Even though Warner Bros. flinched and moved Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’s release date, it is still going to be a massive hit. The weekend of March 25, 2016 is going to be dominated by DC’s two most famous characters. I enjoyed Man of Steel and, even though I prefer Marvel to DC, I’ll see Batman v Superman on opening weekend.
Some news hit the Internet yesterday about Bruce Wayne in the upcoming crossover movie. Ben Affleck is no spring chicken and Batman v Superman producer Michael Uslan confirmed that Affleck’s Batman will be a little older. Instead of a young vigilante fresh out of his League of Shadows training, Affleck’s Batman will be in his 40s, an older and more experienced Caped Crusader.
In light of old Batman, here are some of my favorite biblical senior citizens.
Sarah
I’ve always wondered what Sarah looked like was 80 or 90. Apparently she was so beautiful that Pharaoh, one of the most powerful men in the world, wanted to marry her. That beauty was covering over some ugliness, though, as her jealousy and anger forced Abraham to banish Hagar and Ishmael. Still Sarah had some amazing experiences with God that must have strengthened her faith. She saw God perform a miracle in her pregnancy as well as his faithfulness in providing an heir. Sarah was 127 years old when she died and I like to think that she had grown as faithful as Abraham. A life lived following God will bear tremendous fruit and Sarah can be an example of that kind of life.
Eli
As a youth pastor Eli is one of my favorite Bible characters. He may have missed the mark with his own children, but he definitely helped guide and direct Samuel. Eli mentored Samuel and helped Samuel become one of Israel’s greatest judges. God called Samuel but Samuel needed someone to help him respond to that call. Eli stepped in and influenced the life of a young person. I’ve committed my life to influencing young people for God’s kingdom and I love having an example like Eli to emulate. What I like about Eli is that he didn’t allow his own failings to get in the way of helping Samuel succeed.
Anna
Anna is an amazing example of faithfulness. Her husband died seven years into her marriage and she spent the rest of her life living in the temple worshiping, fasting and praying. She was 84 when she met Jesus, which means she may have spent over 60 years as a widow. Her faithfulness was rewarded, though, when she saw Jesus and spoke about how he would redeem Israel. After 60 years of constantly worshiping God, she was able to see God incarnate. I can’t even wrap my mind around that kind of faithful life but I know that we can get there one faithful day at a time.
Batman is going to be old but that’s OK. Some of my favorite people are senior citizens. I’m sure old Batman will still be totally awesome as he fights Superman, then joins Superman and eventually puts together the Justice League. Even with all of that, though, I’d still rather be an old person like Eli, Anna or my grandpa.
Who are some of your favorite biblical senior citizens?
Nice post, Scott! It’ll be interesting to see how an older, wiser Batman plays on screen. Seems like a logical choice, given that we’ve done the whole origin of Batman thing pretty definitively with Nolan’s trilogy. I hope we’ll get to see an older, wiser Superman, too, but it sounds like the DC powers that be are more interested in the Justice League than making a Superman movie proper. Flibbedly floo. 😉
One quibble: “Sarah was 127 years old when she died and I like to think that she had grown as faithful as Abraham.” – Don’t forget that it was Abe’s idea to pass Sarah off as his sister, and also that Abraham laughed at the news of Isaac’s impending conception first (Gen. 17.17), even though Sarah’s chuckles always get more press. I think they both grew in faithfulness together.
True. And that’s what I meant. I more meant to say that they grew together, not that Abraham reached a level and Sarah had to get there. We just hear more about Abraham’s faithfulness but I can’t imagine Sarah didn’t grow right along with him.