I am not a big fan of action movies, so I have not seen Black Panther, nor do I know very much about it. I do know that the hero of the movie was Chadwick Boseman, the much loved and highly respected actor who died of colon cancer last month at the age of 43.
I have also not ever seen The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon (it’s on too late for me). But I did recently see a 2018 youtube video of Chadwick Boseman appearing on The Tonight Show to talk about Black Panther. The movie was well received by many in the black community, and in this clip several people are brought in to another studio to express to Chadwick Bosman what the movie meant to them, and, to express their appreciation to Boseman for his powerful portrayal of the great King T’Challa.
They would not be talking to Boseman in person, but to a picture of him from the movie poster. They did not know they were being filmed for The Tonight Show. Jimmy Fallon and his crew had set the whole thing up. Backstage were Fallon and Boseman. While each person was talking to the poster, Chadwick Boseman in person would come out from behind a curtain to surprise them and talk with them for a while. It is a fun six minutes of wonderful surprises.
Take the time to watch it here:
Do you ever wonder what it will be like when we see Jesus? I have often wondered that. For my whole life I have heard about Jesus, read about Jesus, saw movies made about Jesus, and prayed to Jesus; but I have never seen Jesus. Someday, I will. What will that be like?
This video of people being surprised and thrilled to see Chadwick Boseman is just a small hint of what it will be like for us when we see Jesus. We will be overwhelmed, thrilled, happy, relieved, fulfilled… there are not enough words to express what it will be like.
I am not yet looking forward to death, but I am looking forward to seeing Jesus. If there is an inconsistency there, it is the same inconsistency expressed by Paul in Philippians 1:21-24:
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.
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John 12:21 — They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.”
John 16:16 — Jesus went on to say, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.”
John 16:22 — (Jesus said), “Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”
John 14:1-3 — (Jesus said), “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”
I John 3:2 — Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
I Corinthians 2:9 — As it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”—these are the things God has prepared for those who love him.”
Revelation 1:7a — “Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him.”
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Day by day,
Dear Lord, of thee three things I pray:
To see thee more clearly,
Love thee more dearly,
Follow thee more nearly,
Day by Day.
–From the 1971 musical Godspell; by Stephen Schwartz, based on a prayer by St. Richard of Chichester (1197-1253)