Who's Your Hero?
By Celena Janton
Maybe you don't stay up late and read comic books in bed, but I'm the kind of girl who really likes super heroes. Captain America, Wolverine, and Thor are my favorites.
A wise man once said, "All heroes are shadows of Christ."*
Here I am, fascinated by the stories of these incredibly awesome super heroes who really are just shadows of Christ. They're cool and amazing, sure, and they have really interesting stories, sure, and they're likeable and attractive…
But Jesus is infinitely more amazing than all of them put together.
Just check out all the super powers He has:
Like Storm, He has power over nature (Matthew 8:23).
Like Nightcrawler, He can teleport (Acts 1:9; Luke 24:31).
Like Wolverine, He's got an immortal, incorruptible body (Luke 24:39-43).
Like Mystique, He can disguise Himself (Luke 24:16-31).
Like Thor, He can fly into the Heavens (Acts 1:9).
Like Professor X, He can read minds (Matthew 9:4, I Corinthians 3:20).
Plus, He knows the future, He can heal the sick and raise the dead, He walked on water, turned water to wine, multiplied a little bit of bread into a lot, withered a fig tree with just a glance, and the list goes on.
After Jesus rose from the dead, He was no longer bound by the laws of matter and time. And it doesn't stop there.
Paul wrote to the church at Corinth: "There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory… In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality" (I Corinthians 15:40-43; 52-53).
We're going to live in eternity with an immortal, imperishable body just like Jesus.
Hmm… does that sound super-hero-ish to you?
Maybe it's just my own childish ambition, but being a super hero someday gives me just another thing to look forward to. Any kid (and, really, any grown-up Christian) should think it's pretty awesome that we're all going to spend an eternity not only with the One truly worthy of our awe, but with a bunch of other super heroes who aren't bound by time or matter--who can walk through doors without opening them, live forever, never get old, swim without holding their breath, fly, teleport, and do all kinds of other things I'm sure neither Marvel nor DC has even begun to dream up yet.
Comic book super heroes are awesome, but they only just scratch the surface. They're just shadows of Christ.
*John Piper in Don't Waste Your Life