Due to the graciousness of my inlaws in watching our four kids, Shua and I had a chance to watch The Dark Knight last night. I found the movie to be a work of great acting, great storyline, and great effects. Every one told me that Heath Ledger’s role as the Joker was an acting job of the ages, and it’s hard to disagree with that assessment. People I had spoken with about the movie had told me that the Joker in the movie was so evil, that he was mentally disturbing and disrupted many a good night’s sleep. But I can tell you that he didn’t disrupt mine and here is why…

1. The Joker’s evil cannot compare to the evil of our hearts.

When I see the Joker’s evil, I know that his evil is only reflective of what sin looks like to a holy and just God. According to Ephesians 2:3, human beings are children of wrath. Romans 7:18 says that nothing good dwells in humanity. And Jeremiah 17:9 calls the heart sinful beyond cure. Those apart from Christ are darkened in their understanding according to Ephesians 4:18.

What was disturbing about the Joker, what bothered society, was that his evil was not motivated by personal greed or power. It was non-sensical evil in their eyes. He committed evil simply because he loved to. But what a non-Christian world doesn’t realize is that all people do exactly the same. According to Judges 21:25: “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” Joker did one thing that was consistent with the world around him; that is he did what was right in his own eyes. To a world filled with a sense of societal morality based on relativism, they failed to see that the Joker was merely living out what they ultimately believed, doing what was right in one’s own eyes as a legitimate response to ethics and morality.

2. The Joker’s evil cannot compare to the evil of Satan.

I just preached on Satan and his demons this past week. Joker is merely a caricature, whereas Satan is the reality. Human beings can only create what they believe pure evil to be. But Satan actually lives out evil. And in this way, his desire to thwart God’s kingdom advance is far more subtle, but far more destructive. The Joker’s evil merely killed the body. He slit throats and mutilated faces. He devised bombs and created mayhem and wreaked havoc. And to a world that believes that the life in the body is all there is to life, then the Joker’s evil is the greatest evil. But Jesus said in Matthew 10:28: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Hell is infinitely worse than anything that Hollywood, Stephen King, or M. Night Shamalan can dream up. The Joker was an evil character. But there is far greater evil than the Joker.

3. The Joker’s evil, our evil, or Satan’s evil will not survive the evil borne at the cross.

This thought struck me as I prepared to sleep. The cross was the place where every act of evil was and will be destroyed. Hebrews 2:14-17 declares: “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” It was the propitiation of sin by Jesus that DESTROYS death, the fear of death, the power of death, and Satan himself. How can we fear death, when Christ has saved us eternally. The wages of sin have been borne by the Son of God at the cross. Death has lost its sting at the cross. The dereliction scream of Jesus, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” was the cry of every evil, evil that far far exceeds what I saw on that movie screen. Jesus bore that pain, that evil, that terror, that horror that was both physical and spiritual for every one of God’s children. So why should anyone in Christ ever be afraid. As Jesus says in Luke 12:7: “Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

Watching the Joker led me to see just how terrible my sin can be. It also made me realize just how futilely Hollywood tries to project pure evil. But in the end, I know that though I am a great sinner, Christ truly is a great Savior. I hope as you watch The Dark Knight (and I do think it’s worth watching), you will remember God’s grace for you through His Son. So do not fear.