A Sign From Above

I wasn't here on Tuesday morning for class so hopefully you didn't read into this scene, even if you did you probably wouldn't have read into it like this.

In the movie, Avatar, Jake Sully is sent to world of the Na'vi people. Originally he is sent there to scout out the land for the humans to take over but eventually he meets Nytiri, the daughter of the Na'vi Cheif, who saves Jake's life. While walking though the jungle, Ewya, the guiding force and deity of pandora, sends woodsprites to land on Jake. This is a sign from Eywa. Jake is brought to the tribe of Na'vi people who were at first not very welcoming of him but Nytiri's mother, Mo'at, questioned him in order to understand why Eywa wants him there. When Jake replies that he is a warrior, they accepts him and Mo'at tells her daughter to teach him the ways of the Na'vi people.

I really liked this idea of him being chosen, so when I was at church I thought of a way to relate this, I thought about when Jesus was baptized. This story is told in Matthew, Mark, and Luke in the New Testament of the Bible. All three of the versions of the story are short and very similar.

Jesus was coming from Nazareth, his hometown, traveling to the Jordan River because he needed to be baptized by John. John felt unqualified to do this but Jesus said that he needed to do it for God. So John baptized him in the river and as Jesus was coming up from the water, the heavens opened up and a dove came down and settled on him. Then there was a voice from heaven that said, "This is my dearly loved son, who brings me great joy".

I don't think Jake can nearly begin to measure up to Jesus by my standards but here's a comparison anyways. Eywa was God to the Na'vi people. All was connected by her and she alone was the controller of Pandora. I see God like this too. That He's in all of us in someway or another, whether we accept him or not.

Eywa anoints Jake with her woodsprites as a sign that he is on Pandora for a reason and that reason was to save the Na'vi people from death, death from the humans.

When Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove was sent by God. A dove is a symbol of peace, that Jesus is peace; but instead of Jesus being sent to an interpreter to find out what God ment by this action (as Jake was), God spoke for himself. The dove was like the woodsprites to affirm this sign of a higher authority. The dove was a sign from God that Jesus is the messiah, sent to save the world would from sin by giving up his life.

Both Jake and Jesus were messiahs to their worlds and both had to give up a sacrifice in order to save the people they loved. Jake had to "betray his own race", give up the trust that the humans had of him. He gave up his life of a normal human and instead spent his time as a Na'vi learning their ways. Jesus was sent down to earth to be like us as humans and had to give up his life as a sacrifice. In the end both are seen as a sign from God as to save the people.

Like I said Jake can in no way measure up to Jesus but this is a great representation of a way of interpreting the story Jesus in a way people could understand it. Jesus, gives up his chilled life with God for 33 years and is sent to a world that is totally foreign to him. He becomes God with skin on and walks among the people and feels their hurt and pain. God gives a sign to show that he is the chosen one, the messiah and in the end gives his life as a sacrifice to save the world from death.

I don't really care if you believe this or not, I respect that everyone has different opinions and beliefs. As far as I belief though, I belief this is pretty sweet. Way to go Jake and Jesus!