Is Jesus A Superhero?

I’ve been thinking about superheroes lately. That’s not that big a change, because I’m always thinking about superheroes. I love them. I have to physically restrain myself from buying more superhero junk – clothes, toys, posters, memorabilia, you name it. And of course, my mind wanders to the comparisons between Jesus and superheroes. Is Jesus a superhero?

During the recent holiday club at my Church, we sung together one of Colin Buchanan’s new songs Super Saviour. It’s a song about how Jesus came to save us from sin and defeat death. It’s a fantastic song. And it rocks out hard for a kids song. So each day during holiday club, I’d get up in front of the kids and do the actions to the song, getting them to join in with me. By the second day, I’d acquired a red Superman cape to wear as I did the song. The kids loved it. I loved it. It was a great time. And the parents could clearly see how much the kids got into it when we sung it at Church on the Sunday morning.

It was a bit concerning though that kids would come up to me and call me Super Saviour. I would have to remind them that I wasn’t the Super Saviour – that was Jesus. Not that I think they mistook me for JC – I’m pretty sure they’d worked that one out. They just got confused when trying to say “The Guy Who Acts Funny Up The Front And Does Actions During Super Saviour”. Easy mistake.

Super Saviouruses super hero imagery to portray the truths of Jesus. It doesn’t actually say that Jesus is a super hero, however. Which I think is a good thing. Jesus is way better than any super hero. Andy Stirrup, a lecturer at Youthworks College and all-round top bloke, wrote an essay on Jesus as a super hero last year. I was reading it again today and was reminded about how Jesus dealt with the causes of the problems of the world, not just the symptoms. The essay can be found here.

While we can find similarities between Jesus and Superman, Jesus is far greater than any super hero.