Spideman: The Invisible Foe ✍️

In Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) warns Peter Parker that they aren't dealing with chemical mind control. Instead, the threat is a supernatural, demonic entity like possession, an evil force that jumps between people, taking total control of their innocent bodies and forcing them to commit horrific acts against their will.

Exactly what is happening in our world today.

Look around you. Watch the news. A student killing a fellow student at school. Family members turning on one another. Senseless violence, which leads us to a grieving question: Why are they (the offenders) doing these? As outsiders who know nothing of the true struggle, we often jump to our own conclusions. And if you're the one looking at life through a purely physical lens, you might assume it was driven by petty human motives. But if your eyes have been opened to the spiritual truths of the Bible, you will no longer wonder, for you can now discern that beyond physical, there's more to it than meets the eye. The dark days, as prophesied in the Bible, the rising of the enemy and the forces of evil...that's what's happening now. 

In truth, the beauty of the Bible is even more breathtaking because we can see the world moving exactly as scripture foretold. It amazes me to realize that people who do not know Jesus and who have never opened a Bible live out their days and make their plans without ever knowing that their choices and decisions were already written in God's word. Without even realizing it, those unbelievers are proving that the Bible is real, that they themselves are fulfilling the very words written in the scripture about the last days.

This painful reality is vividly stated in Mark 5:1-5. The Bible tells the story of a man possessed by an evil spirit, living among the tombs. He was in such agony night and day. He would scream out and brutally cut his own flesh with sharp stones. No one could restrain him. He would tear iron chains apart. The story shows us a terrifying truth: when an evil spirit takes over a person, the person loses ownership of their own soul. They become a vessel of destruction, hurting both themselves and everyone around them. We see this exact tragedy in Spider-Man.

In the movie, the spirit of Jean Grey jumps from one person to another, seizing control of anyone she pleases.  In the blink of an eye, a normal person like the pilot of the helicopter, the armed soldier, the crowd, or a commuter suddenly speaks with her voice and acts with her malice or ill will. But the moment the spirit of Jean Grey leaves, the person snaps back to reality, utterly lost, asking, "Why am I here? What have I done?" The body was used, but the soul inside was completely innocent.

Spiderman to Frank Castle, who's firing the weapon at Hulk, who then turned monster: "Banner was not the problem; she is! Meaning it wasn't Banner who wanted to cause destruction. It was the spirit of Jean Grey manipulating his mind, forcing him into a blind rage. Banner wasn't the real enemy; ""Si Banner ay biktima, si Jean Grey ang problema!""

Yet, because Jean Grey’s wickedness was born from the ashes of her own bitter past, which is the death of her sister, Spider-Man knew that physical force could never cure her angry soul. He didn't fight her with fists or any physical weapon anymore. Instead, he fought her with empathy.

Through a deep spiritual connection, Peter invited Jean into his own mind and consoled her over the loss of her sister by sharing his own painful memories of losing Aunt May. He met her brokenness with his own.

 

Just as Jesus cast out a legion of demons to restore a tormented soul, Spider-Man saved Jean Grey from her own darkness that threatened to tear her apart. Through unconditional love and a shared understanding of grief, he calmed the raging storm in her heart and brought her back to her senses.

This leaves us with a powerful truth for the world we live in today. When we see people do terrible things, we have to look deeper. Often, the person before us is not the true enemy but a captive soul whose body and mind have been hijacked by darkness. Our battle is not against flesh and blood but against the spiritual forces of evil manipulating them from the shadows (Ephesians 6:12)

In the movie, Spider-Man saves the world from Jean Grey’s mind control. But in reality, Jesus came to us and did something infinitely greater. He came to break the power of spiritual darkness and set captives free from demonic possession and oppression. Let's be honest with ourselves: every single one of us carries inner darkness, and we all harbor brokenness and bitterness and sin within our own hearts. We cannot save ourselves, and no fictional superhero can fix the human heart. We need a real savior. We need Jesus to rescue, redeem, and restore us. And Jesus indeed is the only real superhero!

In a world full of anger and sudden violence, it is so easy to judge and hate the person doing wrong or the wickedness. But the next time you see something terrible on the news, take a moment to pause and pray. And recognize who's the real enemy here.

Have you ever felt that the chaos in our world today is deeply spiritual? How do you protect your heart and mind from the darkness around us?