If you haven’t seen the latest Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises, you may want to skip reading this post. I don’t want to give anything away.
I loved the movie. I’m no Batman or movie expert, but I thought it was very well made and the cinematography was exceptional as always. My only complaint was that I couldn’t quite understand all of Bane’s lines, but that’s a minor issue. I might have to be an old man and watch it with subtitles when it is on DVD.
While watching the film, I was immediately drawn to the redemptive plot within the story. It is obvious as this is the case with most superhero movies. One man saving the entire world by some miraculous and heroic act. This is the age-old good versus evil plot line yet it is presented in so many various ways. Evil brings an oppressive force onto the “innocent” city dwellers and they need a savior to fly in and save the day. Nothing new there.
As I was reading in Hebrews this morning, I was reflecting on Christ’s sacrifice that cleansed us “by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.” (9:12) We’ve been set free from the “sins and acts of lawlessness” (10:17) that once defined our existence. This sacrificial theme climaxes in the movie where Batman has to fly to bomb outside of the city.
The parallel is easy to see. Batman takes the bomb “upon himself” in order to prevent it from exploding in Gotham and thereby killing its inhabitants. Jesus did the same. He took the sins of the world upon himself, actually dying (Jesus had no autopilot) and then defeated death to bring new life and satisfy the laws requirements for eternity. But Jesus didn’t pretend to die nor did he fool the world into thinking he was dead as Batman succeeded in doing. It was necessary to Jesus to die completely. As Hebrews explains, both the old and new covenant had to be set in place by death and the shedding of blood. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness (9:16-22).
One of my favorite verses in New Testament is Hebrews 10:14: “because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” I love the once-and-for-allness of the message of sacrifice in Hebrews. In the case of Batman, another villain can come along and the sacrifice may again be required. The people of Israel knew all to well that the sacrifices were continually required. This is not the case with the death of Christ. His sacrifice paid the price for sins once and for all. What a perfect story of redemption. Even Hollywood can’t beat it.
