Who wants a super power? If you could pick one, which one would it be? Flight? Super strength? Invulnerability? Acid vomit? How about energy projection, or rapid healing?
It's fun to pretend. But there were some instances in history of super-abilities, namely, in the Bible. We'll leave out Moses, who was covered somewhat in an earlier post, Satanic Miracles.
First off:
Samson. The man had super strength. Super-stamina, too. He killed a thousand Philistines at one time with a donkey's jawbone. He ripped up the city's gates and carried them 30 miles away, depositing them on a hill.
He killed 30 men and stole their clothes to give as a reward to a group of dudes who figured out his riddle. He killed a lion bare-handed. And of course, he pushed over the pillars that held up the Temple of Dagon, killing himself and 3,000 other people.
Take that!
So, how did he get all that power? Magic pill? Radioactive camel? Nope.
From The Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit, man!
Whenever the Spirit came upon Samson, he gained massive strength and stamina. God wanted a warrior who could free His people from the Philistine oppression. So He gave Samson power to do so.
As a side note, several other men in the Old Testament were hardy warriors, like David who killed 200 of those Philistines, Shamgar killed 600 men with an ox goad, and Abishai who killed 300 men with a spear.
God gives you what you need, when you need it.
Next up, Jesus. He healed people, raised the dead, and multiplied food. He also knew things that that others did not. Like seeing Nathanael under the tree when He couldn't actually see him. Where did His power come from? Again, the Holy Spirit. When He became human, He allowed The Spirit to give Him power, rather than using His own divinity.
But here's an interesting power: When Jesus was resurrected, He displayed a strange ability to appear, disappear, and reappear wherever He wanted. After he spoke with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, he vanished. And most famously, he appeared to the apostles in a locked room. The text does not say he walked through the door, but that He simply appeared there.
Sounds like He teleported.
Yup, Jesus could teleport. And He wasn't the only one...
Move over, Nightcrawler and Vanisher, Philip is here! Philip, a disciple of Christ after Jesus ascended, went and preached to a eunuch from Ethiopia. He was an important man, and was reading the scroll of Isaiah when Philip hopped into his chariot. (super speed?) He explained that Isaiah was talking about Jesus, and the eunuch got saved. He then wanted to get baptized right then and there! Philip did so, and when they popped back up out of the water, Philip was gone. He had been "carried away" by the Spirit, somewhere miles away. Once again, the Holy Spirit was doing some crazy stuff.
Honorable mention: the Two Witnesses in Revelation who breathe fire.
How do you like that? Super powers in the Bible. As stupid as comic books can be, maybe they were on to something. Makes me wonder if Siegel and Shuster got their idea for Superman from their Torah...
