When I was growing up, Batman was all about a fun action hero. We all knew who the good guys were and who all the bad guys were. Batman would win the day and we could all go to sleep knowing that good always overcomes evil. But this time Gotham City is a lot darker.

The difference between the good guys and the bad guys is not so clear-cut. The Joker is much darker and Batman (otherwise known as Bruce Wayne) is close to the edge. The City’s District Attorney, Harvey Dent, starts out as a ‘good guy’; but he is finally seduced by the alchemy of his own anger and the cruel, sinister torments of the Joker.

In the movie The Dark Knight, Harvey Dent wants to put a permanent end to organised crime in his city. Teaming up with Lieutenant Jim Gordon and Batman looks like the perfect solution. The Joker, however, causes chaos and devastation in the city, doing everything he can to drive the man who loves justice into darkness.

The film raises all kinds of questions: is life controlled by chance? Who deserves to be the hero? How far can one man be pushed? Who should and can have power? Who deserves to live or die? In whose hands should justice reside?

The Bible’s hero is described as a man who ’...in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without.’ He was even tormented by the devil to do wrong. Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, and He will command his angels concerning, and On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.” Jesus said to him, ’Again, it is written,’ “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”’ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, ’Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.”’

Faced with these temptations, the Lord Jesus never gave in. But he didn’t come simply to be our example. So, when the time came for him to confirm his true identity, he immediately made clear the purpose of his mission: From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things ... and on the third day be raised.

We all want to be heroes but we are flawed. But Jesus, the Great Hero, was willing to sacrifice his life and to face God’s anger on our behalf in order to take the punishment for our flaws. And he did this so that we could live. He came to do exactly what was needed so that we could all be rescued - because he is our ultimate ’Watchful Protector’, ‘God in the flesh.’ The question we must all face is whether we want him to be our hero.


- By John Mark Hobbins