More Powerful than a Locomotive
One of the most remarkable of Superman’s powers and abilities is his sheer strength. The old radio serial of the 1940’s boasted that Superman “could change the course of mighty rivers,” and “bend steel in his bare hands.” One of Joe Shuster’s earliest sketches of Superman bore the caption, “a genius in intellect, a Hercules in strength, a nemesis to wrong-doers...” In fact, the very first issue of Action Comics spotlighted Superman’s Herculean strength, depicting the hero hoisting a car over his head on the front cover.
But, bending steel and bench-pressing Studebakers barely scratches the surface of Superman’s seemingly unlimited strength. According to Mark Wolverton, author of The Science of Superman, “Superman’s strength…is comprised of two elements: his natural muscular strength, greatly magnified by the Earth’s environment and his double-edged capacity to use and store vast amounts of energy derived from solar radiation and food; and his ability to manipulate gravity in a limited way.”#
In essence, as Superman’s body draws and stores energy from the Sun, that energy is converted and becomes available to be called upon to accomplish amazing feats. Though Superman’s strength has never been fully measured either in or comics or film, it has been unveiled in dramatic ways.
In Superman: The Movie, Christopher Reeve’s inaugural appearance as the Man of Steel begins with peril atop the Daily Planet building. Lois Lane hurriedly boards a helicopter scheduled to fly her to the airport for an all-important rendezvous with Air Force One—the President’s private plane. Unfortunately, neither Lois nor the helicopter ever make it off the roof—at least not in the direction they planned.
Just as the helicopter lifts off, the strong winds generated by the propeller blades cause an already-loose cable fastener to break free. The now loosed cable, pulled by the force of the helicopter blades, tangles itself around the base of the helicopter, sending it spinning out of control. Within seconds, the helicopter is suspended precariously from the edge of the Daily Planet roof, its pilot unconscious in his seat.
A crowd of concerned and frightened spectators forms on the street, countless stories below, as Lois tries to climb to safety. Her attempt to save herself, however, unwittingly places her in greater danger—leaving her dangling from the helicopter by her seatbelt. By this time police and emergency vehicles flood the streets. Just then, Clark Kent steps out of the building and notices a familiar hat on the sidewalk. Recognizing it as Lois’, he looks up and spots the damsel in distress.
Clark looks immediately for a place to make the change to Superman. Bypassing the phone booth, an homage to earlier Superman tradition, he spins quickly through a revolving door, changing clothes faster than the human eye can see, emerging as Superman, the Man of Steel.
Streaking through the air just as Lois loses her grip on the seatbelt, Superman catches the intrepid reporter in freefall. Carrying Lois with his right arm, his left hand is still free to catch the now plummeting helicopter. With just one hand, Superman gracefully snatches the careening copter and effortlessly lifts it back to the roof, resting it in the center of the helipad. And, of course, the crowd goes wild.
Later in the same film, Superman can be seen landing a yacht in the streets of Metropolis, lifting a bus loaded with children, and even raising portions of the Californian landscape in order to repair earthquake damage.
Not to be out done, however, Superman Returns, the newest installment of the Warner Brother’s film series, takes Superman’s strength to even greater levels. In the epic climax of the fifth Superman movie (although it really ought to be considered the third, following the original and then Richard Donner’s—not Richard Lester’s—cut of Superman II), Lex Luthor has stolen crystals from Superman’s Fortress of Solitude and combined them with Kryptonite in order to create a new landmass that threatens to eradicate billions of innocent lives by destroying large portions of the world’s continents.
After his first failed attempt to confront Luther on his man-made, Kryptonite infested island, Superman soars into the sky. Dramatically rising above the clouds, Superman stops mid-air, basking in the brilliant rays of the Sun and baptizing every cell in his body with solar radiation (which, as we know, is the source of his strength). After soaking in enough sunlight to recharge his cellular batteries, Superman dives full-throttle toward the bottom of the sea, burning his laser-like heat vision across the base of the ill begotten island and severing it from the ocean floor beneath.
Suddenly, the island begins to rise up out of the water and you see Superman lifting the enormous city-sized landmass into the sky. Sweat drips from his face as Kryptonite crystals protrude all around him, yet he keeps pushing. Unrelentingly, Superman carries the several-thousand-ton rock into the upper atmosphere and with one last burst of strength, sends it slowly hurtling into the far reaches of space.
Still, even a feat of strength as inspiring as that, pales in comparison to one the Man of Steel accomplished in a 2001 issue of Superman, written by Jeff Loeb and penciled by Ed McGuiness. In Superman #167, Lois and Clark journey into the Phantom Zone, where radio signals from the planet Krypton have been picked up by Professor Emil Hamilton (a scientist and long-time friend of Superman). The mysteries of the Phantom Zone are intricate and bewildering, but apparently Jor-El was able to leave a sort of imprint of Krypton within the Phantom Zone (sort of like pressing your hand into those memory foam mattresses).
Within this Phantom Zone version of Krypton, Kal-El was able to, once again, reunite with his mother and father (and even his dog, Krypto) at a point in time approximately one year before Krypton’s explosion. The happy reunion would be cut short, however, as Jor-El tells Superman that the planet is “drifting out of orbit... right into the sun.”
Ever the hero, Superman volunteers to do the impossible—to move the planet! Positioning himself parallel to the giant ion engines Jor-El already had in place, Superman proceeds to unleash his more-than-Herculean might. Using his heat-vision to ignite the engines and pressing with every ounce of strength in his solar-powered muscles, Superman actually shifts the orbit of Krypton, sparing it from premature destruction.
Although Superman’s strength is more than formidable, it is far from infinite. Superman’s raw power is only a faint shadow of the infinite strength of our Lord Jesus. While Superman may be able to slightly shift the orbit of a planet, Jesus suspends entire solar systems by his infinite power. The Bible says that Jesus “is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Hebrews 1:3 ESV). The Son not only created the universe with his infinite might, but he maintains it through his powerful word.
The very idea of truly infinite power boggles the human mind. We often use the word omnipotent, which means all-powerful. In order for Jesus to be truly omnipotent, that means all power must reside in him. If it could be shown that there is just one stray atom of power that the Lord does not control, he would be seen as a limited ruler and not truly omnipotent at all. But Jesus avowed his unlimited strength, declaring, “God can do all things” (Matthew 19:26). Genesis affirmed from the beginning, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (18:14). John saw it in his vision on Patmos and wrote, “Hallelujah! Our Lord God, the Almighty, rules” (Revelation 19:6). Almighty. All mighty! Have you ever tried to wrap you mind around those words?
In New York City, in front of the International Building at 630 Fifth Avenue, there is a striking work of art—a large statue of the Greek god Atlas. Much like Superman, Atlas is built with heroic proportions—strong shoulders, bulging biceps, massive muscles. Upon those broad shoulders, Atlas bears the weight of the entire world. You can see the grimace on his face as he struggles to bear up under its weight. An impressive sight. This scene is renacted in Superman Returns when the Daily Planet globe is shaken loose from its supports and comes careening to the city streets below. Superman streaks through the air, even crashed through the Daily Planet building itself, before catching the falling "planet" and landing it safely on the ground. As he touches down, he holds the globe in the same pose as does Atlas.
Directly across the street from the International Building, though, is St. Patrick’s Cathedral. I’m told that within that house of worship is a statue of Joseph holding the baby Jesus. Jesus’ arms are extended, he’s smiling with a face as radiant as the sun, and within his outstretched palms it’s as if—as the chorus goes—he’s got the whole world in his hands.#
That’s the difference between Jesus and Superman. Like the famous statue of Atlas, Superman—using all the strength and stamina he can summon—might be able to bear the weight of the world on his shoulders, but Jesus holds it tenderly in the palm of is hand.
Maybe you’ve never thought about it this way, but the fact that Jesus is supremely strong means a world of difference to you and me. Think back to the helicopter scene when Superman caught Lois in mid-air. He calmly reassured her, “Don’t worry miss, I’ve got you.” When someone as powerful as Superman has you in his arms, what could you possibly have to worry about? Lois was safe and secure in the arms of her savoir, and so are you.
Jesus once said, “I give them eternal life, and they will never die, and no one can steal them out of my hand” (John 10:28). The One who saved you is strong enough to keep you saved. Jesus, in essence, is saying, “Don’t worry… I’ve got you.”
So many Christians go through life never truly certain of their salvation, but one of the greatest blessings for those who have been saved by Christ is our eternal security—grounded in the strength of our Savior. Our security is found, not in our own ability, but in the ability of our Savior to keep us safe. As true believers, we are safe and secure in the grip of his grace. Consider what the Bible says, “Yes, I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor ruling spirits, nothing now, nothing in the future, no powers, nothing above us, nothing below us, nor anything else in the whole world will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).
Yes, we can breath a sigh of relief. Like Lois falling from the rooftop, we had fallen from grace—saddled with a sinful nature—but Jesus swooped down from heaven and caught us in his powerful arms. I’m reminded of an old hymn written by E. A. Hoffman in 1887, maybe you’ve heard it:
What have I to dread, what have I to fear,
Leaning on the everlasting arms?
I have blessed peace with my Lord so near,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
Leaning on Jesus, Leaning on Jesus,
Safe and secure from all alarms;
Leaning on Jesus, Leaning on Jesus,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
Your Almighty Savoir stands ready to save you, to enfold you in his arms as a Shepherd would his sheep—and he will never, never let go.
