Warner Bros. hoped pastors would believe to help them sell more tickets<\/a>.<\/p>\nWas there some Jesusy stuff in the movie? Sure. Superman has a unique birth, he sort of sacrifices himself to save the world but not really, there\u2019s a not so subtle moment where he\u2019s sitting in church in front of a stained glass image of Jesus, and there\u2019s another scene where he hovers in a sort of crucifix position.<\/p>\n
Past that I didn\u2019t really see the Jesus connection.<\/p>\n
Ok, that\u2019s not exactly true. I didn\u2019t see a Jesus-type character in the movie, but I did see the type of character most of us\u00a0want<\/em> Jesus to be.<\/p>\nSuperman is<\/em> the American Jesus.<\/p>\nHe\u2019s the quintessential American hero who leaps over every obstacle, ignoring international boundaries to fly in to beat up the bad guy and save the day\u2026.while doing no small amount of damage along the way\u2026..which he\u2019s apparently not responsible for.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s the incarnation of the big, strong, good looking, take no prisoners archetype we idolize in America and which so many of us wish we could be.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s also nothing like the real Jesus.<\/p>\n
Superman flies in at the speed of sound, flashy red cape in tow.<\/p>\n
The real Jesus comes in humble and meek, riding on a donkey.<\/p>\n
Superman is invincible.<\/p>\n
The real Jesus was pierced for our transgression and crushed for our iniquities<\/p>\n
Superman kills his enemies or at least beats them to a bloody pulp.<\/p>\n
When it came time for the real Jesus to confront his enemies and save the day, he died for them.<\/p>\n
If anything, Jesus was the anti-Superman.<\/p>\n
I think few of us would admit to our affinity for a Superman Jesus rather than the real deal, but think about how we usually talk about and portray the real Jesus. It doesn\u2019t matter what it is, if Jesus did it, he would be the best at it. When we portray him in movies and plays, he\u2019s always a toned, good looking guy. And just like Superman, we wait and expect Jesus to save the day whenever and wherever we need him to with no help from us.<\/p>\n
The sad and unfortunate truth is that for many of us the Jesus of the gospels has been replaced by one of our own creation who fulfills all our desires and behaves just like we would if we had God-like power.<\/p>\n
In a lot of ways, we\u2019re just like Jesus\u2019 Jewish audience in the gospels. We\u2019re looking for someone else, something else. Something bigger, better, stronger.<\/p>\n
Jesus was a poor outcast, but we recast him as a conquering king, Jesus tells us to love our enemies, but we fight them in his name. Jesus declares it the poor who are blessed, but we lust after the American dream, Jesus bids us come and die, but e do everything we can to keep out of harm and stay alive.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t get me wrong.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a lot of times I wish Jesus was a lot more like Superman and would come flying in to save the day every time I need him too.<\/p>\n
But Jesus is no man of steel.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s a man of the cross.<\/p>\n
And maybe that\u2019s a good thing, because if Jesus really was like Superman that \u201cgo and do likewise\u201d stuff would be a whole heck of a lot harder than it already is.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Grace and peace,<\/p>\n
Zack Hunt<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This weekend I went to see Man of Steel. I liked it. Didn\u2019t love it. Actually, I was kind of disappointed. Going in, I heard over and over again about how much Jesus imagery there was in the movie. So, naturally, being an ordained minister, I prepared myself to lead the audience in an altar […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3437,"featured_media":9895,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a><\/p>\n