ONE OF MY favorite musicals is “Jesus Christ Superstar.” I could go on and on about why that is so; it’s the rock opera version of the Passion of Christ.
The songs are composed by musical genius Andrew Lloyd Webber (the one behind “Cats” and “Phantom of the Opera”). Every aspect of the opera is full of emotion and adds a lot of color to the story all the world knows so well.
But the biggest reason why I love it is because it emphasizes more on the human side of Jesus. Remember, he is God and man, but the MAN aspect is something we forget sometimes.
We always remember Jesus as the Son of God who was crucified and came back to life after three days. We forget that he was a child once. He had friends whom he would play with. He would be naughty sometimes. He felt fear and anger.
In the song “Gethsemane” it was clear that Jesus was terrified of the fate that awaited him. He kept on asking God to take it away. He kept on asking why it was so necessary for him to die that way. Like any person, he didn’t want to go through that kind of suffering and pain.
The amazing thing about him though was that even though he was terrified, he accepted His fate. Thus “Thy will be done.” Despite the fact that he knew what would happen, he went through with it for his fellowmen.
Other aspects that the musical touched me were Jesus’ relationships with Mary Magdalene and Judas. There were little romantic undertones between him and Mary Magdalene, especially with the song “I don’t know how to love Him.” That’s something that I appreciate them representing.
Controversial as my opinion may be, I honestly see what the problem is if Jesus did have a romantic relationship with Mary Magdalene. It doesn’t change the things He did. I wish I could go on longer about this but I’ll just save it for another article.
The conflict between Jesus and Judas was also represented here. In the song “Heaven on their minds” you could see how Judas was frustrated over their constant arguments. He felt that Jesus’ growing fame was detrimental to their ministry. They had constant opposing opinions and he was beginning to doubt if following Jesus was the right thing for him to do. It later on led to his betrayal.
That’s why I appreciate “Jesus Christ Superstar.” It covers the not-so popular aspects of Jesus’ life. Sometimes the Church forgets to remind us that on top of everything, Jesus was a man just like us. He was given a great task by God and he had the guts to fulfill it. However, he passed through what any person would pass; fear, doubt, anger and conflict but he still pulled through. For me, that makes him more relatable and admirable. (angelica.panaynews@gmail.com/PN)
