NBC-TV
showed a live production of the rock opera "Jesus Christ Superstar" on
Sunday, April 2, 2018, with John Legend as Jesus. I never saw the
stage production before, but I heard the album when it came out in
the 1970's.
When the
Broadway production and the movie came out, there was some
controversy about it. Christians thought it was blasphemous. Jews
thought it was anti-Semitic. But after reviewing Google, there
wasn't any mention of the part of the production that bothered me the
most.
I noticed
when listening to the album that Judas committed suicide after
betraying Jesus. But soon after, Judas reappeared to sing the big
show-stopper song "Superstar." When I listened to the
album, I assumed I must have just missed something. But on the
NBC-TV live version, the same thing happened. Judas committed
suicide, overcome with grief and guilt. Then a few minutes later,
clad in a sparkly outfit and escorted by women in sparkly
minidresses, Judas was back to sing and dance.
What
happened?? There was no explanation for Judas's reappearance. It
might have been that the writers wanted the final upbeat number to
close the show, and the actor playing Judas was the only one who
could sing it.
But as a
matter of theology and even of plot, it makes no sense. The
production doesn't show Jesus's resurrection, ending on his
crucifixion. According to Christian dogma, Jesus was resurrected,
and every Christian seeing it knows that, even if it isn't shown.
(Actually, the original version of the Gospel of Mark doesn't
describe the resurrection either; it ends with the empty tomb.)
But why is
Judas back? Certainly, the reason for Jesus's death and resurrection
is said to be to save everyone from death. But Judas is back before
Jesus died in the play, and Jesus never forgives Judas or raises him from
death like Lazarus. Judas is back before there is any theological explanation for it. He doesn't get touched by Jesus or even have a chance to get an explanation for why he is a cog in Jesus's plan.
The Gospel of Matthew has a passage that describes
what is sometimes called the "zombie resurrection." At the moment that Jesus dies, "The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They
came out of the tombs after Jesus' resurrection and went into the holy
city and appeared to many people." (Matthew 27:50) Maybe Judas was raised as a zombie in this event. He was very
energetic for a zombie, though.
The song "Superstar" really should have been sung by someone else. It could have been sung by Peter, the rock of the church and the first pope, who is known in the play only for denying Jesus three times. They could have even introduced Paul as the one who not only sang the song but actually turned Jesus into the Superstar. He had more to do with it than perhaps anyone else.
Although
the reanimation of Judas bugs me, what bothers me more is that I
haven't seen a comment about it from Christians. The current
production hasn't gotten any controversy or criticism, even from
hard-core right-wing conspiracy theorists. Don't these Christians know their Gospels?
