The picture of the hero requires them to fulfil the Heroic Action Criteria.
Superman set the standard by ensuring that the falling Lois Lane was rescued. Spider-Man also passed the mark whether it was Gwen Stacy or Mary Jane Watson.
Thus the critical element in the Heroic Action Criteria is to come to the rescue.
Man did Jesus not read the script. Swoop in to save the day? Errrr well people loved the healing and the miraculous bread, that was great. But what people really needed was to be rescued from the evil, oppressive Roman Empire. On that score, Jesus scored a big fat zero.
Today there are specific things we have to inform our hero what we need rescuing from. Debt, illness, abusive relationships, oppressive work situations and tough economic, social and political conditions. Some of us get a gospel presentation that indicates here is the hero to save the day. Here he is to rescue us from poverty to great riches. Here he is to rescue us from illness to guarantee health. Here he is to rescue us from oppressive political, economic and social regimes to fair, just and prosperous society.
Except for a number of people, Jesus again comes up a major fail. Where’s the hero in Nazi Germany? Where’s the hero for the devoted single mother who gets struck down and becomes a paraplegic? Where’s the hero in a world filled with so much pain, injustice, anger, violence, decay and pollution? He may be the hero for a few who have those testimonies of miraculous healing. He evidently isn’t that hero for all, even those who call Him, Lord.
Here’s the thing. Hard though it is to believe, Jesus really is the hero.
He walked among us and highlighted what we really needed rescuing from. The problem wasn’t the Romans, sickness or poverty. The problem went far deeper than that.
He walked among us and showed us that the liberation we really needed was within from above, rather than without from below.
He walked among us and shined a light for the world to see that their dark deeds needed exposing and needed resolving.
He walked among us and the signs He displayed did point to a world, a rule and a Kingdom where the gross symptoms of injustice, illness, decay and pollution would not exist. These signs pointed to a land flowing in true peace and prosperity.
It was not to be found primarily in looking for the world to change on the outside. It was to be found primarily in the change that needs to take place on the inside. Caring little for any force that kills the body. Caring more for the only force that judges the fate of body and soul.
He suffered and was crucified. He was betrayed and rejected. He held onto hope and fulfilled His mission to rescue us. Rescue us from the real core of the problem: the sinful nature that unleashed the horrors which leaves the earth groaning for the change to come.
Faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ embraces the rescue operation. We are free to be a part of the peace making mission to bring others into the intimate knowledge of the hero who walked among us. Now we who rejoice in this good news, mourn with those who mourn and work towards the expression of the Kingdom in the here and now in the hope of the full realisation of the Kingdom on the return of the Hero who lived among us.
It may not be the rescue we want, but it’s the rescue we need. He may not be the hero we desire, but more than any before or since, Jesus Christ really is the hero we need.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 