Do you believe in Superman – Able to Leap Tall Buildings in a single bound.

This was part of the catch phrase describing the Superman of the black and white TV series.   Impressive – just think of Superman in a pole vaulting or high jump track event – would you want to compete against someone with those vertical leap capabilities?!   While there’s no record in the Gospels of Jesus making a physical giant leap, He did walk on water and was taken up to the highest part of the temple in Jerusalem where He was tempted by Satan to make a dramatic entrance by throwing Himself off the temple.  Regarding that temple, it had taken the Jewish people decades to construct and it wasn’t finished at the time of Jesus, but He made the claim, that if they tore this temple down, that He could rebuild it in 3 days.  The writer of the Gospel of John (2:13-22) tells us that Jesus was not referring to the physical temple building, but to the fact that Jesus would be crucified, and three days later He would rise from the dead, never to experience death again.  His death for the sins of the world was Jesus' giant leap and His last words on the cross were, "It is finished," not referring to His life, but the once for all great sacrifice had been offered.    No other person who has ever lived has these credentials as documented not only by the Bible, but by extra biblical sources as well.  This qualifies Him as a superhero.

Do you believe in Superman - Faster than a speeding bullet

The Superman of the comics and movies could outrun a bullet and was also impervious to them.  That was always bad for the villains in the story.   While we don’t read about bullets in the life of Jesus, if you read the Gospel of John, you’ll note several occasions where the opposition wanted to seize Him or stone Him, but was not able to because, “His time/hour had not yet come” (e.g., John 7:28-31; 8:12-20; 8:48-58).  No one could take Jesus’s life (remember because He was sinless and not deserving of death), but He laid down His life and subjected Himself to a cruel death out of His great obedience to His Father and their great love for us to make it possible for the believer in Jesus to be “holy, blameless and beyond reproach”  (Col 1:19-23).  Superman always put the good and welfare of earthlings  above his own.  And so did Jesus.  This qualifies Him as a superhero.   

Do you believe in Superman – X-Ray Vision

As a kid I used to read comic books and was always fascinated by the ad in the back of some for X-ray glasses.   I never actually ordered them, but the temptation to was almost overwhelming.  Can you imagine the trouble I would have gotten into if I had a pair and they actually worked?!   But Superman used his X-Ray vision only to help others, not to satisfy lust or for personal benefit or pleasure.   If you read the Gospel accounts it’s interesting how many times we’re told that Jesus knew what a person was thinking (e.g., Matthew 9:3-5; Luke 6:7-9).  But more to the point of vision, He was able to look at an individual and see through their exterior (e.g.,  a prostitute (John 8:1-11), a leper (Mark 1:39-44), a lame man (John 5:2-10), a despised tax collector (Luke 19:1-10) or other sinners) and see directly their pain, hurt & need.  His love and compassion was so great that He looked beyond what would stop and deter mere mortals, and did something about their condition if they let Him.  This qualifies Him to be a superhero.

Do you believe in Superman – Birth parents not of this world.

The man in the comics known as Clark Kent was born on the planet Krypton and had superpowers compared to earthlings because of the closeness of earth to the sun.   His unique birth set him apart from mere mortal men.   Consider the information we’re given about the birth of Jesus.  While Mary was his mother, the accounts by Gospel writers Matthew and Luke make it clear that the child she conceived was not the result of a relationship with any earthly man.  It was a unique birth unlike any other in that God caused Mary to conceive and give birth to His Son, Jesus.  Why did God choose this way to bring His Messiah into the world?   From passages such as Romans 5:12, it appears that the sin nature is passed to the child through the earthly father, but Jesus came into this world not having been born in sin.  No other human had walked the earth in this condition other than the first man and woman – Adam and Eve.   Because of His Father who was not of this world, Jesus had the opportunity to live a  sinless life by which He would not be deserving of death.  This qualifies Him to be a superhero.

Do you believe in Superman?

Today, there are a host of superheroes presented and if you’re not an avid comic book fan you’ve probably never heard of many of them until a movie is made.  But from a comic book standpoint and certainly from an early black and white TV series, Superman is probably the most well-known: 

•   His birth parents were not of this world.
•   He had X-Ray vision
•   He was faster than a speeding bullet.
•   Able to leap tall buildings at a single bound.
•  Able to fly to the scene where his help is needed

Some pretty impressive credentials.   Do you believe that such a super-hero exists?  Let’s explore the qualifications of a very real superhero this Christmas season.