.png)
Everyone loves a good superhero story; Superman, The Avengers, and my personal favorite, The Flash, all have a way of giving us hope. The classic superhero story goes something like this:
At a young age, a future hero is struck by enough grief and tragedy for a lifetime. Before they can fall down a rabbit hole of despair, something saves them—in The Flash’s case, it’s his adoptive family, Joe West and his daughter, Iris. Whether struck by lightning or born superhuman, they all end up using their powers to fulfill their destiny: to save the world. Usually, they are most inspired by the ones they love and the ones they have lost.
These heroes are willing to put their lives on the line for their family, their city, and their world. Yet, every time a hero faces death at their front door, the story changes. Barry Allen, or The Flash, knows that if he dies, his wife (Iris West-Allen), his team (Team Flash), and his future kids (Nora and Bart) will go on without his protection. He can’t save them anymore once he’s sacrificed his life; they will forever be endangered because he can no longer be their savior. He anguishes between the decision to save the world or save his family. Therefore, that’s right when the writers provide some other, seemingly impossible, solution to whatever battle it is the hero is fighting. At the end of the day, the hero always goes home safe, and the story continues.
(Now, I’m not blind to the fact that *sometimes* the heroes die. I cried at the closing scene of Marvel’s Endgame, too. But even Iron Man has stayed woven into the MCU as the rest of The Avengers try to figure out how to continue without him—his death leaving his family and his tech unprotected.)
This whole “superheroes can’t die” idea got me thinking of another, remarkable, story.
There was a Man, born to rags, not riches, who was destined to save the world—to lay His life down for others. His whole life, He knew this is why He was born. He lived 33 years as a beacon of hope to many; He did the impossible and He saved people’s lives along the way. He was everything a perfect hero should be: kind, selfless, intentional, full of hope, heartbroken for the lost and suffering, driven by Love, and willing to face even the most brutal death to save His people.
Yet, this hero did die. And the story didn’t end there.
Jesus Christ faced a brutal death. One worthy of the worst criminals. After living a sinless life, He gave himself as a perfect sacrifice to save us from death and give us a newfound hope in Him. He took on the weight of our sins, so that we could live free from such burdens. He knew that the only way to save us was to die the death we deserved.
Three days later, He rose again. You see, what’s different from Jesus and these other superheroes, was that His death is exactly what did the saving. Forever. Once and for all. “It is finished,” He said (John 19:30).
John 3:16
Camryn McPherson, of Union, Ky., is a member of the McConnell Scholar Class of 2025 at the University of Louisville where she studies psychology and political science.