Saturday, June 15, 2013

The Christology of "Man of Steel"

I am not offering a review.  (Although for the record, the film was awesome.)  The similarities between Superman and Jesus are well-known and have been pointed out by many over the years.  But I honestly don't know when the writers and director of a Superman production have gone to such lengths to try and point beyond the character in blue and red to his Antitype.  And I mean that literally:  When this Superman has to contemplate handing himself over to his enemies, he does so in a church, before a stained-glass window of Jesus during His agony in the garden!  Superman then allows himself to be arrested and handed over for what he well knows could be a death sentence.  

But there's more than that.  For me the most spiritual lines in the movie were these two, both spoken by Superman to military officials:
  1. "Just because you can't control me doesn't mean I'm your enemy." 
  2. "I'm here to help, but it has to be on my own terms."
Wow - that speaks to me of the sovereignty of Christ.  He cannot be bent to our will ... precisely because He loves us too much to let Himself be.  He will act for our good - but with Divine wisdom

There is more to be said, but I don't want to muddy the waters - plenty to meditate on in just those two quotes.

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