Maybe you remember the introduction to the old Adventures of Superman television show from the 1950s. Remember how it started out with people standing on the street and then suddenly looking skyward? The narrator began: “Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.”
Then the people would start saying: “Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird!”
“It’s a plane!”
“It’s Superman!”
Superman was the epitome of the superhero and is still considered by some today to be the ultimate superhero. My five-year-old grandson, Noah, is enamored with superheroes. During his recent visit for Christmas he spent most of his time playing superheroes or watching them on the television. Noah loves his superheroes. When I asked him which one was his favorite it turned out to be whichever one, he happened to be playing with or watching. At that moment he answered, “Ladybug.”
It is okay if you do not know who Ladybug is. It is a new superhero on the kid’s station Nickelodeon. Which is the problem . . . there are hundreds or even thousands of superheroes out there and each one is out there to save the world. That’s what superheroes do . . . they save the world using their superpowers or extra-special skills. From Superman to Ladybug superheroes have the goal of saving the world and protecting humanity from evil and bad guys.
Recently we have been reminded about our own superhero . . . the original superhero . . . as we celebrated Christmas—Jesus. Maybe you have never thought of Jesus as being a superhero . . . but, think about it. Jesus can definitely be faster than a speeding bullet . . . more powerful than a locomotive . . . and, jump over tall buildings with a single bound. If he wanted to. He truly has some superpowers when you consider the things that the writer of the Gospel of John says: he’s immortal . . . he’s all powerful . . . he is the light that breaks the world’s darkness . . . and, he came to save the world and humanity.
In the Broadway musical and later the movie, Godspell, the person who plays Jesus wears a Superman shirt . . . a big red “S” on a yellow background. I think you and everyone else get the symbolism of the metaphor . . . Jesus is the ultimate superman. Even John the Baptist recognized how special . . . no, how super . . . Jesus was. John says: “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”
The original superhero . . . Jesus. There is no denying that he is the ultimate superhero. He is what all superheroes strive for and want to be. How lucky we are to have such a person come into our lives . . . one who comes to save the world . . . to save humanity . . . to save us.
In the mythology of superheroes, they come from humble backgrounds, they are not always well-received by those around them, they make the powerful nervous, and they all dedicate their lives for others. And, get this, they walk among us and are one of us. Pretty standard stuff that I imagine has been based off the biblical story of Jesus.
Yeppers, Jesus is the original, ultimate superhero. Even though Jesus has all of these wonderful superpowers at his disposal, it seems as if his greatest superpowers are things that we have too. One of his greatest superpowers is grace. Jesus showers all with grace . . . the love and mercy that is given to us by God because God desires us to have it, not necessarily because of anything we have done to earn it, but despite it. God, through Jesus, receives us as we are . . . sins and all . . . and welcomes us into the family of God.
Another of his superpowers is truth. Jesus speaks the truth . . . he does not mince words. Jesus states it as he sees it and, it is not always comforting to those who hear his words. There are no games with the truth . . . evil is evil, bad is bad, and he has no problem stating things like they are when they go against the will of God. He points out injustice . . . lack of respect . . . and things that make us uncomfortable . . . things like poverty, racism—in fact, all the “isms” . . . that which is divisive and separating. Jesus tells it like it is and expects it to be restored to God’s intentions.
Yet, as powerful as grace and truth is, it is love that is his most powerful gift as a superhero. He even tells us in the Gospel of Luke that it is the most powerful of all the gifts: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Luke 10:27) As far as he was concerned there was nothing more powerful than love. Everything Jesus talked about was based on love. Everything that he did was based on love. Love was the ultimate superpower.
This might be a far stretch, but on Christmas we received the greatest gift of a superhero the world has ever seen. A gift from God and of God. There is no denying the purpose of this gift . . . to save the world . . . to save humanity . . . to save us. As the gift . . . the ultimate superhero . . . Jesus shows us the way. For such a gift, we rejoice! Like the writer of the Gospel of John we proclaim: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” We have been blessed . . . each and every one of us. Let us thank God!
Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird!
It’s a plane!
It’s Jesus!
Faster than any speeding bullet . . . more powerful than a locomotive—more powerful than anything . . . and, able to leap buildings in a single bound. It is Jesus . . . God’s gift to us. What a wonderful, special gift . . . our very own superhero who has come to save the day . . . to save us. Remember, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Amen.
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