Superman's Hero
What is it that makes Superman such a unique character? As many of you know, Superman was not from Earth, he is from the planet Krypton sent to Earth to be a hero, however, so many times the fact that gets overlooked is that he was sent to earth to also be saved. The one aspect of Superman that set him apart from the rest of the superheroes was Clark Kent. It was Clark Kent that made Superman human, and it is Superman’s humanity that made him a savior of humanity. His compassion and relationships with humanity gave him the reason to fight and keep fighting—he loved people and he stood for something that seems to be missing from the hearts of most individuals—truth and justice. Superman never killed and did everything in his power to save the lives of the innocent as-well-as the wicked. He looked at humanity through eyes of compassion and love.
Superman is a prototypical savior, in the image of the man-God savior that we Christians call Christ. The fact that stuns me the most is that Christ decided to come down from his throne and become human. He became subject to everything that mankind had to offer—the heat, the cold, hunger, pain and suffering. He allowed himself to be subject to lies, injustice and cruelty. It is Christ’s humanity, however, that makes Him who He is. It is the fact that He came and subjected Himself willingly to humanity that brings me to the reality that He is God. No one in their right mind would willingly subject themselves to torture by their own creation—right?
If the Father saw a different way to prove to humanity that He loved us and wanted to save us—He would have done so. As a parent, I know that I would do anything to save my child. I would throw myself in front of a bullet or suffer to protect my child—so how is it that Christ died for us? The fact we are the creation of God, was the reason why He came to earth to save us. He took on flesh, so we could become divine. He took on flesh so we could be rescued from the power of death.
Every hero has is weakness, and that Superman loved humanity was one of his, however, another weakness of his is Kryptonite. It is strange that radioactive pieces of his home world would make him weak, weak enough to kill him. And as soon as the villains found out what Superman’s weakness was they did everything to exploit it. That is the difference about good and evil—good does everything they can to save, evil does everything they can to destroy.
So does Jesus have a weakness? Anything that attacks Christ directly He is invulnerable to now. Obviously, when He came to earth, His humanity was attacked. The flesh and blood part of Him was put through the paces. He was talked about, lied about and humiliated—His psychological part was attacked. He was whipped, beaten and punished—His physical part was attacked. There was no part of His human side left untouched; the Godly part of Him was attacked by the simple fact that His own creation would do that to Him, but the fact that He is God, is the fact that make Him invulnerable—right?
As Superman’s weakness is Kryptonite—Christ’s only “weakness” is His creation, or rather His creation’s sinful ways. He Himself was sinless, but it was humanity’s sin that was the reason why He came. It was that humanity separated THEMSELVES from the love of God through the humanity’s first sin—disobedience. But it was through the weakness of humanity that we have found strength. It is through the weakness of humanity that we have found salvation. Because Jesus became man, we gained the chance of being saved. Through Kryptonite Superman gained the knowledge of humanity.
Do you know what the difference between Jesus and Superman is? When Superman came in contact with Kryptonite he lost his strength and became human. All of humanity’s weaknesses affected him. The difference is that when Christ came into contact with death—it strengthened Him. Sin and separation from His creation gave Him the reason to come and save us, death solidified union with us, and it is the resurrection that brought us back into His arms of grace. Satan does all in his power to pull us away from Christ’s loving embrace. He constantly bombards us with evil and sin. Our humanity is our greatest strength and our inherent weakness, but because Jesus became man, it gives us the goal of becoming divine. God wants us to have salvation and the keys to the mansion built for us. He wants us to be free, He wants us to have peace. We need to fight everyday to get closer to God—for our “Kryptonite” is our flesh and blood. We bear our “Kryptonite” constantly and have to fight the temptation of the world all the time, however, through Christ’s grace we have the strength to keep going until we meet our end.
Jesus was and is the original Man of Steel. He always IS Truth and Justice. It is through faith that we can keep fighting and keep pushing forward seeking the day of our death, not as something to fear but as something glorious. We should not fear to die, because to live in the flesh and blood of humanity means suffering and pain, torment and evil. We live as long as we have “something” to do. We are called to serve Christ, as Christians.
Jesus Christ is the first and only "superhero" you need. He is the only one Who defeated death. He is the only real superhero - He is the one we should emulate, praise, worship and recognize. He lay down His life to free us from death and sin. What other "superhero" has done that for you?
For me, to live is Christ to die is to gain.
