at least the first one with supernatural abilities) given to us in 1938, but there has been no shortage of new ones given to us since. Beginning with what is known as the Golden Age of comic books (c. 1938–1950) when we were given Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, and Captain America, among others, to the Silver Age (c. 1956–1970) that brought us Iron Man, the Fantastic Four, Hulk, Spider-Man, and more, we could write pages upon pages listing the super heroes in the Marvel and DC Comics universes alone.
In the dates of these two comic book eras, as well as the recent boom of superhero movies in the last decade-plus, there is one undeniable common theme that perhaps sheds some light on the culture's sudden need for such supernatural heroes in their lives.
War.
The Golden Age paralleled World War II and the unrest the world felt with the rise of Hitler's Third Reich. When the war ended, so did the popularity of many comics; but the Silver Age emerged when conflict rose again, this time in Vietnam, as well as the nuclear arms chess match of the Cold War. And between this writing and when the War on Terror began in late 2001, we have had six X-Men movies, five Spider-Mans, three Batmans, three Iron-Mans, two Supermans, two Hulks, two Thors, two Captain Americas, and one too many Green Lantern movies.
When war surrounds us and evil rears its ugly head, we look for good to prevail. When soldiers are dying to defend freedoms, we search to find a higher purpose emerging from their sacrifices. Many find comfort in God our Creator and the Bible, his message to us. Others perhaps resist this dependence on God but still seek supernatural comfort in heroes created during times of crisis.
If we could see God in Superman, the first superhero, it would stand to reason that we could also find him in many of the others inspired by Superman. After all, to mimic something is to pay the greatest compliment to it. Although no movie or comic book could ever get away with mixing DC and Marvel Comics superheroes, the following is one geek's version of a different type of Avengers. Four superheroes whose recent Hollywood depictions together paint a vivid picture of the true Superhero.
SUPERMAN: THE HOPE FOR ALL MANKIND
It turns out the previews for Superman Returns were the best things about the movie. After a disappointed fan base showed little interest in seeing what would happen next for the original superhero, the studio's plans for sequels were scrapped, and they returned to the drawing board. But in the summer of 2013, Man of Steel put Superman back on fans' radars in a big way. In fact, before summer's end, plans for the sequel had already begun.
But even when a new director took a completely different direction with the Superman franchise, the resulting film was still filled with Christ comparisons. There are minor things to take notice of, such as a young Clark Kent reading the philosophies of Plato, just as a young Jesus certainly read and studied the Torah. Clark is also thirty-three years old at the climax of the film, the age many scholars believe Jesus to have been at the time of his death.
An adolescent Clark Kent also watches his earthly father, Jonathan Kent, die in a tornado, something he could have prevented had his father felt the world was ready to see what his son could do. Compare this with Jesus at the wedding in Cana when a miracle is asked of him, yet he responded, "My time has not arrived" (John 2:4).
While he was alive, though, Jonathan Kent struggled with his fear that the world wouldn't understand his son. "When the world finds out what you can do, it's gonna change everything," Jonathan shares with his young son. "Our beliefs, our notions of what it means to be human. Everything.... People are afraid of what they don't understand."
Surely Joseph had similar struggles concerning Jesus, the boy he raised as his own son. When Mary became pregnant with a child who was not his, Joseph had in mind to divorce her quietly until an angel told him who the baby was. We can only speculate Joseph's reactions, but protecting Jesus became uppermost in his mind, as indicated by their mad dash to Egypt in order to flee the wrath of Herod. For no longer was his priority to protect young Mary from public disgrace; rather, he found himself suddenly responsible for helping to protect and raise a child who would save the people from their sins. This child was the hope that a world crying out to God had been waiting for.
It is in this theme of hope that we find the heart of Man of Steel. Upon meeting his biological father for the first time, Clark (whose Kryptonian name, he learns, is Kal-El) is told, "The symbol of the house of El means hope." And this is the symbol placed on his chest that resembles an S. His father, Jor-El, sent his only son to Earth to bring the people hope.
The hope that God sent to earth was his Son, Jesus. From Adam and Eve in the garden, to the Israelites wandering in the desert, to the people of Israel who had been conquered by foreign kingdoms, the Old Testament is filled with people calling out for help. They desperately needed God's intervention. They knew they were broken, sinful, and without hope on their own. In response, God "gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not face everlasting destruction, but will have everlasting life" (John 3:16).
Though the world's need for everlasting hope was fulfilled two thousand years ago when Jesus came to earth, it has by no means been realized by all. We oftentimes find ourselves fighting our need for hope. It does not make sense that we need someone not of this world to save us. Nor do we understand why a father would love a people so much he would send his only son to die for them. And the confusion makes us afraid. Afraid of our vulnerability, of our fragility, of our dependency.
The people of Metropolis certainly did not immediately realize their need for Superman when General Zod tried to create a new planet of Krypton out of the foundation of earth, which would have resulted in billions of deaths; but that didn't change the fact that they did, indeed, desperately need him. And countless millions today also trudge through their days crying out for hope, not knowing that it has already come.
SPIDER-MAN: WHO THE WORLD NEEDS
In the middle act of the 2004 film Spider-Man 2, Peter Parker is having identity issues. "Am I not supposed to have what I want? What I need?" he asks himself. "What am I supposed to do?" For Peter, his desire to live a normal life and the people's need for Spider-Man has brought him to a crossroads. He has been breaking promises to friends, missing classes, and having trouble keeping jobs because of his twenty-four-hour on-call job as the hero of New York City.
After taking a tumble in an alley one night, Peter takes off his Spider-Man outfit and drops it in a Dumpster, declaring to himself that he will be ...
Spider-Man no more.
Like Peter, Jesus, too, was a man (but of the, you know, actually lived variety). At times he was hungry, tempted, and tired. He cut up with his friends, shared inside jokes with his family, and got blisters on his hands after a hard day's work. And while praying in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before his crucifixion, he is said to have been in so much agony that his sweat was like drops of blood. What if, on that fateful night in the garden, he had stood up, seeing Judas and his eventual arrestors in the far-off distance, and declared that he would be ...
God no more?
No arrest. No trial. No scourging. No crucifixion. Who could blame him for leaving all that behind?
However ...
That would have also meant no resurrection. No Savior. No Redeemer. No hope.
Just like Peter's decision to simply be a good kid living a normal life meant no more hero of New York City, especially for his neighbor Henry. As Aunt May told Peter, "Kids like Henry need a hero-courageous, self-sacrificing people, setting examples for all of us. Everybody loves a hero. People line up for them, cheer them, scream their names, and years later they'll tell how they stood in the rain for hours just to get a glimpse of the one who told them to hold on longer.... He [Henry] needs him [Spider-Man]." Henry needed a self-sacrificing hero, and thankfully for New York City, Peter realized that before it was too late.
After Peter chooses to be Spider-Man again, there is a pivotal, climactic scene in which he takes off his mask and uses all his strength to stop an out-of-control train full of passengers from crashing off the end of the tracks, nearly losing his life in the process. When the train finally stops, Peter collapses into the passengers' arms, unmasked, as they carefully carry him, arms out at his sides in a cross position, over their heads. He showed them he was both hero and man as he willingly offered up his life for theirs.
Hebrews 2:14 explains why it was so important for Jesus to become human flesh for us: "Because God's children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood" (NLT). However, having Jesus as simply a good flesh-and-blood teacher living a moral life wouldn't have helped us. We needed him on that cross. We needed him to choose to give up his life for us, for only "he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people" (v. 17 NLT).
Jesus chose to be both man and God for our sakes. And had he not willingly done so, the consequences for us would've been a lot worse than a train derailment or an increase in crime. Without him as fully both, the world would not have the Savior it so desperately needs: the one who can both forgive us of our sins and substitute himself in place of the punishment we deserve.
BATMAN: NOT A HERO, BUT SOMETHING MORE
In the final scene of the blockbuster film The Dark Knight, Batman willingly takes the blame for murders he did not commit so that the legacy of Gotham's prized district attorney—the one who actually committed the murders—would not be tarnished. He is forced to go into hiding while the city and Gotham police accuse him of crimes he did not commit. As he runs into the night to avoid the police dogs tracking him, one boy who knows the truth asks his dad, "Why is he running, Dad? ... He didn't do anything wrong."
Batman had never been concerned with how the law viewed him. Despite many on the police force not agreeing with how he did things to help the people of Gotham, he always knew he had the people's best interests in mind and could not be deterred. He was never interested in taking credit; his only motivation was what he told the villain Ra's Al Ghul: "Gotham isn't beyond saving."
When the Joker threatened to begin killing someone every hour until Batman revealed himself, the Gotham citizens who had always loved Batman quickly turned on him too. Suddenly Batman had neither the law on his side nor a cheering crowd in his corner.
But Batman was never about making friends either, only about saving the people of Gotham, no matter what they thought of him. As his longtime guardian Alfred told him, "Even if everyone hates [Batman] for it, that's the sacrifice he's making.... He's not being a hero; he's being something more." And "something more" would soon mean, for the sake of the city he loved, willingly taking the blame for murders committed by a crazed district attorney who had tried killing him.
I don't know of anyone who can relate to the sacrifice Batman made.
Except maybe for one.
The Dark Knight trilogy is not a feel-good superhero story at all. But neither is the picture it replicates of how an innocent Jesus, with law and crowd turned against him, willingly took the punishment for sins he did not commit, all for the sake of the people he loved. Even Jesus' executioner, Pilate, knew he was innocent of the crimes he was being accused of (Matt. 27:11–26), yet Jesus refused to fight the injustice being thrown his way, for as Ephesians 5:2 says, "Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God" (NIV).
Why would Jesus do such a thing? Why did Batman? Perhaps Alfred said it best: "He [Batman] can make the choice that no one else can make—the right choice.
Batman made the right choice for the people of Gotham by allowing them to believe he committed these crimes. Without his sacrifice, the people of Gotham would have lost hope.
Jesus made the right choice for you and me by giving himself up to be crucified. Without his sacrifice, the people of the world would have no hope.
The Dark Knight trilogy is tough to watch at times. It has a realism to it that, more than any other superhero film, hits home for us in the post-9/11 world. The violence can be excessive and uncomfortable. But even more uncomfortable is watching a once cheered-upon hero becoming something more—"a sacrifice of atonement" (Rom. 3:25 NIV).
THOR: THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF A KING
Stop me if this sounds familiar: The son of a great deity is sent to earth to live as a man. While many are skeptical of who he is, a few have chosen to believe. When the enemy comes after him, he sacrifices himself for the sake of the people on earth. And just when the enemy believes he has won and finally conquered the mighty son, our hero is risen from the dead, more powerful than ever, and showing all the world once and for all who he truly is ... Jesus the Messiah — uh, sorry, got ahead of myself—Thor, long golden-haired, buff-beyond-imagination Norse god of thunder.
Thor's origin goes well beyond a comic book. Before he was the gentleman courting Natalie Portman on the big screen, before Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee introduced him to the comic world in 1962, Thor was a red-headed god in Norse mythology who rode in a chariot pulled by two goats, fought a serpent with his hammer, and fathered children with multiple goddesses.
I just lost some of you, didn't I? Was it the red-headed part?
But as I have already said, I'm not concerned with the comic story of our superheroes. And in Thor's case, I'm definitely not looking at the real (but fake) god of Scandinavian lore. No, I'm more interested in director Kenneth Branagh's 2011 big-screen interpretation of our hero, specifically his death and resurrection scene in the final act.
Thor had been living on earth as a mortal, after having been banished there by his father for his reckless behavior. This noteworthy scene begins when his brother, Loki, sends to earth a great weapon called the Destroyer in order to kill Thor and anyone else around him.
Let's see this scene again, this time with some comparisons to Jesus' death and resurrection:
The death and resurrection of Thor, as depicted in the movie, bares some interesting commonalities with Jesus' death and resurrection. But perhaps any on-screen depiction of a resurrection would bare the same similarities. After all, in all of history we have only one sacrificial death and resurrection to look to for inspiration. (But I'm pretty sure he didn't ride in a chariot pulled by goats.)
(Continues...)
Excerpted from All You Want to Know about the Bible in Pop Culture by Kevin Harvey. Copyright © 2015 Kevin Harvey. Excerpted by permission of Thomas Nelson.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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