Star Wars Episode IV: A New Post

"You can't win Darth. If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine."

-Ben Kenobi (Who is actually Obi-Wan Kenobi, but you're not supposed to know that)

Big Ben.

"That title is rather misleading." Or is it? "Yeah, this isn't your 4th Star Wars post. I mean, technically, the first one you did hardly had a central message so I'm hard pressed to even count it." Oh... Well, let me tell you about a little story about our Savior and big brother, Jesus Christ and his disciples. 

So what do Ben Kenobi and Jesus Christ have in common? "Ooo... I don't want to go there... I feel like we might be bordering on the blasphemous or at the very least, sacrilegious." Just hear me out. Now both were teachers. Christ prepared for His mortal ministry way before He started it, we know this for a fact. Everything He did from before He was born to as he was growing up was done to prepare Him for the lifesaving work He was sent here to do. 

I say, that this is the man who receiveth salvation, through the atonement which was prepared from the foundation of the world for all mankind, which ever were since the fall of Adam, or who are, or who ever shall be, even unto the end of the world.

-Mosiah 4:7

So in Episode 4, we find Ben Kenobi who, if you haven't seen the prequels, shame on you is Obi-Wan from said movies. Now he went through this whole series of trials and stuffs like the birth of the empire, which was kind of a bummer for the Jedi Order. The extermination of the Jedi Order, which was more of a bummer for the Jedi Order, and the transformation of his not blood brother from a warrior of light, to a dark villain... (Curse you Satan...) All this, prepared him for what he had to do next, which was train Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader's son (Spoiler Alert Da-duh-duh!) to become the Jedi, not that the world deserved, but the one it needed. (That one was a Batman reference.) Things went rather rough for Luke at first, he just couldn't get the whole Force and Jedi thing down, but he endured, and with the help of his mentor, Ben, nothing could possibly stop them from saving the galaxy right?!

Ohh...

So yeah, there we find Ben being decimated by a lightsaber and all hope is lost right? WRONG! Cause the title of the movie is 'a NEW Hope', not 'a well, that sucks... There goes the universe... Hope.' So with the death of his mentor, Luke Skywalker is all alone with no one to teach him how to Jedi. Using the skills he was taught by Ben, even though at that point they made little sense, Luke continued on with the memory of his beloved friend. 

Alright, let's switch stories for a sec.

So before they became Apostles for the Lord Jesus Christ, most of them had nothing to do with religion. Some were fishermen, one was a publican (or a tax collector, and yes, they hated them at that time too.) and the others came from all facets of life. None of them fully knowing the marvelous work that was about to come forth among the children of men. They all left every worldly thing to follow Christ, and even though they had the GREATEST of all teachers, they found themselves not quite understanding the simple complexities of Christ's church. They were even given The Force- Er... Priesthood power as it says right here.

Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases

-Luke 9:1

Now although these apostles of Christ were with Him the entire time, they had little understanding of what was REALLY going on. They still had little faith and couldn't understand who Christ really was. There are many instances where Christ had to tell the apostles that they had little faith and that with Him, all things were possible, but they were still new at it so there's that. Even with all the miracles that Jesus did with the apostles, still they doubted. But they were in the presence of the Son of God so nothing really bad could happen right? I mean, as long as they had Christ, they were fine right?

Double Oh...

Both Luke and the apostles of Jesus Christ found themselves alone when their mentors passed this mortal coil. Alone, they had to find for themselves how to take on the world from the evil that was infesting it. But luckily for them, they each had gifts from their mentors to better face the cold and treacherous world. For Luke, it was a basic understanding of the Force, which if you're a Jedi, is pretty important to have. Well, so I've heard... It was through the force that Luke was able to communicate with his old mentor and how he was able to make his way to the rank of Jedi Master. 

For the apostles, they received the gift of the Holy Ghost which allowed them to always have the company of Christ to work miracles. They received the comforting spirit which meant that no matter what, they were never alone. Luckily, for them, before Christ made His atoning sacrifice, He gave them the same authority to act in His name so that they too could not only preach the gospel, but to bestow upon these people those same mighty miracles like healing the sick and making the lame walk. 

Lightsabers make A LOT of things epic.

Both of these stories have a common link. When they were in the presence of the master, they lacked faith and struggled in belief, but it was only when that mentor was taken that they could tap into their full potential and bring to pass salvation. In Star Wars, it was Luke being able to face his father and bringing him back to the light. (Spoiler alert)

But then again, Christ could flick a lightaber and it would
probably poke you in the eye. 

With the apostles of Christ, it was them being able to fully realize the joyful burden of discipleship and accepting death rather than bringing their head down and shame and denying Christ. They spread the gospel throughout all the known world, building the kingdom of Heaven with all their heart, might, mind and strength because they knew that Christ died for them, just like how He died for you and for me which is why we have to 'get up off of our thangs' and go do as the Lord commands! "Were you trying to make that rhyme?" Did it work? "No, but it was a decent try.