Jesus and Superman

It was Angsoc's turn to do Wednesday Worship this week so we had a hastily arranged meeting on Monday afternoon to organise it. Only the chair and I were able to make it so I took on the task of giving the talk. It was reasonably well received so I thought I'd flesh out my notes a bit and post them here.

The content is roughly the same as what I said except that when I talk I don't like to read (because I can't) so I give myself headings and ramble on about each one making 'humourous asides' as I go. Hence, the 'humourous asides' will be missing from these notes.

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Readings
Is. 53: 1-12
John 18:1-12

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I saw the new Superman film in the summer, it wasn’t a particularly good film but it had some interesting features:

Lois Lane (played by Kate Bosworth – no relation as far as I’m aware) says:
‘The World doesn’t need a saviour’, she is proven wrong.

There is a short speech from Superman’s father which features the following line:
The Kryptonian prophecy will be at last fulfilled. The son becomes the father - the father becomes the son."

Superman is stabbed in his side with a shard of Kryptonite

Superman is on a life support machine, as good as dead, when a female nurse finds his room empty and the window open.

The ‘resurrected’ Superman flies up into space and basks in unadulterated sunlight (gamma radiation, or something like that) in a cruciform pose

It seems that the movie producers deliberately styled Superman after Jesus, we may also find ourselves styling Jesus after Superman

The idea that Jesus is like Superman has some appeal
The Messianic hope of Israel tended to be in terms of a warrior who would bring political liberation for Israel from the Romans, or whoever might have been oppressing them at the time. In fact, some scholars would argue that intrinsic to the meaning of ‘messiah’ was the idea of the nationalist liberator for Israel. The image of the suffering servant is quite foreign to this view.

Apparently, there were many self-appointed messiahs in the middle of the first century who would whip up a band of followers and then go and get themselves killed by the Romans.

It might be in relation to this that John’s Jesus reflects bitterly:
I have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me; if another comes in his own name, you will accept him (Jn. 5:43)

Ben Kosiba (also known as Bar Kochba) was beheaded by the Romans in 135 AD after he led a major Jewish uprising. He amputated a finger (probably not a thumb as I claimed when delivering this talk) from each of his serving soldiers which suggests he was quite an impressive figure. The prominent Rabbi Akiba proclaimed him as ‘King Messiah’. He must have been pretty awesome in his time but now he’s almost completely unknown.

To some extent it seems to have appealed to John too
From today’s reading:
knowing all that was to happen to him, (Jesus seems to know everything in advance in John’s gospel.)

The same happens to a lesser extent in the other gospels.

When Jesus said to them, "I am he," they stepped back and fell to the ground.
The power that comes from a simple declaration of identity (Cf. YHWH – the one who is) seems to have blokey appeal. If Jeremy Clarkson wrote about the incident he'd probably say something like 'he just blew them away'.

[It's notable that the other gospels don't have this incident]

But there is a flipside:
Superman can be annoying, he’s too perfect, he seems smug and invulnerable, I can’t relate to him.

The same may be said of Jesus when he is portrayed as one who is in complete control
And they said, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus answered, "I told you that I am he".

Do we detect a petulant tone? This happens often in John, Jesus becomes argumentative and self-promoting, a less attractive personality to emulate. (Cf. 5:18ff; 7:14-30; 8:12-20; 8:23-26; 8:31-59!)

One possible explanation for this image of Jesus, in John, as one who seems to be in constant conflict with ‘the Jews’ (it needs to be remembered that John was also ethnically Jewish) is that it was written shortly after the Jewish leaders expelled the Christians from the synagogue. This left them exposed and vulnerable to brutal persecution from the Romans.

The bitterness felt by John and his community after being betrayed by the ones who they thought were their own people is reflected in John’s portrait of Jesus. (Cf. Mt. 10:21; Mk. 13:12, brother will betray brother) And judgment is implied on ‘the Jews’ for not believing Jesus’ clear and explicit message.

Two Important differences between Jesus and Superman

1. Superman is not human
One of the earliest heresies in the Church was called Docetism. According to which Jesus was not human but rather only seemed to be human. I’m not normally one to condemn heresies but this is one that we need to be aware of because it can easily creep into our thinking; I remember when I was younger I wasn’t sure whether I was allowed to think of Jesus as human.

2. Superman prevails by redemptive violence – Jesus by redemptive suffering

Jesus as the Suffering Servant
The picture of the suffering servant from Isaiah, though not necessarily intended to be about Jesus, seems to provide an appropriate picture all the same.

he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

He didn’t wear a garish blue and red outfit with his underwear on the outside (as far as we know). The gospels tell us almost nothing about Jesus’ physical appearance, presumably his image was unremarkable.

He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity

When did you last see Superman with a cold? We can be reasonably sure that Jesus, as a human being, suffered minor illnesses from time to time, just like the rest of us. And we have all heard about his suffering.

as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account.

I saw a picture of a crucifix with Jesus looking contorted and emaciated. It's an ugly image, I could barely look. I tried to upload it but blogger won't let me for some reason, I may try again later.

I found Mel Gibson’s The Passion difficult to watch, I didn’t understand much of the dialogue (due to watching it in Poland where the subtitles were in Polish, while the soundtrack was in the relevant ancient languages) perhaps this made me focus on the images more. It was a harrowing experience to see such brutality; I could hardly speak for about two hours afterwards.

Luke’s inclusion of an eclipse in the scene of the crucifixion seems to suggest that even God couldn’t watch. (Lk. 23:44)

Unlike Superman
Jesus came as a human
Weak and vulnerable as a child

I know about kryptonite but Jesus lived with constant weakness as a human being, most of the time Superman is free from kryptonite

Superman also seems to have no psychological weakness – no doubt, no fear, he seems supremely confident in all situations.

I don’t think Jesus was like that

In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus prays earnestly, it is implied that he knows what is to come and he is not happy about it.

Luke 22:44 his sweat became like great drops of blood

Whether this is meant to be poetic or literal the message is clear. I’ve heard it said that sweating blood was known in WW1 and was seen as a sign of absolute terror.

Jesus last words
Mark 15:34-37 At three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" …

…Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last.
(A scream?)

Luke seems to be embarrassed about this and has ‘sanctified’ Jesus’ last words
Luke 23:46 Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." Having said this, he breathed his last.

This is a much more serene picture, but also unrealistic I think.

It seems Jesus was left to die, cut off from the father doubting himself and in complete anguish.

As I was preparing this, it occurred to me that we can’t begin to understand how Jesus felt unless we can doubt his Messiahship. Jesus, who had known the Father’s presence in a very real way throughout his ministry, in the time of his most extreme trial suddenly felt deserted. If Jesus was not the Messiah, he might have suffered for nothing. It would be an awful thing to hang there in agony wondering whether what you were doing would have any meaning or not.

So we have this chilling vision of Jesus suffering not just physically but also mentally, doubting himself and what he thought was his mission. His last words express a feeling of abandonment possibly failure as well. Crying out in a loud voice, (screaming?) in inexpressible anguish his life ends.

We may draw comfort from the image of Jesus as one who is in control, with immense power; we can look to the risen Christ for this.

However, I find the image of Jesus as one who knew weakness, fear, and doubt, just like I know weakness, fear, and doubt, easier to relate to and also comforting. Not only can he sympathise with me but also I can sympathise with him.

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Post script – From a historical point of view I might add that even if Jesus was not the Messiah it does not mean his death was for nothing. For many it has become the defining moment of history a symbol of righteous suffering and the ultimate example for us to follow.