Batman. Superman. William Wallace. Indiana Jones.
All great heroes brought to life in the movies! (When you think of a hero, who comes to your mind?)
I longed to be one of those heroes as a child. In fourth grade, one of my recurrent daydreams was that I would rescue my class from a dangerous criminal. As he entered the classroom, I would swoop down from the top of the lockers in the room and knock him down and out. Then, as I stood triumphant over him, I would bask in the cheers for their “hero”.
I gave up on that dream as I ran face to face with my inadequacies and brokenness. No longer would I be the hero, could I step in and do what heroes do, but, none the less, I longed for a hero to step in – SAVE THE DAY! Many times as I felt needy, helpless, and even hopeless, when I looked beneath those emotions, there I found this longing for a hero.
I don’t think I am alone. Neither does Hollywood. That is why every great popular movie has, as one of its core elements, a hero or heroes to come and save the day!
I bring this up to do two things.
First of all, I bring it up for you to acknowledge this longing in your heart. It is there, maybe buried deep below the disappointments, false hopes, and broken dreams, but it there.
I also bring it up to point that longing to the Greatest Hero of all time – Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is many things – Savior, Son of God, Son of Man, Messiah, Prince of Peace. He is also The Great Hero.
He stepped into The Great Story – the Gospel – and saved the day. Creation was corrupt. We were broken and disconnected – from each other and God. Into this dire situation he came.
– As King – to restore (fix the brokenness around us)
– As the New Israel – to empower (fix the brokenness within us)
– As the Word become Flesh – to connect (with the God we left so long ago but need so much for today)
As such, he did what all heroes do – SAVED the DAY. To hear more about these ideas, check out Beautiful Outlaw by John Eldredge for a fresh look at this hero.
In the meantime, when you think of Jesus, will you start to think of him as the Hero you have always longed for, we have always longed for? He saved the day and has been saving it since.
