Every year on Good Friday I have a tradition where I watch Jesus Christ Superstar, alone - as my husband wants to see it live before he watches a recording (which I imagine is his polite way of telling me he doesn’t want to watch it).
I really like the John Legend version (but cannot find where I can stream it), but I also love the version with Tim Minchin as Judas.
The reason why I love that version is how it shows a modern audience the oppressive state that Jewish people were under at the time of Christ’s crucifixion. There are posters with Ben Forster as Jesus with the words ‘Believe’, including protest art with the slogan ‘Rome Lies!”1 There’s hashtags about ‘following the twelve’, and the overture shows a riot taking place where Roman soldiers are clad in riot gear.
As I'm watching “This Jesus must die”, where the religious leaders are staring up at a screen watching Jesus’s actions play out over a YouTube video, they’re all clad in well-fitting suits as they realize they need to take care of Jesus in a “more permanent” way.
This year, as every year, I felt uncomfortable during this song. But this year it looked like someone had created a musical about the horrors we’ve been seeing in 2023.
Just yesterday, the Tennessee senate voted to expel their two Black Democrat senators over their peaceful protests in light of the school shooting that occurred recently. Drag shows are being banned, trans people are the new scapegoat for the sins of the nation, and children are being asked to not talk about their periods, or being threatened with being torn from their families if they identify as a gender other than cis.
Even at my seminary, we were not provided any aide from leadership to run a Trans Day of Visibility service, to the point where our plans to stream were stopped 3 days before the service and causing us to scramble for other options.
The further I get into my education the more complex the crucifixion becomes. Where I’m at now, though, is viewing it as humanity’s ultimate no to God, but God continues to be our God even after what we’ve done to God’s son. And what we continue to do to other people in God’s creation for the sake of power.
That’s a part of the mystery of faith. Christ knew what would happen when humanity came up close to the divine love of God, something foreign to us and so pure that we push it away and put it on a cross. Even now in places of power, individuals in well cut suits are trying to figure out how to rid the world of our neighbor, who before they even are in relationship with us are in relationship with our Creator.
Watching talented actors scowl and sing: “So like John before him, this Jesus must die…” I wonder about the conversations happening behind closed doors in America, where it is decided who must die so the empire can continue. An ultimate rejection of the love of God, putting the wants of the few over the needs of the many.
When we cry “Crucify him!” in our Black Friday services tonight, let us ponder on who those in power are telling others who deserves to be crucified and if we will be like Peter and deny them, or stay at the feet of the cross and suffer with them while fighting for a world within their resurrection.
Andy Potts is the illustrator who did the posters for this recording of the Arena Tour, you can see his art here.