Coming Up Sunday, July 29

On Sunday, we will continue our "Summer Blockbuster Sermon Series" with one of this summer's blockbuster comic book movies, "The Amazing Spider-Man."  The film, which has grossed over $600 million worldwide in less than a month, is another reboot of the popular franchise.  High school student Peter Parker is bitten by some sort of genetically-engineered spider and develops acute senses.

Here is one of the trailers:

As with many superhero movies, one of the main themes is about identity -- often, who gets to know the man behind the superhero's mask.  Such knowledge is seen as threatening, depending on who knows.  Ironically, this is one of the themes of the opening of the Gospel of John, where Jesus is revealed as God incarnate.  While some people are elated discovering the Messiah, some will be threatened by Jesus -- and eventually, some of these people will call out for his execution.

The Gospel of John invites us to become witnesses to the life and example of Jesus, beginning with how he is revealed to be the Christ in multiple locations: with John the Baptist, at the wedding feast in Cana, and in the Temple in Jerusalem.  This, coincidentally, is what most comic book movies invite audiences to do -- become witnesses to the transformation of someone into a superhero.  We'll consider the similarities, and a couple of the differences, on Sunday.