Luke as a Christ figure.

anyone have exmpales of this? so far i ahve he was raised a farm boy(jesus was a carpentar), led the rebels, use of the force

 

I think Jacen is becoming more of a Christ figure, with his death and resurrection, his pacifist outlooks, his strange and wholly unusual powers, and the way that he seems to be moving up in the ranks of Jedi these days.

Did anyone else notice that in the last two Force Heretic books, Jacen has been given the role of saviour and super-Jedi. While it takes a whole group of Jedi Masters with Baron Fel to disarm a handful of Chiss rebels, Jacen managed to almost single-handedly weed out all of the spies, infiltrators, and Vong from the empire, then dispose of them with his blade, and then rescue that Fel brat without taking a life and holding back the person who was supposed to be helping him? He seems to be becoming the focus more and more often of the novels. Also, a disproportionate number of scenes in Destiny's Way, Remnant, and Refugee were written from his point of view, with a two or three from Saba and one from Luke.

 

ok but i need evidence of Luke.

 

It's part of being a Jedi-Protect those in need. In Destiny's Way, he even protects the Vong from Alpha Red. In the movies, I don't know-he seems arrogant and impatient. All (or at least, most) of the examples will probably be EU. only in ROTJ is he closer to a Christ figure, but even that is questionable

 

I sat in on a panel at a sci fi convention many years ago with KJA and others and it was pointed out that in the Jedi Academy series it was intentionally manipulated so that Luke had a certain number of trainnees "aka diciples" and that he came back from believed death.

 

Ahah, it *was* purposeful, huh? I myself have made a meal of the images in JAT several times, glad to have confirmation that it was intentional!

The metaphors ran through the entire trilogy, e.g. Luke walks over a lava lake - Christ walks over water. Luke 'dies', and is 'resurrected'. Kun is a shadow, like a Devil. Kun tempts Luke, placing him atop the Massassi temple (ala Jesus in the desert being tempted by the Devil). There are 12 disciples - and 12 students, one of whom betrays Luke (Kyp/ Judas).

Finally, Luke is the only Jedi in the present era to have acted as a redeeming agent.

 

I have always seen Luke as a christ figure, There is the son, the farther and the holy ghost.

The Son Luke Skywalker

The Father Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader

The Holy Ghost Ben Kenobi

It could also be argued that Anakin is also a christ figure since he was born of a virgin birth, making Shmi a Mary like figure.

 

Luke "died" in ESB and was reborn as a Jedi.

"Stay and finish your training." before he left, compared to "Learned all that you need to know." when he returned...

 

I think of Luke as more of an everyman type character. There is a little bit of Luke in all of us.

 

Luke is not a Christ figure.

It's wrong to compare Luke to Jesus, IMO.

Luke has lost his temper, gone over to the darkside, has married, and is full of lust, and has a kid. His focus is them, and not his Order, which I feel he neglects. He had a lot of promise but hasn't really fulfilled it IMO. In the NJO Luke has kinda become, well, not the Luke we know and love. he is just...wishy washy, clingy with his wife, and rather selfish. He doesn't show much sympathy to even his own family members.

I agree that Jacenis like the Christ figure. He has literally died at the hands of the Vong. He has reemerged transformed. He seems imperterbale now.

 

I always thought Anakin Skywalker was more like Christ than Luke (Immaculate conception, Messiah-like destiny) except whereas Christ withstood Satan's temptations, Anakin gave in (the Emperor)

 

Did Lucas borrow from the Christian themes for his story?

 

Did Lucas borrow from the Christian themes for his story?

There was heavy borrowing from the Torah (aka Old Testament) for Willow...

 

I see your points, Tiershon, but I have to say that using a Messianic imagery doesn't mean the character has to be a Messiah. For example, in the Matrix, Neo is a Christ-figure; and *he* has a girlfriend (the entire first film is based around that concept, with nearly every scene having a nice bit of depth if you look at it from that angle). One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest is another, although McMurphy's 'Message' is *very* different from any Christ would give!

I'd say that Luke *was* more of a Christ-figure than he is. For example, see the JAT; one aspect I like in that is the depth of the Messianic imagery. It also seems evident in DE2. That era has, unfortunately, passed with the NJO, and I think the character suffers from it.

 

I agree, JK, that Luke has been wasted in the NJO. He has been written very weakly. He is not recognizable. He's like this love sick teenager. Unlike the guys you sited, Luke doesn't seem to be able to make any decisions without getting Mara's stamp of approval. That's not being much of a leader, IMO. One of the reasons I hate Mara, no, the main reason: is that Luke is made to consult with Mara to do any little thing. It's like he can't even go to the bathroom with out getting Mara's input. Well, he was fine without her for 38 years, and overnight he became a wimp. He is made to be shy, hesitant, and unsure... That is not the Luke we knew for 27 years. The NJO has only been out for a few years, and it has totally re-written Han, Leia, and most markedly, Luke. It is widely known that DR wanted Luke to die in Vector Prime, so instead of killing him, they kill his essense. I don't understand it.

 

Tiershon -- please try and stay on-topic if you're going to rail against Mara and Luke's treatment. Thanks.

 

Yes, Lucas borrowed christian themes for starwars. Joseph Campbell even talks about it in "The Power of Myth". However, in the full series I think Anakin is more of the Christ figure. It seems to me that Lucas was making a story about what would have happend if Jesus fell the temptations of the Devil instead of choosing to become the Savior. So Lucas has his Jesus figure (Anakin) resent John the Baptist (Obi-wan), get married to Mary Magdalan(Padme), have children (Luke and Leia). Then Anakin, drunk on evil thanks to the Devil(Palpy) goes on a killing spree until John and God (Yoda) intervine and teach his Luke to set his father on the right path. Granted Vader doesn't go around turning water into wine but he he does defeat the evil one.
I'm not saying Christianity is the only religious/philosophical influence in the series. The Light side, for example, is almost pure Daoism with some Buddhist ideas thrown in for effect. Anakin can also be compared, to the Buddha in some respects.
But back to the question: is Luke a Christ figure? Not really. Maybe before Episodes 1,2,&3 came out. But not now.

 

The only one who could be considered a christ figure would be Anakin Skywalker, virgin birth and all

But I think the virgin birth thing was taken from the story of Merlin who supposedly had no father

Last time I checked Christ didn't kill anyone...so any jedi is out of the question simply because they kill people, right or wrong

 

actually, virgin births are common in a lot of mediterranean mythology... or a virgin gets impregnated by a deity in the guise of something mystical (zeus did that a lot).

some biblical scholars also contend that the prophesy that the messiah would be born of a virgin may be mistranslated -- it may also mean 'young woman' but early christian theology latched onto the virgin aspect.
(check out the works of Richard Elliot Friedman)