Every year during holy week, I listen to the music from Jesus Christ Superstar. Sure, Andrew Lloyd Webber's theology is less than stellar, but I am drawn in by the humanity of Jesus. That's been a lot of my focus lately, the humanity of Jesus is part of my job. It is what I see every day. So as I listen to JCS, I am reminded of what Jesus went through in those days leading up to his death. The betrayal of his closest friends that must have hurt, transitioning from being praised and honored to being mocked and condemned to death, struggling with everything in relation to his death...

The music of JCS paints many pictures for me of those final days, but most importantly it reminds me of the agony that Christ endured for us. It wasn't just Christ's divinity that went through it all, it was Christ's humanity that makes it all the more real and tangible to me. I also hear myself in the varying roles of those surrounding Jesus. So yes, I might be a big nerd for listening to this soundtrack during holy week, but it helps me to remember the whole situation in an interestingly modern way. My copy of JCS is from the most recent Broadway production, so while it is still the same stuff it isn't so very 1970. No offense to those that enjoyed it then, but I enjoy the raw aspect of the new version.

So there's my holy week confession. I'm likely to be listening to JCS a couple more times this week. Tomorrow is Easter Egg dyeing, Friday is pretzel day and at night hopefully I'll be at a service somewhere, Saturday is my first Easter service of the season at counterculture. Sunday morning is worship leading and probably running back to Central for their Easter service. It will be a busy weekend for me.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 12, 2006 at 10:19 PM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.