More than Superheroes

Thor Part 2: What kind of God are you seeking?

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Have you ever wondered what people would think if all of a sudden there were people in this world who had powers like we see from comic book characters? What if there were people who could fly or see through walls or run at supersonic speeds or were powerful enough to move mountains? Would people say that they were gods? Do you think that some people might actually worship people with super-powers?

The character of Thor is meant to be the Norse god. In the present day comic world he doesn’t want the people of earth to worship him as a god. He still comes to earth to offer his help to human beings but he doesn’t do so expecting people to bow down to him. His brother Loki on the other hand would love it if people bowed down to him. That is a main plot point of the recent Avengers movie. Loki, motivated by getting revenge on Thor, comes to earth in order to subjugate human beings. He wants to be the ruler of earth.

loki 2It is interesting how the various characters refer to deities throughout the movie. When Thor first arrives and takes Loki out of the custody of Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Widow, Captain America wants to pursue them. Black Widow says, “These guys come from legend. They’re basically gods.” To which Captain America says, “There’s only one God, ma’am, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t dress like that.” Later in the movie, during the Battle of New York, Loki comes across the Hulk. Loki shouts, “I am a god, you dull creature, and I will not be bullied by …” Hulk stops his speech by smashing him into the floor. Hulk departs and says, “Puny god.”

The reason I bring up the topic about comic book characters being god-like is simply to ask the following question: how did people react when God walked among them? This goes back to my opening questions. Our God has been on earth. He came as an infant born in the city of Bethlehem and he lived on earth for 33 years.  Matthew 1:23 confirms what I just wrote. There it says, “‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’—which means, ‘God with us.’”

And yet with God living among us, many people did not believe in him. He performed all kinds of super-powered miracles and yet people rejected him. People rejected him because he wasn’t exactly what they wanted. John 1:10-12 says, “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”

If he came to give such wonderful blessings, that we could be children of God, then why did people reject him? Why do people still reject him today? People rejected him because he wasn’t the Savior that they were looking for. Many people back then wanted a warrior king who would make Israel into a great nation. Jesus was a different kind of warrior king. He came to conquer sin and death through the cross.
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Still today, we don’t want a Savior who suffered and died on a cross. We want a god of our own making. We want to look to our own thoughts and feelings about God rather than following the truths of the Bible. We want to write our own Bible with a different hero than the Jesus we see in Scripture (often that hero is me). We don’t like being condemned by the law of the Bible so we come up with other rules to follow so that we can feel like a good person. We don’t like having to depend on Jesus to win us the victory so we try to depend on the god of our own good deeds.

thor-the-dark-world-marvel-thumbnailIn some ways, we would rather follow a superhero like Thor. Thor comes with his mighty weapon and he uses it to crush those who do evil. Thor doesn’t want to be worshiped and we like that because we don’t want to have to owe anything to anyone. After we have been spared from destruction by an evil force, we can just go back to our lives. Why worry about the future? If something bad happens, hopefully someone else will come to rescue us.

But our sins do mean that we ought to be worried about our eternal future. We need to be saved from Hell. It is not as important that we be saved from calamity in this life. We need to be saved from the calamity of what lays beyond the grave. That is why Jesus is the greatest Savior. He came into this world to save us from eternal condemnation. He accomplished that through his life, death, and resurrection. That gives an incredible blessing to those who believe. We are children of God and heirs of heaven.

 

Are superheroes meant to be viewed as gods?

Even if people in this world have great powers and abilities, they are not to be worshipped. Jesus is the only one we worship. I don’t think that comic authors meant for their characters to be viewed as gods to be worshipped. They are simply using these characters with great powers to tell a story. The characters of Thor take many elements from ancient myths but they also change a number of things to make an interesting story. Our Lord Jesus is not to be viewed in the same light as characters from a story. He is true God. He came and lived among us. He is our Savior.

Thor History

tales of asgard“Tales of Asgard” is a collection of short stories from the early days of Thor comics. It is helpful to those who are not very familiar with the Thor family of characters. It gives information about young Thor and fills in details about expanded universe that the authors created. If the Thor movie was your first introduction to the character you may want to get this book to learn more about the various Asgardians. It has information about Odin, Loki, Balder the Brave, the Warriors Three, Heimdall, Surtur, Idunn and the Golden Apples, and much more. There is also a 2011 animated movie called “Thor: Tales of Asgard” which shows an adventure of young Thor. Thor goes on a quest to find the Sword of Surtur.

I am a Lutheran pastor who is currently serving at Trinity in Belle Plaine, MN. My wife is Megan and my daughter is Elizabeth "Libby". I have two dogs (Labradors) - Samson and Charlie. In my spare time, I train for and run in marathons, I cheer for the Green Bay Packers, and I love the Comic Book genre of entertainment.

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