Tag Archives: Easter

Superheroes, Jesus, and the Resurrection

If you keep up with the Marvel franchise at all, you probably know that Avengers: Endgame came out today. (And no, I’m not going to see it yet, so no spoilers. 😉 ) The previous Avengers movie, Infinity War (SPOILER ALERT! I guess, but seriously, ya’ll, it’s been a year), ended with the villain turning half of the main cast into dust. Literally.

This was rather shocking, since Marvel usually opts for a more typical “happy ending.” In fact, this happy-ending, good-guy-wins aspect is, I think, what most people like about superhero movies.

Of course, most of the Avengers fans doubt that any of these characters are really gone for good; Marvel characters don’t have the best track record for, well, really being dead.  No sooner had Infinity War come out than a barrage of fan theories followed. One popular one is that in Endgame someone will use the Time Stone to go back in time and save the characters who died in Infinity War.

I’m not really one for time-travel in stories. But while watching the latest trailer (and crying–don’t make fun of me), I realized that a part of me really, really wants Endgame to have such a simple solution. It’s hard to be picky about storytelling devices when I just don’t want to watch the characters suffer anymore.

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In The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones, the chapter about the Resurrection is called “God’s wonderful surprise.” After Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene, it describes her running back to the city:

And it seemed to her that morning, as she ran, almost as if the whole world had been made anew, almost as if the whole world was singing for joy — the trees, the tiny sounds in the grass, the birds. . . her heart. Was God really making everything sad come untrue? Was he making even death come untrue? (317)

I realized this was the key to my sudden desire for time travel. I wanted everything sad to come untrue. I watch superhero movies because I love watching a hero save the day; I don’t like it when the hero (or heroes, in the Avengers case) can’t make things right.

Like I said in my post about Richard III, I think this desire for a savior is part of being a human. We were created to want justice. We were created to live in the garden that God called “good.”

In real life, the Hero already saved the day. The Resurrection was the climax of the greatest hero story ever. Jesus was the Hero on Easter, and He’s also the Hero we’re still waiting for.

My life is an awkward place between two victories.

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I attended a concert last summer with my older brother and some friends. After a few original songs, the singer started an old hymn. I didn’t know it very well, but I sang along as best I could. I remember noticing one line that had never stood out to me before:

“Earth has no sorrow that heaven can’t heal.”

It was hard to sing. This concert was right in the wake of my little brother’s diagnosis and the idea of death being smacked hard into my face. Remembering that concert still makes my throat tighten.

Yet I learned something that night. I realized that I believed God would heal my brother, in this life or in the next, but I didn’t believe He could heal my broken heart.

Revelation 21 says that in the new Jerusalem there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain. I guess that doesn’t leave room for my heartbreak.

“Tears rolled down Jesus’ face. The face of the One who would wipe away every tear from every eye.” (304)

The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones

The Hero already let us break His heart, so our pain wouldn’t last forever. And it won’t last forever.

So let’s live in victory, hobbits.

“Good Friday”

“This is my blood.  Drink it in remembrance of me.”

Good Friday.  It’s the day we celebrate someone being tortured to death.  It’s an odd holiday, and it’s unfortunately over-looked.

In the Old Testament, God told the Israelites not to eat blood, not to touch death, that anyone hung on a tree was cursed.  That everything the cross was, was ugly–but that’s where God found redemption, in the ugliness.  Our redemption–and that’s why we celebrate.

I’ve always tried to find beauty in everything; from illness and thunder storms, to traffic noise and trash.  I’ve tried to find redemption everywhere.  I never quite understood why I did it, until I really thought about where Jesus found my redemption.

The cross was ugly, but it had to be, because human beings are ugly too.  God redeemed them both.  And that’s why we celebrate a night of blood and sweat, and pain and tears, and death.  We celebrate God’s redemption, that is there through nights like that.

When We Need a Hero: Observations on Richard III

I wrote this paper for school last week, and then realized it was perfect for Easter, and just in time for it too, so I decided to share it today.

I honestly do not know why I chose to read Richard III for Great Books this year.  I recall seeing it on my list of books, after I had long forgotten picking it, and thinking something along the lines of What was I thinking? or What have I gotten myself into?

The fact remains: it’s an odd play.  Not to mention, a bit disturbing.  It is a story–not surprisingly–about Richard III.  Richard is a discontented man, with no friends, no pretty lady to court, and nothing to do.

“And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover

To entertain these fair well-spoken days,

I am determined to prove a villain

And hate the idle pleasures of these days.” (4)

Out of this boredom, he sets out to become king of England.  The play follows this power-hungry, dissembling villain as he works his way up the hierarchy and pays mercenaries to murder off all other potential heirs.

Continue reading When We Need a Hero: Observations on Richard III

Happy Easter!!

Jesus Christ is risen!

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Our King is more powerful than death!  Is that not worth celebrating?

Happy Easter, everyone!

“Why do you look for the living among the dead?  He is not here; he has risen!”

-Luke 24:5, 6

 

P.S. Sorry I didn’t get any more of The Sacrifice posted–we were pretty busy on Saturday!  Busy in the Spring-break, lying-around-on-the-couch-with-my-siblings, going-to-movies way. 🙂  Anyway, sorry I never got it up, I’ll catch up on Tuesday.  Or maybe you could twist my arm into posting tomorrow. . .

Good Friday

Today is quite the day, isn’t it?  Am I the only one who thinks it’s perfect that Good Friday landed on March 25th this year?  One real, one imaginary anniversary, that celebrate the triumph over evil.

The day love won.

But the reality of love is the cross.  Tears–pain–darkness–blood–sweat–grime–wood splinters in your skin.  God is love, and He loved us even when it meant abandoning His son to torture and death.  To love someone is not to be made happy by them.  It means choosing to hang on and never let go, and let them drag you through things you never wanted to experience and don’t know how to handle.  Loving people is painful. —My Valentine’s Day post

We say Valentine’s Day is the day we celebrate love.  But I think that it is today.  Today, that true love was revealed to mankind.

“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.  You are my friends if you do what I command.  I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business.  Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”

-John 15:13-15

Waiting

I was given a gift card to Sears at Christmas, and I used it today to buy myself an Easter dress!  Okay, Mama and Dad might have paid for part of it. . .

It’s obviously been a long time since I got a new dress, because it’s not the fanciest thing I’ve ever owned, but I feel like Cinderella in her ball gown! 🙂  I think it’s the prettiest thing I’ve ever touched.

And Easter’s a whole week away.

It feels like forever.

But really, isn’t that a big part of what Easter is?  Waiting for Jesus.  Waiting for redemption.  Waiting for the resurrection.

Easter is about new life, and things long hoped-for being placed in our hands as a gift, for today, and for forever.