Recently a student expressed his disappointment after viewing the highly anticipated movie Justice League. Built around an organization comprised of some of the world’s most powerful super-heroes dedicated to fighting crime and injustice, the film features a line-up of Batman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Superman, Wonder Woman, and more. The student was not at all impressed with the film.
After thinking about his comments, the question comes to mind, “What is a hero?” Indeed, what is a real hero? Beyond the definition of writer Ernest Hemingway’s “code hero,” who must always demonstrate “grace under pressure,” what makes an individual a hero. Rising above a “super-hero,” such as Superman who is “faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. . .” a real hero is simply an ordinary person who rises to the occasion to accomplish extraordinary things.
In thinking of the account of the birth of Jesus Christ, the savior of the world, a real hero comes on the scene in Joseph. His response to the changing circumstances confronting him prior to his marriage to Mary is recorded in Matthew 1:20-21 (AMP):
But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a Son, and you shall name Him Jesus (The Lord is salvation), for He will save His people from their sins.”
Joseph, being a just man, one who kept the Law, learns Mary is pregnant before they came together as husband and wife. While trying to process this staggering revelation, he decides to do what the Law demands, but he chooses to divorce his beloved discreetly, in private, in a way that is least offensive. While he is considering what to do, Gabriel, the angel of the Lord, appears to him, addressing him as “Joseph, son of David,” reminding him of his lineage going back to the throne of David, from whom the Messiah would descend.
The angel goes on to assure Joseph that the child Mary is carrying is from God, “for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.” Gabriel also makes prophetic declarations expressed in the future tense:
- Mary shall bring forth a son.
- Joseph, as the legal father, shall call his name Jesus, no other name given under heaven whereby men must be saved (Acts 4:12)
- Jesus shall save his people from their sins, just as his name makes known (Jesus—“the salvation of Yahweh”)
Altogether, this passage reveals the pivotal role that Joseph plays in the unfolding drama of the birth of Jesus Christ. In my mind he is a “real hero” a term used in the following piece:
Real Heroes
“A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength
to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.”
Christopher Reeve
. . . but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.
Daniel 11:32b
Like a herald, history sounds the names,
The roll call sung from the chronicler’s page,
The champions of life’s heroic games,
Whose fame still flames for years beyond their age.
Are they real heroes as history claims
Or mere cowards lauded as saint or sage?
Life’s truest heroes we always ignore,
To mold giants of legend and folklore.
Real heroes never swell the ranks among
Annals of recorded time. History
Omits the common folk; yet their unsung
Legacies speak to those with eyes to see.
Heroic lives inspire old and young
To become all our hearts have yearned to be.
We search for gold in those whom we live with
And seek real heroes, not image nor myth.
Life’s real heroes still dwell with us today,
To pioneer a new and living way.
We close our discussion with a powerful, contemporary Christmas song inspired by the passage from Matthew “Call His Name Jesus” by Philips, Craig and Dean:
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