Braveheart, Heroes, and the Bible

______So it was Tartan day this past Monday. Tartan day is a North American celebration of people of Scottish descent. It’s like the Scottish version of St. Patrick’s Day. My apartment-mates and I celebrated by donning kilts (okay fine, only my roommate Ryan had a real kilt) and watching Braveheart.
______I have to make a confession that will cause many men to lose their respect for me. I don’t really like Braveheart. I might as well go ahead and admit that I also love drinking Apple-tinis and I don’t know how to change my own oil. I don’t know what it is; it just doesn’t really do it to me, although I can see why it’s considered one of the manliest movies ever made. Mel Gibson totally whips a bunch of English oppressors who killed his family and the woman that he loved, all in the name of freedom (hmm, sounds like another historical fiction movie starring Mel Gibson…).
______I still wonder though, what is it about the character of William Wallace that appeals so much to both men and women? Is it the fact that he’s totally awesome in battle? Is it his sheer rugged good looks and sapphire blue eyes? Maybe it’s because he fights with total resolve, never once doubting his purpose, even to the point of giving his life for his mission.
______I think the last one is the reason we look up to people like William Wallace. Heck, it's the reason why heroes are heroes. We all love and admire men and women who fight and overcome massive odds for the sake of some higher good, be it love or freedom or equality. Think about it; half the movie industry runs on the concept of an individual (oftentimes a common, ordinary person) who rises up in defense of what he or she believes in. Some of my favorite movies demonstrate this principle aptly: Hero, 300, The Patriot, Coach Carter, Batman Begins, and Moulin Rouge (they fight for love).
______There’s another element common among all heroes and that’s the idea of sacrifice. In Disney stories like Mulan and Hercules, the hero, despite immense sacrifice, survives. But in all the best stories, the hero ultimately pays the greatest price for his mission. Why do we gravitate towards these icons time and again?

______“All men die. Not all men really live”. Mel Gibson gives this epic line as he explains to his lover why he must die; why he must be tortured; why he cannot beg for mercy, not even for the sake of a quick death. He knew that for him to truly be a martyr, to die for a reason, he had to take the difficult road. If he quit now, his entire life would pass in vain.
______I sat pensively with my apartment-mates as William Wallace gathered his last breath. With the last bit of his life, he yelled “FREEDOM!” and the ax falls. What could be a greater act of heroism than this? This man had just given everything he had for something he believed in. Or maybe he gave it for people he loved; his fellow Scots. But he had a stake in it. He was a Scot and he was fighting for his friends.
______Then it hit me; there is a greater act of heroism than this. See, there was once a man who lived and died for his friends, but also his enemies. The people that he loved and gave himself for, they didn’t love him back; in fact they hated him. But in order to save them, he was executed in their stead; taking upon himself their crimes and their hatred. This man was Jesus.
______Jesus is the ultimate hero! He came down to live among a people who did not love him. He showed compassion to them and fed them and healed their sick and raised their dead. In the end, these people murdered him! But he conquers death and is raised to life. In his resurrection, he gives hope and salvation for the very people that hated him. Jesus is everything that we look for in a hero, to the infinite degree. Every other hero we know is only a type, an incomplete, imperfect shadow that points to the real thing.
______Why do we all gravitate towards heroic figures? Because there is something otherworldly about them, a hint of the eternal in what they do. Heroic men and women die, but their deeds go on for as close to forever as we can get.

“This is how God demonstrated his love for us: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5.8). Isn’t that amazing? The Gospel story is the ultimate hero story; it’s the ultimate manly movie! One man sacrifices his all for the sake of those he loved, though they didn’t even love him. This is the God we worship.

-Daniel Shih