Batman can't raise the dead.
But Jesus can. And does.
I like Superman. When it comes to those Marvel superpowers, if you had a superpower, what would it be, and more importantly, what ‘righteous’ thing would you use it for?
Most imagine themselves wielding it for good - to rescue the weak, confront injustice, bring peace. Some would use it to be invisible in the Elders’ or the managers’ meeting! That desire, though, for righteousness is telling. It reveals something deep within us; the ache for a world made right, for wrongs to be judged and wounds to be healed.
That’s why figures like Batman capture the imagination. No superhuman strength. No alien origin. Just a man, marked by tragedy, fiercely determined to impose justice on a lawless city. He’s disciplined, strategic, and committed. But for all his commitment, his version of justice remains tragically thin. He confronts evil but cannot cure it. He brings order but not peace. He punishes but never redeems.
He’s the best we can imagine without divine intervention - and it’s seriously not enough.
Now consider Jesus Christ. No mask. No Spiderman tech. No vengeance. Yet He faces and enters the darkness with a power unlike anything Gotham has ever known. Colossians 1:15-17 says, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created… and in him all things hold together.”
He is not reacting to evil; He came to destroy the work of the evil one and free those held captive. If there were superheroes, the fact would always be that they owe everything - their presence and powers - to the Son of God who created the cosmos and holds every atom in place. And yet Jesus chose to enter into our broken world - not to crush sinners, but to save them. His mission was not crime-fighting. It was reconciliation.
Batman’s limited strength is fuelled by pain, but Jesus’ strength flows from divine love. He was perfectly devoted - to His Father’s will and to the full, unambiguous redemption of the lost. And His justice goes further than any human ideal. It doesn’t just judge sin - it deals with it. Conquers it. Overwhelms and removes it.
At the cross, we see raw justice and mercy meet. The innocent takes the place of the guilty. It's topsy-turvy. Wrath is poured out, not on the rebels, but on the Redeemer, on the one sent to help, intervene - deliver.. Colossians 1:19-20 puts it clearly, “In him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things… making peace by the blood of his cross.”
God likes the word ‘all’.
This isn’t just moral symbolism - it’s pure, breathtaking cosmic victory. Jesus doesn’t negotiate with darkness. He defeats it. Colossians 2:13-15 presses on,
“And you, who were dead in your trespasses… God made alive together with him… He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”
Batman can’t raise the dead. At times of conflict, sometimes he can barely rise from the floor! He can’t disarm the spiritual forces of evil, can’t cleanse guilt or transform the human heart, but Jesus can - and has and does so magnificently - the true champion and victor of Heaven. Not through fear or force, but through sacrifice.
He doesn’t retreat to the Batcave after a long night’s work. He reigns, risen and victorious, seated at the right hand of the Father, surrounded by Cherubim, Seraphim, Ophanim, Archangels, Mights, Thrones, Powers and Dominions, countless angels, and a vast, vast number of the redeemed of the Lord, praising and worshipping 24/7. His justice restores. His mercy saves. His kingdom will have no end. Ever.
So we don’t need a masked vigilante with pointy ears. We need a Risen Lord.
And we have One.
His name is Jesus. Devoted to the Father's will, righteousness, justice, lavish grace and mercy, He is sovereign, all-sufficient...