|
 Fascinating, isn’t it? So many of mankind’s best
stories involve tales of supreme sacrifice. And when they happen to
be true stories they evoke a powerful response in us. A soldier on
the battlefield dies while saving his brothers. A teacher throws his
body between his students and a hail of bullets fired by a crazed
gunman. A firefighter rushes into an inferno to save a single life
even when she knows she’ll never make it out alive. We love heroes.
And well we should since we are confronted, even assaulted, every
day with real stories of tragedy, disaster, and humanly-perpetrated
evil. Look around – death is everywhere. In the news. In the movies
we watch. In the games we play. And, sadly, it even invades our
‘safe’ places. Death is greedy. It never seems to get its fill.
Death never takes a holiday. Accidents, illnesses, overdoses,
mass-murders and natural catastrophes consume lives without so much
as a pause. Death is unbiased. It doesn’t care if you are rich or
poor or what shade of pigment your skin reflects. Death refuses to
respect borders. No wall ever built can stop it. It doesn’t take
much imagination to personify death. It is a monster. It’s real. And
it’s coming for us.
Any wonder, then, that we should invent hero stories? Who will
defend us? Who will shield us? Who will save us from the monster?
Enter the hero to take up the sword and slay the dragon. We need
heroes. But when it comes to facing the monster of death itself,
every hero eventually falls. Nobody wins a chess match with death.
At least no ordinary human can. So we create heroes that are “super”
(more than) human. Even ancient stories are told of gods and
god-human hybrids that die and then return to life. DC Comics wasn’t
the first one to kill off Superman only to bring him back to life a
while later.
[to top of second column] |
 Oops. I did it again, didn’t I? Sorry if I
spoiled it, but yes, in the 2017’s Justice League the whole world is
again in danger and a team of heroes come to the conclusion that
they can’t defeat the enemy without Superman. So they use a magic
“box” (aka alien technology) to reanimate him. The day is saved when
death loses its grip on earth’s favorite adopted son.
I’m not trying to sound like a crotchety old movie critic. I enjoy a
good superhero flick as much as the next guy. But these stories are
just shadows of a greater story. It goes something like this: Death
has terrorized humanity from Adam to now. God sent His Son to live a
human life. We, all of us who don’t like God running our lives,
ensured that He died an exceedingly painful human death. But just
when it looked like death was even stronger than the Son of God, He
came back! He arose and proved He is greater! And He has shown us
the way that we, too, can share His victory over the grave. Jesus
said,
| “For my Father’s will
is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him
shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the
last day.”
John 6:40 |
As I said a few paragraphs ago, the best hero
stories are the true ones. The rest may make for good drama, good
television, or (with enough CGI and special effects) adapt well for
film, but there is only one Hero who truly defeated death. Christ is
risen! He is risen, indeed! |
