On the Way to Wonder

Christians talk about Jesus saying that he, Jesus, is the “resurrection and the life.”  

²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; ²⁶ and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. (John 11:25)

 We might notice the eyes of youth, perhaps our children or grandchildren, roll and that glazed look begin to appear.  But if you ask them about the fifth book of Harry Potter and the movie it generated, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” you might generate an animated conversation.

Dumbledor, the head magician at Hogwarts the school to train magicians, had a pet Phoenix, Fawkes, that was loyal to him.  Professor Dumbledore has an actual phoenix, Fawkes, who swallows an Avada Kedavra meant for Harry, dies, and returns as a “tiny, ugly, featherless” (37.20) chick at the end of Book 5.  The tears of the Phoenix were the only thing that could fight the bite  of the Basiliks, that giant snake.  Dumbledor’s phoenix was loyal to him because Dumbledore family had the most magic.

 The phoenix came out of Greek and Egyptian mythology and was an magical bird that would age, die going up in flames but then out of the ashes a chick would appear and grow, thus eternal life cycle.  The phoenix was a symbol of immortality, resurrection and life after death.  It may have arisen out of ponderings about the sun and how it rises daily, crosses the sky, disappears and then comes the next morning.  It was thought that the bird lives in Arabia near a cool well.

It is tempting to see Jesus as another “super hero” or the phoenix of his day.  Jesus does not die once in for one person like Harry Potter who deserves to be saved but he offers life to those who are already dead as sinners and do not deserve more life. Jesus does not repeatedly die but dies once for all who believe, who have a living relationship with him.

The phoenix is a starting point for bringing eternal truth to reality in our lives today.  So perhaps our question today is to ponder how the resurrection is a reality today in our lives and not just a promise about eternity.  Perhaps we might even pray for an opportunity to share this with someone who finds inspiration in the Harry Potter series!  Blessings.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 6th, 2024 at 9:17 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.