Render to Caesar and render to God

With the Presidential Election coming up in just a few days, I think I would be negligent if I didn’t write a few words on the subject.  First, I think it’s easy to take all of the gifts we as American citizens enjoy for granted.  One of those benefits is the chance to vote.  It’s amazing when you stop and think about it: we get to choose the leaders in the highest offices of this land.  And yet many still don’t exercise their civic duty and cast their vote.  I spent some time looking at quotes on the importance of voting.  Kim Wehle puts it so well:

“Voting is vitally important, even if an individual vote doesn’t sway a particular election one way or another.  It is the only way that “We the people” self-govern.  The ability to self-govern is both a privilege and a gift – one that we honor by showing up at the ballot booth…It’s sometimes hard for Americans to fathom that not everyone on the planet enjoys the privilege of self-government.” (Source: https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/19242142.Kim_Wehle)

In Mark 12, some slick religious leaders tried to trap Jesus with a loaded question.  They asked if it was right to pay taxes.  Jesus answered this by saying, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (verse 17).  I could write a whole blog on this interesting exchange in Mark’s Gospel, but I’ll give my abridged version.  I think it was Adrian Rogers who said that the “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” clause is not just to pay taxes, but also as Americans, this includes casting a vote.

However, let’s not miss that second half of Jesus’ words; He said, “and [render] to God the things that are God’s.”  As a Christian, I am to give my worship, trust, dreams, and ultimately my entire life to God.  So, as the Presidential Election looms closer, I hope you will vote.  I hope you will vote your conscience and values.  We should never take this for granted.  But regardless of the outcome, remember there is a glorious God who is sitting on His throne, in sovereign control, no matter what.  Jesus said in Matthew 6, “But seek first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”    

Let me conclude with this story.  The other day, while I was driving, I missed my street.  I decided to turn into a large venue with a huge parking lot, so I could turn around and get back on the right path.  Somehow I didn’t realize that it was closed for renovations (or perhaps because of covid-19, I’m still not sure).  I must have driven around that lot a dozen times.  Every time I came to a place in that parking lot typically designated to exit, it was either gated, or closed off with orange cones.  Finally, I realized that there was only one way out: the solitary entryway that I had initially turned into.

In a similar way, we all seem to drive around (if you will) seeking hope and salvation in life.  We think perhaps they are found in the avenue of marriage, career, or politics.  But that’s not the case.  All of these things have their place, but they will never provide lasting hope and everlasting satisfaction. (And by the way, it’s not found in success for the local NFL football team, either.  The Denver Broncos are off to another slow start this year.  They are 2-4, and coming off another lopsided defeat; 43-16 to the Kansas City Chiefs.)  Where are hope, salvation, and peace found?  In a Person: Jesus Christ.  The old hymn says it so well: “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness…all other ground is sinking sand.”

Kevin

A closer look at Harry Osborn's sacrifice

Let me set up the scene once last time.  Spider-Man was finally free of the dark symbiote suit.  But before this liberation, he had done terrible things.  There were new enemies that wanted him to suffer and die.  Eddie Brock – the next host of the symbiote – kidnapped Mary Jane, recruited Flint Marko (alias Sandman) and dared Spider-Man to rescue her and stop them.   The final confrontation was epic. 

As I described last time, Spider-Man was getting pummeled, but Harry Osborn swept in and saved him.  Soon he and Spider-Man were able to rescue Mary Jane.  At one point in the thrilling fight, Flint Marko/Sandman was wounded; he needed time to regroup and reconfigure.  But Eddie (a.k.a. Venom) was ready to brawl.  He managed to bind Spider-Man’s wrists, with his webbing, so that Peter’s hands ended up above his head.

It was here that Peter tried to reason with Eddie to get rid of the evil symbiotic suit.  But it did no good.  Soon after, Harry flew in with his glider to help again, but Venom yanked Harry off of the glider with a web line.  And then seconds later, the pivotal moment: Venom proceeded to leap at a defenseless Spider-Man with Harry’s own glider – with two sharp blades equipped.  That’s when Harry stepped in and took the blades meant for Peter.  Harry died a heroic, sacrificial death.

In a very real sense, Harry took Peter’s sin upon himself.  Venom was a product of Peter’s bad choices.  Under the symbiote’s power, Peter had lived a life of revenge, pride, selfishness, hate, and greed.  When he finally rejected the symbiote, it bonded with Eddie Brock.  Had Peter done the right thing at the outset, Venom never would have existed in the first place.  Yet Harry paid the price of that sin when he died in Peter’s place. 

I’m grateful to authors Jeff Dunn and Adam Palmer, and their helpful book “The Soul of Spider-Man”.  In their observations on Harry Osborn’s sacrificial death, they cite John 15:13 where Jesus says, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down his life for his friends.”  But they point out that it was the previous verse, John 15:12 that gives the important context of Jesus’ words.  John 15:12 says, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”  Dunn and Palmer continue by saying:

“With that preceding verse, we see that, when Jesus talked about laying down one’s life for a friend, He was talking about Himself.  That’s what He meant when He said “as I have loved you.”  This was a Man who was about to lay down His life, willingly…for those He loves…In a way, Harry does the same thing – though his sacrifice doesn’t purchase eternal life and redemption for his friend Peter Parker.  But it does allow Peter to live, and to live abundantly.  Peter is motivated by Harry’s death to defeat Venom and then follows Harry’s model of forgiveness by forgiving Flint Marko a few minutes later.”

Essentially, unconditional love saved Peter in Spider-Man 3.  There is a poignant, sacrificial Christ-like love in Harry’s death.  Peter had made terrible mistakes.  Incidentally, so did Harry.  I neglected to mention it until now, but he went down his own dark path as the new Green Goblin (at one point, Peter called him “Goblin Jr.” which is a designation I like, I must admit).  But Jesus’ death was as the perfect, spotless, and sinless God-man. 

In conclusion, perhaps you can relate to the bad choices made by Peter, Flint, Eddie, and even Harry.  You’ve made bad choices and you’ve subsequently made a train wreck out of your life.  Jesus paid the price for every sin on the cross.  Maybe you’ve never placed your faith in Christ, let today be the day.  Maybe you’ve let yourself stray far away from the Lord, let today be the day when you return home.  We’ve all made selfish, sinful mistakes – I know I have.  But there is hope in Jesus.

Kevin

Terrific trilogy - the ovation

To recap, Peter Parker went down a dark path in Spider-Man 3.  He thought the black symbiotic entity would help him.  Instead it brought out violence, hate, and aggression.  When Peter finally saw what he had become, he had essentially alienated everyone in his life.  How could he ever hope to restore the damage done?  In a word: forgiveness.  That’s why I say this film – as well as this entire movie trilogy – deserves an ovation.

There was an epic final battle to conclude this terrific trilogy.  The black suit that Peter had rejected found a new host: Eddie Brock.  Brock took on the persona of Venom.  Venom immediately sought out Flint Marko alias Sandman; a character that had several intense battles with Spider-Man.  A team-up is proposed.  “You want to kill the Spider; I want to kill the Spider, together he doesn’t stand a chance.”  And Venom was almost right.  Spider-Man was certainly taking a pounding.  They had him on the ropes, ready to deliver the knockout blow, so to speak.  But Harry Osborn heroically entered the fray and saved Peter.

Let me back up.  Peter was terrible to Harry Osborn while in the dark suit.  Peter had injured Harry both physically and emotionally.  And yet, Harry chose to fight by Peter’s side.  He chose to forgive.  He actually saved Spider-Man from death, not once but twice.  In the second instance, it proved fatal.  As Harry lay mortally wounded, the life ebbing away from him, Peter laments, “I should never have hurt you; said those things.”  “None of that matters, Peter,” Harry responds.  “You’re my friend.”  Talk about famous last words!  This special scene deserves an ovation.

The next example of forgiveness features Flint Marko.  Peter had thought all throughout the film that Marko had murdered his Uncle Ben in a malicious rage.  But after another epic fight, Marko finally explained what really happened that day.  Marko did have a gun, but he never intended to murder Ben, it accidently went off, resulting in a tragic accident.  “I’ve done terrible things too,” Peter says in reaction to the confession.  After many moments of inner reflection, he finally declares, “I forgive you.”  Both Flint Marko and Peter were liberated. 

What about Venom/Eddie Brock?  What became of him?  This is the sad anomaly in the final fight.  Peter tried to reason with Brock, he told him that he knew what it was like; that the power felt good, “But you’ll lose yourself.  Let it go,” Peter pleaded.  Brock wouldn’t listen.  Ultimately, as Peter was destroying the horrible alien suit once and for all, Eddie Brock tried in vain to save it, and he died in the process.  He was enslaved to his own unforgiveness, greed, and selfishness.  And it cost him his life.

Last, but certainly not least, there’s Peter and Mary Jane.  Peter had been a jerk to MJ in so many ways.  His actions toward her while in the throes of the dark suit are some of the painful moments of the film for me.  However, at the end of the movie, in a moving scene that always makes me cry, they reconcile.  The source I quoted from in the last blog puts it so eloquently:

“The ending of Spider-Man 3 is one of the most profoundly beautiful things in a superhero film…we end in a small jazz bar, where our hero and his love share a moment of tenderness and forgiveness.  No final swing.  No dialogue. Just a slow, sweet dance between the kid who got bit by a spider, and the girl next door. The final 25 second shot has the couple embrace.  And we end the film – the trilogy – on Peter Parker going from a feeling of guilt and sadness to a feeling of relief, comfort, and contentment.” (From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkRRMOcmgoc)

In conclusion, the first film, Spider-Man deserves an ovation.  Spider-Man 2 was the best of the trilogy; a masterpiece that deserves a standing ovation.  But what about Spider-Man 3?  I submit that while this film has its issues (one of them being studio interference) this final installment also deserves an ovation.  I’m not sure who said it, but someone said, “We can’t live without hurting and being hurt.”  It’s true.  To love is to risk being hurt.  But what can be done about it?  It was Rebecca St. James who once stated, “We don’t have to get caught up in the whole thing of anger, resentment, and bitterness.”  Like so many experienced in Spider-Man 3, we can choose to forgive.

Kevin

Terrific trilogy - the objection

 Well, here I am again returning from another unexpected hiatus.  When life hits, sadly it takes me away from my blog life.  But perhaps you saw my blog content from last time about the Spider-Man trilogy and you had this objection: “Wasn’t the legacy of that trilogy tarnished because Spider-Man 3 wasn’t very good?”  This is a common objection.  Many do not regard Spider-Man 3 very favorably.  But this film is vastly underrated.

On the one hand, I would certainly agree that this third movie is far from perfect.  I could go into my list of details that still bother me about this movie to this day.  But even with all its flaws, Spider-Man 3 is not the disaster that some believe it to be.  Let me just dive in.

There was an important development that altered the course of this film.  I’m referring to studio interference.  A producer told Director Sam Raimi to incorporate Venom into the film.  Venom is an intriguing villain, but the problem was Raimi didn’t know much about the character, and he didn’t particularly want to include him in the film.  But it really wasn’t a suggestion.  By the way, you can check out this information from this source: 

“Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3 – the almost perfect finale” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkRRMOcmgoc

I can emphasize for Sam Raimi.  I know if someone were to ask me to write about something I didn’t really want to write about, it would be difficult for me.  Yet somehow, Sam Raimi made it work.  Whatever you may think about Topher Grace and his Venom, the whole story line was what Raimi was forced to do.  I’m in agreement with the assessment made of Eddie Brock in Spider-Man 3 from the just-cited source when he states:

“I genuinely love everything about Eddie in this movie.  I love Topher Grace and how he plays him.  And I especially love the way Sam [Raimi] envisions that character.  Eddie represents a Peter without morals…He’ll do anything to get what he wants…the entitled brat with absolutely no sympathy and absolutely no understanding of people.”  He goes on to say, “Raimi was pushed to do Venom, so he did the Sam Raimi version of Venom…He turned Eddie Brock into the sleaze ball reflection of Peter.  And used Eddie to showcase what Peter could become if he gave into these emotions he is tempted by throughout the film.”

Let me briefly address the elephant in the room: it’s difficult to watch Spider-Man, the consummate superhero, choose to go down the wrong road in Spider-Man 3.  The symbiotic alien entity that bonds with Peter makes him angry, egotistical, and violent.  He does things that make us cringe and gasp.  And this descent makes us uncomfortable.  In part, I think it’s because we know that if Peter can succumb to his dark impulses, anyone of us can.  And yes, this certainly includes me.  Without God’s grace in my life, I shudder to think about where I could be today.

I want to devote an entire blog to the climatic finale of Spider-Man 3 in my next blog (hopefully not in November this time).  But I need to say one more thing.  After Peter finally sees what he has become, he is able to free himself from the alien suit.  However, he doesn’t seem to know how to proceed.  He is weighed down by his guilt and shame; that is, until his Aunt May gives him wise advise.  “You start by doing the hardest thing,” she states, “you forgive yourself.”  What follows is example after example of pure forgiveness on display.  It’s unlikely that we will ever see a superhero movie again that clearly shows the beauty of forgiveness.  That’s why I will always love Spider-Man 3.

To be continued!

Kevin