Jesus Avoids the Superman Problem (Mark 8:27-38)

Peter reaches some real highs and real lows over the course of this scene in Mark’s Gospel. He gives, maybe, the first ever correct Sunday School answer in Christian history, by rightly stating that Jesus is the Messiah. Ten points to Peter. Jesus, then, states that he will do the thing that the Messiah needs to do: die. Peter does some rebuking of Jesus, and Jesus calls Peter, “Satan.” Minus 20 points to Peter.

Mark doesn’t give us Peter’s words, but Christ’s reaction reveals a lot. From the biblical perspective, Satan represents evil, but he consistently attempts to accomplish his nefarious means via less than evil sounding suggestions. The snake, in the Garden, which often gets associated with Satan, merely tells the truth about the fruit of the forbidden tree. Eve’s curiosity and Adam’s passivity do most of the work. The snake merely opens up a possibility space.

When we next meet the adversary head on, he has cooked up a plan to demonstrate Job’s faithlessness. Job may live righteously in good times, but, surely, he will curse God in bad times. Satan whispers nothing in Job’s ear or seek for Job to do anything truly evil. Instead, Satan works to create fertile ground for Job to let go of his faith. Job does get quite mad at God, but Satan loses the bet.

At the temptation of Christ, Satan only suggests decent and scripturally ground options to Jesus. Making bread, saving oneself from harm, and ruling the world as a just king hardly appear evil in and of themselves. Jesus and Satan both know that God has other plans for God’s only begotten son, but, as with Job and Eve, Satan suggest perfectly innocuous actions that lead away from God.

In Satan’s starring role, as the Beast and the Prophet of the Beast, in Revelation, he gains great popularity by only appearing slightly different than the true Messiah.

Then I saw another beast that rose out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. It exercises all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and it makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound had been healed. It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of all; and by the signs that it is allowed to perform on behalf of the beast, it deceives the inhabitants of earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that had been wounded by the sword and yet lived; and it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast could even speak and cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. (Revelation 13:11-15 NRSV)

The hype man of the Beast does a lot of Messiah like things – recover from mortal wounds, perform amazing feats, and bring down fire from heaven. He makes himself look just enough like the real Messiah to cloud the issue. He’s the Diet Coke or Bizarro World version of a Messiah but has enough power to make it easy for someone to think, “Well, this guy seems popular and powerful. He must be the real deal.” Humans tend to desire a place on the winning side. The Beast and his promoter simply present a compelling picture that aligns with human wants and expectations.

In all of this, Satan doesn’t suggest actions that appear outwardly evil. He simply nudges folks towards doing normal, easy, or fun things that contravene God’s will. So, in calling Peter Satan, Jesus implies that the content of Peter’s rebuke involves taking easier action that goes against what God wants. Matthew reports the same scene, in Matthew 16, and gives greater detail of Peter’s actual words. “And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, ‘God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.’” (Matthew 16:22 NRSV) One normally should avoid painful death, but God calls Jesus to exactly that. In opening up an alternative, Peter does what Satan usually does – earning Christ’s pointed critique.

This exchange gives much another window in Christ’s humanity. We see that most clearly in the Garden of Gethsemane as Jesus prays desperately for God to take the painful cup from him. However, we catch a glimpse of it here. In calling Peter, “Satan,” Jesus reveals that he feels the temptation in Peter’s suggestion. Jesus knows his purpose and knows what it entails. As a human, he will feel every bit of it, and he too has the natural human instinct to avoid painful death.

I see something powerful in knowing that Jesus wrestled with the extreme nature of his calling. Just like us, Jesus could make his own choices. We are not automatons, and neither was he. Jesus doesn’t fall into the Superman problem. Comic book writers and video game producers have a hard time creating meaningful stories about Superman because, given his absolute ability, it’s hard show him struggling or growing. Superman fiction often lacks pathos or dramatic tension. He can just win. I can’t identify or connect with an all powerful spaceman in tights. I don’t just win. A fully human Jesus who feels what I feel, struggles as I struggle, and then manages to overcome it is no less miraculous and much more relatable. I can wrap my head around his choice to go to the cross because I know that Jesus starts from essentially the same place as me and then does something that I could never do. That he feels the temptation in Peter’s rebuke, as any of us would, reveals his strength, character, commitment to God, and love of us, as he goes on to die for us on the cross anyways. I can empathize with his struggle and then marvel at his mastery of it.