Saturday, January 11, 2014

Jesus is the greatest super hero, and His super power is grace!

I love super hero movies. Super man, Spider man, Iron man, X-men, you name it. The thought of 'Getting the bad guys' with super strength, zapping them with lazers, bending them with my mind, forcing them to tell the truth, and saving the world just gets me all pumped up!
I have often visualized just how I would go about zapping the people who have hurt and offended me or my loved ones. There's even an evil little grin that would come across my face, kinda like the one the grinch does when he thinks he's stolen Christmas.
Oh how I have longed to have super powers! Even just for a day!
How very arrogant of me!

The disciples displayed the same kind of arrogance in Luke 9:51-56, when they came across some opposition from a group of Samaritans. They asked Jesus, "Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to destroy them?"
Boy did I see myself in that question!
But Jesus responded by rebuking them and walking away. I can imagine him looking at them and saying, "What in the world is wrong with you? How would they ever get saved that way? Fire from heaven indeed.  Oh!"
As a human, with human minds, given the super powers we crave, we would go around zapping people left and right. And just for doing what we perceive to be bad guys! Thank goodness we don't have super powers! Can you imagine the poor souls sent directly to hell without ever having the chance to repent? The more I ponder on super heroes, the more I realize that Jesus is the only real one. And of all the "super" things He did in the Bible, parting the Red Sea, starting fires in puddles of water, saving men from fiery furnaces and lions, the most amazing feat was this perfect being, putting on human skin, and giving his life so that WE could truly have eternal life.
Super man couldn't do that.

Yes Jesus is the greatest super hero. And His super power is grace.