A Theological Analysis of Jesus Christ Superstar

The "Superstar", portrayed here by John Legend, is "crucified" in NBC's live production
Warning: Spoilers for Jesus Christ Superstar ahead.... as if you care about that

This Resurrection Day (Easter as it's also known) was obviously a lot different for a lot of people. No live church gatherings or masses, no Easter Egg hunts or dropping plastic eggs from helicopters, and, worst of all, no live musical productions on TV like Tyler Perry's "Passion" on FOX or NBC's production of Jesus Christ Superstar. The keyword there is "live", as they still aired last year's production, which of course I watched because as everyone knows, I'm a musical theatre fanatic.

Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical (which is supposedly told in the point of view of Judas) features funky and enjoyable (some friends may disagree on that part) 70's music, chronicling the Passion week, the final week of the life of Jesus Christ, with no spoken dialogue. However, the character of Jesus that Superstar presents is not an accurate representation of the Jesus Christ of the Bible (which, in fairness, I wouldn't expect from a Broadway musical).

The Jesus character portrayed in Superstar, notably by Ted Neeley in the 1973 film adaptation and by John Legend in the NBC live adaptation (among many other actors in the musical's history) is not the Jesus Christ of any of the canonical Gospels. Superstar's Jesus shares similarities to the Jesus he's based on, but the Jesus of Superstar is no superstar.

The Jesus of Superstar relies on Mary Magdalene for rest, rather than his Father. The Mary Magdalene in Superstar is conflated to be the historical (unbiblical) prostitute who turns to Jesus and follows Him (while prostitutes did turn from their sin to Jesus, there is nothing in the Bible to indicate that Mary Magdalene was one of them). It is also implied that the Mary Magdalene and Jesus of Superstar have at the very least a sexual tension between them if not a full-on romantic relationship. This is found nowhere in the canonical Gospels.

Aside from the Mary Magdalene relationship, the Jesus of Superstar also seems to not trust his Father, unlike the actual Jesus Christ who said "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30). The Jesus of Superstar is also not very confident in his abilities to be God or the Messiah. There's an entire musical number where he's swarmed by many sick people who he can't heal. He proceeds to yell to all of them, "Save yourselves!". The Jesus Christ of the Gospels never said that. And while it's true that there were people Jesus could not heal in the Gospels (Mark 6), the ones He couldn't heal were due to their lack of faith. The sick in Superstar are often heard saying lines similar to "I believe you can make me well", etc.

In the spirit of not trusting the Father, the Jesus of Superstar has an entire song in Gethsemane (perhaps the most famous song of the musical due to Ted Neeley's rendition in which he masterfully hits a very high G5 note) in which the Jesus character questions why he has to die, what his reward would be, if he would be remembered for it, and if it was even worth it. The original lyrics had the Jesus character saying "God Thy will is hard, but You hold every card. I will drink Your cup of poison...", giving the impression that Jesus had no choice and went to the cross begrudgingly and reluctantly. The Jesus Christ of the Gospels went to the cross "for the joy set before Him" (Hebrews 12), acknowledging the cross was the Father's will and obeying said will (Luke 22:42) (in fairness, Superstar did update the previously mentioned lyric to "God, Thy will be done, destroy Your only son", which can be heard in the John Legend NBC version).

The worst part about the Jesus of Superstar is that he dies a rather sad and hopeless death after Judas sings about it (from beyond the grave I guess? Judas hung himself before this but came back to sing). The Jesus of Superstar utters the multiple phrases recorded in the Gospels that Jesus says on the cross before He died, and proceeds to die on the cross (which in the NBC version is some pipes because it's a PG show I guess). In the NBC version, the cross, carrying Legend as Jesus disappears behind a cross-shaped wall, which closes (it's pictured at the top, it was actually pretty neat production-wise). After the commercial break we have... the finale where everyone bows. Because that's the end of the Superstar story. Jesus dies and disappears. The disciples had already scattered and their leader has disappeared. The whole ensemble and all the characters come out and do their final bows. Now while I haven't seen an actual musical production of the show, in the NBC production, Legend emerges again from behind the wall and a bright light, once-again wearing his original Jesus clothes, sort of implying a resurrection I guess? In the 1973 film, a more bizarre ending happens. The 1973 film started with a bunch of hippies showing up to the desert in a bus, getting out the bus, then just putting on the musical. The film ended with everyone but Jesus getting back on the bus and leaving, but then it shows Jesus walking around in the desert. I guess that implies a resurrection? I don't know for sure.

The Jesus of the Gospels comes back, pretty clearly. There's no doubt about it. He's alive, appears to many, and ascends to Heaven 40 days later. There's no vague ending or hippie bus, the Jesus Christ of the Bible comes back, proving Himself to be a true Superstar.

I will be honest, I enjoyed watching and listening to the music of Jesus Christ Superstar, but while it presents an entertaining story and fun music, the "Jesus" character it presents is no superstar.

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