The Bungee Cord. 8-12-24

Hello,

Is Batman a superhero?

This past Thursday evening, I was at Foggy Mountain Inn, a “resort” (not as fancy as the name implies) and restaurant for Trivia, which is held there every other Thursday. About ten of my daily pickleball group gather for some food and fun for this Trivia, and this past Thursday we won! We beat seven other teams with our expertise on general knowledge.

We won, even though we lost on a question that had a questionable answer. “What fictional superhero first appeared in Detective Comics #27 on May 1, 1939.” Our group discussed the possible answer, and the person next to me said, “Batman”, and my immediate response to him was, “That can’t be the answer, Batman is not a superhero.” So, we guessed Superman. Which was wrong. The answer was Batman.

I am not a big comic book fan, nor am I a follower of superheroes, but in my definition, a superhero is called such because they possess super powers. What super power does Batman possess? Indeed, he has all sorts of gadgets and smarts, but nothing that any other person does not also have. Bullets don’t bounce off of him. He can’t fly or become invisible. He can’t live underwater or stretch his arms as if they are rubber bands (or gum bands if you live in Pennsylvania). How is Batman a superhero?

When “Mike and Mike” was on ESPN, they had an ongoing debate as to whether Batman is a superhero. I agreed with the Mike who said that Batman was not.

Was/Is Jesus a superhero?

Some who have heard that Jesus could do such things as heal lepers, feed 5000 people, still a storm, raise Lazarus from the dead, and a whole lot more might be inclined to label Jesus as a superhero. But I would not give that label to Jesus. Jesus is/was not a superhero. Jesus is/was the Messiah.

The Bible tells us that Jesus did miraculous things, things that other humans could not do. But the reason I do not think those things mean that Jesus was/is a superhero is that Jesus’ deeds were/are far more than super heroic, they were/are messianic. The Bible tells us that Jesus, who was as completely human as you and I, was also as divine as God Almighty. And as such, Jesus’ mission on earth was not to wrestle with a never-ending lineup of evil forces with superhuman power, but Jesus had come to gather all of the evil forces in the universe like a black hole unto himself and take them to the grave, forever. When Jesus died on the cross, he died like any non-super human, and when Jesus took his last breath, so did everything that was evil. No longer could anything evil speak a claim on anything or anyone. And when Jesus was raised from the dead, there was only one with the breath to say of you or me, “this one is mine”.

Superheroes fight evil. Jesus brings evil to an end.

When I am standing in front of a mirror and see the scars from the pain that I have caused in the world, pain that I haven’t even meant to cause, Superman and all his superpowers will not be able to save me. When I am facing the people that I love the most and see the struggles they encounter because of my failures, Aquaman and all his superpowers will not be able to save me. When I see the fears in my heart and the hearts of others as the reality of our human smallness sinks in, Captain America with all of his super powers will not be able to save me. And when I have been sealed in a coffin and buried six feet deep (or cremated and spread over the Butterfly Hill) Batman, superhero or not, will not be able to save me.

But I am sure, because of the cross and the grave, when these things happen to me, and they will, there is one who can and will save me: Jesus, the Messiah.

You, too.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

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