The Bible and Music

Today we talked about one of the more well known dramatizations of the bible, the musical “Jesus Christ Superstar”. I think creating a musical with modern music to tell the story of Jesus (or at least a version of it) is a great way to engage those who have had little to no exposure to the bible. Talking about the portrayals of Judas and Jesus and how their characters differ in each and every representation of the bible is interesting to me. There is no clear cut correct version that everyone agrees on. There are multiple stories and as similar as they may be there are still variations, such as whether or not Jesus was born aware of his fate, that dramatically change the tone of the musical. Personally, I think the more human portrayal of Jesus, in which he struggles with fear and doubt (as most people do), is relatable and therefore more effectively captures the attention of those who also experience wavering faith. I believe everyone has a relationship to religion, whether it is positive or negative or strong or weak, and to see that Jesus too may have had a complex relationship to religion is reassuring. A line from a song that has stuck with me for years goes “I look up to the sky there may be nothing there to see, but if I don’t believe in Him why would He believe in me?”. I think this is a feeling many struggle with: feeling that if they are doubtful or not 100% positive in their faith that they cannot possibly be a good christian. I think depicting Jesus as having doubts, especially when confronted with his own mortality, allows those watching to realize that a relationship with God or religion doesn’t have to be perfect or strong all the time in order for someone to be religious or accepted by religion. I think almost everyone, even those who have been very religious their whole lives, struggle with their faith and to be shown a Jesus who has also had the same feelings shows that it is not a bad thing, but a normal thing.