“They can be a great people, Kal-El. They wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all…their capacity for good…I have sent them you, my only son.”

Did you hear it? Doesn’t this sound like a reference to Jesus?

In this newest movie, Superman Returns, the writers exaggerate the connections of this super-hero to the life of Jesus.

At the beginning of the movie, after Superman crashes back to Earth, he collapses into his mother’s arms. The scene recalls the Renaissance images of the Jesus dying in Mary’s arms.

In one scene, Superman holds the globe of the Daily Planet over his head and the music swells with just the faintest hint of the song, “He’s got the Whole World in his Hands.”

In scenes recalling the last week of Jesus’ life, Superman is beaten and pierced in the side. He gives his life to save the world, is crucified, resurrected, and ascends into the skies.

Having grown up within the Superman story, I never connected the dots. I never saw the Bible images in the story of Superman.

My brother collected the Action comics. And we never missed an episode of the television series. We flew all over the house, held aloft by our red capes, towels and clothes pins. When my mother wasn’t looking, we would leap from floor to bed.

Today I want to connect the dots for you no matter what generation of Superman you know. This clip is the introduction to a recent documentary, The Amazing Story of Superman, by Bryan Singer and Kevin Burns.

Watch with an eye toward Superman and an ear toward Jesus as together, we challenge our notions of what it means to be a hero.

 

The original Superman story was conceived in the imaginations of two teenaged boys from Cleveland, Ohio. Jerry Seigal and Joe Shuster, sons of Jewish immigrants, were shy loners. They met at Glenville High School in 1931. They were sixteen years old. Jerry wrote stories for the school newspaper. Joe illustrated Jerry’s stories. They wanted to become comic book writers. Their ambitions were fueled by the Great Depression, a time in which Americans questioned their abilities to sustain life.

In 1932, Jerry and Joe published a mail order periodical called Science Fiction. They introduced a story entitled The Reign of the Superman. This character was a bald madman who tried to use telepathic powers to conquer the world. This image came from the German Philosopher, Frederich Nietzsche.

Then, Jerry and Joe began to wonder. What if the superman was a force for good, instead of evil? What if, instead of telepathic powers, he had physical strength, like Hercules or Samson?

The idea came together on one hot Cleveland night. The boys could not sleep and ran to and from each other’s houses as the ideas development.

On that summer night in 1934, Jerry came up with almost all of the Superman legend as we know it, including the creation of Clark Kent, Lois Lane, and Superman’s red, yellow, and blue costume.

Superman became a refugee from a distant planet. He was clothed in a muscle-defining outfit of a circus acrobat. He had a secret identity, the mild-mannered newspaper reporter, Clark Kent.

The comic was original and visionary. And newspapers wasted no time in rejecting it.

It wasn’t released until 1938 when Detective Comics started a new anthology, Action Comics. Superman was launched in the spring issue. It sold for a dime when the average American worker made less than twenty-five dollars a week.

From comics to radio to television to the movie theater, The Superman story has been ret conned again and again. New writers add information to the story line. It is by this process that some of the religious connections have been spun.

When Superman was a baby, his father Jor-el sent him to earth on a star ship to save him from the imminent destruction of his home world, Krypton. But his trip to earth did far more than save his life. Our yellow sun gave him super powers. There are several connections to Bible stories. Since Jerry and Joe were Jewish, some writers trace the story to the baby Moses. Amram and Yocheved put Moses in a basket, setting him afloat on the Nile River when Pharaoh orders the slaying of all first born children among the Hebrews. The daughter of Pharaoh finds Moses and raises him.

Some have connected the character’s origins to the legend of Golem, a protector of the Hebrew people. Certainly, as the Superman story grew before and after World War II, the longing for a Jewish liberator became abundantly clear.

In Hebrew, Kal means All. El means God. Kal-el means All of God.

Baby Kal-el’s star ship lands in Smallville, Kansas. Kal-el is Kryptonian means, star child. A star signified Jesus’ birth.

Kal-el is found by Jonathan and Martha Kent. Note the similarities of the names Jonathan and Martha to the names of Jesus’ parents, Joseph and Mary. They adopt the child and name him Clark.

When Chris was researching superheroes for a conversation with the youth, he discovered that the Kent family is Methodist by denominational affiliation. Methodism is linked to solid Midwestern values of family, goodness, and faithfulness. (www.adherents.com) Click on Comic Book Superheroes.

The usually bald-headed Luthor has been Superman’s foe for most of the superhero’s existence and unveiled countless plots to destroy him. Rather than use his immense intellect for the betterment of humanity, Luthor has seized power for his own benefit, without regard to the suffering he causes.

Originally, the character of Luthor was a mad scientist, but has since been rewritten as an industrialist and white-collar criminal.

The name, Lex, comes from the Rex and Lux. These three words describe a person who is the incarnation of cunning. Lex also means the law. Lex Luthor’s destiny appears to become the ruler of the world, the Lawgiver.

He is cast as a Lucifer figure, always countering good with evil.

In the current television series, Smallville, Luthor is a young adult. He lost his hair in the meteor shower which brought baby Kal-el’s star ship to Earth from Krypton. Luthor and Clark Kent are friends, which sets up betrayal like Judas with Jesus.

In the gospel of Mark, Jesus tells his disciple not to disclose his identity. Scholars believe that the secret identity of Jesus is a device of the writing style. The story is written in such a way that the reader is required to answer Jesus question, who do you say that I am? And what does my secret identity tell you about whom you are?

In the secret identity of Superman, Clark Kent echoes the idea that someone who seems to be meek, is not necessarily weak.

Both Jesus and Superman help us think about what it means to be a hero.

I like to use my red cape to suggest that super powers can be transformed.

I like to use my red cape to suggest that a hero is one who walks beside those who hurt, wrapping them in comfort.

I like to use my red cape to suggest that a hero is one who serves other people. Like Jesus, we can reach out to those who cannot see. Like Jesus, we can wash the hands of our neighbors as signs of welcome and hospitality.

How would you use your red cape to be a hero?

 

Superman is a story we desire. It is a story we need, it is a story we want. Superman is the story of a power greater than us, caring for us, and ultimately saving us to be servants of one another. Superman is in essence the story of a Messiah, a savior. It is a story that has been told before, some 2000 years before. Thank God the story lives.