I Need a Hero
Unless you having been living under a rock for the past 10-12 years, you know that the world of Hollywood movies has been taken over by comic book super heroes. Movie companies have made billions of dollars putting one movie after another out centered around our childhood comic heroes.
Why are we so obsessed with these characters? Is there an obvious conclusion? I think there could be.
If you look back at the old original comic books, and read how a lot of these characters began, you will notice something. A lot of them started out during the World War 2 era. If you bought a comic book back then, a lot of the heroes began their comic lives fighting the existing evil in the world. Of course in WWII, the evil was the German army led by Hitler. It was nothing to see the villain in the comic to have a close resemblance to Hitler or even be Hitler himself. Coincidence? Nope.
Sometimes, in order to understand a person/character, you need to know their background. You need to know where they come from. What is their history? Take Superman for instance. The writers who created Superman were Jewish. They created Superman during World War 2. The first battles for Superman were against the German army and Hitler himself. Was this simply a ploy to sell more comics? Perhaps. I think there is more to it.
This was a dark lonely time for the Jewish people. At the beginning of the war, there were not many people in the world doing much to help the Jewish people defend themselves against a lunatic that was trying to wipe them off the face of the earth. They felt helpless. They needed a miracle. They needed a hero. Was Superman a real help? Of course not. However, sometimes we just need something that can remove us from our circumstances even for a brief time and give us hope.
Ever since Adam and Eve, the Jewish people have been waiting on a Savior. A Messiah. A Hero. God promised to send One who would save the nation of Israel. History confirms that over the years, there has not been a group of people more mistreated than the Jewish people. Countless enemies main desire has been to completely destroy God’s chosen people. So you can see their desire for a “hero”. The problem is, they missed His coming.
“The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” John 1:29
All superheroes have a statement or grand announcement when they arrive on the scene. Jesus, the ultimate Hero, is no different. John pronounced His arrival in John chapter 1. The only problem is He wasn’t what the Jews expected or wanted. He didn’t ride in on a white stallion slaying countless Romans with a giant sword. He didn’t come to save people from an earthly evil. He came to save them from a much more dangerous enemy, sin.
Our infatuation with superheroes, I think, can be partly due to our desire to see evil destroyed now and ourselves lifted up. We are desiring to fill a void within us. Rather than turn to a loving God that wants to save for eternity. We look elsewhere. We look for something or someone we can see, feel, hear, or taste. Our makeshift “heroes” can be money, drugs, alcohol, self-fulfillment, power, or fame. We hold onto these “heroes” with all we have. We put more faith into ourselves than in the God of all creation. We live in a world of make believe when we do this. Just like a comic book. It is time we look to a real Hero.