The True Hero

Easter is the time of year when special attention is given to Christ's crucifixion and resurrection.  There is no greater evidence of Christ's divinity, power over sin and death, and love for all people than the cross and the empty tomb three days later.  It is easy to miss the miraculous in the mundane, and familiarity breeds complacency.  We can become so used to hearing that Jesus died for our sins that we don't appreciate fully Christ's sacrifice.  It would be one thing to be God and humble yourself to living in a human body:  it is unthinkable God would become flesh and willingly submit His life to the curse man brought upon himself through rebellion against God.  Jesus suffered not only the emotional anguish of betrayal and rejection, but intense physical pain.  The word "excruciating" is borne out of the terrible agony of the crucifixion process.  That was not the end.  Jesus endured separation from God on man's account - on my account - and was forsaken so we might be reconciled.

When I was a kid, I had this recurring dream that I went into my elementary school library and saved classmates from a fire.  I always survived and was pushed around in a wheelchair with my arms and legs wound with gauze.  I was a hero...in my dreams!  That is not far from how we each perceive ourselves.  We are the ones who will stand up for the kids who is being bullied, we are the ones who will chase down the thief who grabbed the woman's purse, we would go into that building to save that crying baby.  But the reality is unless we are completely convinced that job is for us alone, we'll leave it to others.  We will be the one standing silently and avoiding eye contact when a friend of ours is being picked on.  I remember once when I was an assistant coach for Zed's soccer team.  One of the parents had soured towards the head coach and decided he would tell me what he thought.  With parents standing around frozen like moose on a Canadian road, he stood within inches of my face literally spitting mad, shaking, cursing, foaming with rage.  A minute after he stormed away, a parent who had been standing within three feet from me patted my shoulder and said with a laugh, "Well, I'm glad you were on the receiving end of that and not me."  Thanks a lot, I thought to myself.

We are often unwilling to help others.  There are also times when we are unable.  Years ago a union brother of mine experienced a horrific ordeal.  He was taking two of his nephews (boys, about 10) on a little hunting trip at the opening of dove season.  He was riding as a passenger in a RV heading up the grade in Alpine, while the boys played in the back of the camper.  As they sped merrily along, disaster stuck without warning.  Somehow, one of the propane tanks ignited and a fire began to rage out of control in the back of the camper.  By the time the danger was realized and the vehicle stopped on the shoulder, the boys were trapped and were unable to reach the door and escape.  The black smoke billowed from windows.  My friend tried to open the door but with the fire raging, the choking smoke, and the intense heat it was impossible.  "I can still hear their screams," he told me years later.  "I have flashbacks.  There was nothing I could do."  If he could have given his life for those boys, he would have done it.  But even if he had made it into the vehicle, he never would have made it out again.  This story breaks my heart even now.

Even if we are willing, we are unable to save one person from their sins.  We are powerless over sin in our fallen condition.  Jesus freely took the punishment I deserve and died so I might live.  He did not shy away from the agony of the cross but embraced it.  How great and good is our God, who would send His only begotten Son to die at the hands of sinful man that we might live!  1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  Jesus is my hero.  Television and comic books glorify "superheros" because they have "superhuman" powers.  They are all imposers and fabrications.  Christ was fully human and fully divine.  He alone has the power to save through His shed blood which cleanses those who repent and trust in His name from all unrighteousness.

Even if Superman was real, he would be nothing compared with Christ.  Every person Superman "saved" from death only received a temporary reprieve.  The natural course of life was fulfilled in every single one of them:  death remained inevitable.  All who trust in Jesus Christ will live eternally!  Though the body will ultimately die, the souls of every Christian will endure forever!  John 11:25-26 says, "Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. [26] And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"  Christians will never taste death.  Our bodies will be corrupted, but our souls have put on incorruption and immortality through Jesus.

Romans 5:6-8 states:  "For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. [7] For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. [8] But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  Do you believe this?  What have you done about it?  Few are willing to stand up for others when death is not on the line, yet Jesus gave all.  A majority of the people He died  to save continue to reject Him.  Let us give Him the reward due His suffering.  May our lives fiercely proclaim through the ages, "LORD Jesus, your death has not been in vain!  You have risen, and my life is bound up in yours!  Please live your life through me."