From Eliyahu
Consider this:
We all have little bits
of TV commercials, popular songs, and random movie voices kicking around our
heads from years gone by. Here is one of those bits of memory graffiti from
my early childhood back in the 50s:
Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive!
Able to leap tall buildings at a single bound!
("Look! Up in the sky!" "It's a bird!" "It's a plane!" "It's Superman!")
Yes, it's Superman ... strange visitor from another planet, who came to
Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men! Superman
... who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel in his bare
hands, and who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a
great metropolitan newspaper, fights a never-ending battle for truth,
justice, and the American way!
As a kid in the 50s I was a
Superman fan in a big way. Often I was excited when my mother went shopping,
because it gave me hope that she would return with a Superman comic for me -
which she often did. Besides the comic books, I enjoyed watching
Adventures of Superman on TV, which aired from 1952 to 1958. It was the
first television series based on a superhero. Like so many other kids at the
time, I couldn't get enough of Superman.
When I first encountered
Superman in the 50s he was already a well established character. Two
second-generation Jewish immigrants, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, had
debuted Superman in the pages of Action Comics #1 in 1938. Superman
caught on in a big way. The Adventures of Superman was produced as a
radio show from 1940 to 1951, with many families gathered around the radio
for every episode. Superman was released by Paramount Pictures as a
theatrical series of animated shorts between 1941 and 1943. Later, the first
live-action adaptation of Superman was released as a movie serial
in 1948. It remains the most profitable movie serial in movie history. Since
then many other films and TV shows have been produced featuring Superman.
Superman is the archetype of the
superhero: the colorful costume, codename, extraordinary powers, and crusade
against evil. Superman popularized the superhero genre and all other
"superheroes" are more or less knock-offs of Superman. Superman remained the
best-selling superhero in American comic books at least into the 1980s. The
world was changing and Superman had a reputation for being a good guy in
every sense. Impeccable character was as much or more an element of
Superman's identity as his amazing abilities. However, as the times changed
many people were choosing to live in the grey area, so preferred conflicted
heroes more like themselves, opening the floodgates to a new era of
superheroes of a very different sort then the original Superman, so that
even Superman, though still around, morphed into something less than first
envisioned.
Probably you are wondering why
I, a Bible teacher, am going into all of this about a fictional character.
It has to do with the reason Superman became such a huge phenomenon.
Actually, I think the Superman character tapped into something that is very
much related to the Bible. |
 
The best example of what I am
talking about is the 1978 movie Superman, starring Christopher Reeve.
This was the most successful Superman feature film of all time. In my
opinion that movie pulls together everything essential to Superman from the
decades preceding it, giving a consolidated accurate picture of the iconic
character. Screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz recognized the essence of Superman as
an allegory for the Messiah, and this comes across very clearly in the
movie.
In the movie a wise and good Jor-El
of the planet Krypton envisions a heroic future for his baby son Kal-El. He
places him in a ship-for-one which resembles the Star of Bethlehem (not like
the ship in the picture above), and sends his only son off with a messianic
mission to lead humanity out of the darkness of evil toward a better day.
The ship lands in the field of a farmer and his wife, the Kents, in the
little farm town of Smallville. The couple adopt the child from heaven, and
raise him as their own, carefully protecting the real identity of the child,
naming him Clark Kent. As the story unfolds the child grows up to take on
the identity of Superman, with all of his amazing powers "far beyond those
of mortal men" constantly saving people from evil.
My point: At the core the
Superman character invented by two Jewish boys is an allegory for the
Messiah. The story of Kal-El (son of El?) is a sci-fi remake of our Savior
come to earth to save us. Of course, most people back then never realized
that - they were just wildly attracted to the character. Why? Because even
if unbelievers, in their innermost spirit they know they need the Savior!
They need the Messiah! For many, the real Messiah is somehow too
intimidating, whereas the fictional savior requires nothing of them, so they
feel free to admire him.
Just as a wise and good father
sent his son to earth as a savior in the fictional story, in real life the
wise and good Father in heaven sent us His only Son to save us. Just as
little Kal-El was taken into a remote family in a remote town in the
Superman story, in real life the baby Yeshua was delivered into the hands of
those ready and equipped to raise him up, hidden in a good and happy family,
in the little town of Twigville.
The story of Superman is a
great, but fictional story. The story of the real Messiah, and His family,
is far greater, because it is the true story. There is a hidden story here,
of huge impact for us all. It is this hidden story that I want to share with
you tonight.
The Davidic Nazarenes is our topic. Join our live stream tonight,
June 10, at Tsiyon.Net
at 8 PM, Central. There are hidden truths in the Kingdom,
reserved for those who value them.
In His Name,
Eliyahu
Tsiyon.Org
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