Most little (sometimes not so little) boys dream of being a super hero. I cannot speak about what little girls dream. Doing deeds of daring, bringing justice, \ righting wrongs, bringing super powers to earthly needs fill many minds with desire. James, John, Matthew, Peter and the others were little different from people. They did not have Superman and Batman but they did have Samson.
Then Jesus came into their lives. Suddenly there was this super hero with them who did all of the above. He did deeds of daring by driving the money changers from the temple. He brought justice by telling the self-righteous to dare to throw the first stone at the fallen woman. He righted wrongs by telling the criticizers to leave Mary alone when she was washing His feet with her tears. He brought super powers to earthly needs when He commanded the winds and waves to stop, when He walked on water, when He put His fingers in a deaf man’s ears to restore hearing and speech. There is no question in their minds. Jesus was a super hero. And unlike flawed Samson this Jesus was morally perfect.
Maybe this is why it is so difficult for so many to believe. The pragmatist in us drives us to say it couldn’t be so. But Peter and the others knew it was so. Peter wrote, “We have not followed cunningly devised fables.” John wrote, “We saw with our eyes and touched with our hands the Lord of Glory.” They would never have given their lives for something unreal. They died horrible deaths because they knew how real He was and is. Jesus is the epitome of all super heroes because He is.
Written by Roger Bothwell on April 22, 2015
Spring of Life, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org