A Dark Knight and the King of the Jews

After watching The Dark Knight yesterday, I have to say that it is one of the most interesting movies I have seen in a long time. The way the story unfolds especially the character of the Joker strikes a nerve in the human psyche about what it is like to see pure evil incarnate. Unlike other criminals, Heath Ledger’s character is motivated by the desire to destroy, which itself cannot be destroyed conventionally. 

As the wise sage Alfred told Bruce Wayne, ‘Some criminals have motivations; others just want to set the world on fire and watch it burn.’ And with unimaginable force, the film is able to cause an eruption of emotions and thoughts about what an extreme world like Gotham would actually be like. A criminal who wants to destroy not merely banks and civil order, but human goodness itself—this is truly the embodiment of pure evil. With this rare ability to rub raw the human nerve of good and evil, The Dark Knight is truly evocative in an unparalleled way. 

Batman, of course, ends up taking the fall and, in a bizarre way, ends up the hero/villain. As the Joker himself said, ‘Batman, you truly are incorruptible.’ Batman destroys evil’s power by his willingness to take the fall—a fall he didn’t deserve—and thus preserves hope in the city. He is willing to be the outcast in order to save the people of the city from evil. 

At the end of Mark’s gospel, when the King of the Jews, Jesus Christ, is left forsaken by God and hanging on a tree, the author tells us, “There was a darkness over the whole land” (Mk 15:33). Jesus cries out as the Father utterly abandons him there, and the curtain of the temple tears in half—symbolically opening the way for God’s people to enter his presence. 

The story of Batman isn’t a new one. Jesus Christ is the original “dark knight,” who destroys the dark of night in his own death, being cast off by God in order that God’s people would be able to draw near. He is mocked, torn apart at the hands of wicked and corrupt rulers, and sentenced to an unjust death. The Joker, Satan, had his laugh, but when all the cards fall, sin is destroyed in death, and all God’s people walk into the kingdom, right past enemy forces. The light has dawned in Christ, and the night of Satan’s rule is over. 

“The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned” (Mt 4:16), and His name is Jesus.