Jesus and Batman are two of the most dissimilar characters known to man, right? Except of course for the commonality that all super-hero stories draw from the story of Jesus. In a literary and literal sense Jesus is the ultimate super-hero. Literary in that His exploits are captured in writing, and literal in that He was real. He is the all-powerful God-Man who sacrificed Himself to save the world (John 3:16).

But Batman and Jesus have two other unique similarities that were discussed in the 2008 movie; "The Dark Knight". In one scene Gotham's beloved prosecutor, Harvey Dent, fell to his death despite Batman's effort to save him. Rather than reveal how Dent had become evil, Batman fled so people would chase him. He was willing to take the blame so he could save them. And so was Jesus.

The first similarity is that Jesus was willing to be considered cursed even though He was innocent. God had instructed Israel to not leave an executed criminal hanging on a tree over night because he was considered cursed and leaving him there would defile Israel (Deuteronomy 21:22-23). When Jesus came to earth and took flesh He lived a sinless life, but became the enemy of the Jewish leaders who arranged His execution by crucifixion - hanging on a tree (Matthew 27:35). Paul explained how Jesus became a curse to free Israel from the curse of the law and bring salvation to all (Galatians 3:13-14). The second similarity is that He let it happen rather than fight back physically or even verbally (Isaiah 53:7). Jesus silently accepted the insults and abuse (Matthew 26:63-68).

There is one critical difference though. Batman is pure fiction. Jesus is real. His death was real and the blessing is real for all who will believe. He took the punishment we deserve. Will we take the salvation we don’t deserve?