I love the perspective of seeing Jesus as only a man. I believe he was the Christ and the Son of God. But it's easy to forget he was human too. By focusing only on this aspect, it helps one really remember how he was just like us when in the flesh. I disagree with many things in the musical, but it wasn't written for believers like me. I think we can cautiously approach such interpretations in a way that is fun, entertaining, and provoking enough to encourage growth in our faith. also, the music is awesome
You completely missed and glanced over the most biblically accurate parts of the opera. When Mary says “He’s just a man.” Shes quoting her past life as a prostitute and being possessed by demons. Now to the number “Poor Jerusalem” when Christ says “To conquer death, you only have to die, you only have to die.” This is referencing how he has to die to conquer sin and win eternal life. As Christians we are taught to Believe that Christ had died on the cross for our sins. And Christ conquered death, He died and rose again. The scene “The Lepers” where Christ says “Leave Me Alone!!” Or “Heal yourself!” (Depending on which version you watch) Is depicting a time in the Bible were Christ chosen not to do his miracles “And He did not many works there because of their unbelief.” (Matthew 13:57-58). In “The Last Supper” when Christ sings “For all you Care this wine could be my blood” ect.. He states shortly later “This is my blood you drink, this is my body you eat. If you would remember me.. when you eat and drink.” Christ is asking us to remember him when we eat and drink. When he says “I must be mad thinking I’ll be remembered” he’s referencing the two disciples that would be betray Him. For the number “Gethsemane” we see the more human side of Christ asking God to take the cup away from Him. He later asks “What will be reward?”. Christ was holding back his divine power and mind and in the newer version of the script Christ says “God, thy will be done, destroy your only son. I will drink your cup of poison!” And “Before I Change My Mind!” Symbolizes the man of Jesus understands that we tend to change our mind. In “The Arrest” you completely missed the part when Christ said “Put away your swords, don’t you know it’s all over?” Christ is telling them to put away their swords and stop fighting. “Why are you obsessed with fighting?” Is Christ asking why must they fight their way to the kingdom of God. In the scenes with Jesus being mocked were very real things. Even us as Christians we are mocked for our beliefs. In “Trial Before Pilate (Including The 39 Lashes)” Christ saying “I have no kingdom in this world. Im through. There maybe a kingdom for me somewhere if you only knew.” - John 18:36 Is Christ not fully giving us the answers to Gods plan. You missed what Pilate said in the opera and what he said in the Bible.. here’s some of the lines you missed! (The parts straight from the Bible have Bible verses right under) “What do you mean, you crucify your king?” -John 19:15 “I see no reason, I find no evil, this man is harmless so why does he upset you?” - John 18:38 “That is not a reason to destroy him!” “You hypocrites! You hate us more than him?!” “Who is this Jesus? Why is he different?” “Not a thief, I need a crime!” -John 19:6 “I’ll wash my hands of your demolition” And also it’s not “miss-guided puppet” the line is actually “innocent puppet” which references that Christ innocent. The idea isn’t that Jesus “won his fame” the idea is that he completed Gods plan. The superstar scene is supposed to symbolize Judas coming back as a false angel to ask Christ these questions such as “Do you think you’re what they say you are?” And “Did you mean to die like that was that a mistake or? Did you know your messy death would be a record breaker?”.. Finally, the Resurrection and The Message and how the Resurrection is still there without fully showing us. Christ takes His final breath on the cross and the Camera zooms out on the hill where Christ was crucified at. Look closely for two things 1: The cross is unoccupied 2: There is a Shepard with his flock passing by I personally believe these are signs that Christ rose again and he is coming back for his Children (The flock). Multiple versions the show powerful imagery of a cross being lifted up and showing that he will rise again. (Some versions of the show do contain a actual resurrection) Now lastly, the message that you completely missed. The message of Jesus Christ Superstar is to depict Christ in a world with media, news, widespread sin, and hatred. JCSS shows us that Christ resisted every temptation thrown at Him. And you must really have your faith while watching the beautiful rock opera. You twisted and changed lyrics in the show just so you could put out this review to slander this incredible rock opera. Your review is dishonest and not correct. I truly hope you change your mind.. Godspeed 🙏🏽
Very good message sir. I really agree with everything you wrote. It's a very good musical, and the lyrics are really good, there's a lot of meaning that is easy to gloss over. There's plenty of scenes implying that Jesus is really more than just a man, but the idea is telling everything from outside, and of course with a lot of creative decisions.
@@tonk82 Exactly, people take five seconds to see one scene and call it blasphemy. They need to fully watch it to understand it. (Well if we are talking about that one Swedish production that was quite over sexualized I can understand why they wouldn’t want to see any other version. I honestly despise that production.) God worked his magic beautifully throughout the movie and the concept album plus many other amazing productions!
What you say is nonsense. JCS is nowhere near an attempt to rewrite history. It is not biblical, but then it doesn't claim to be. It is a non-biblical take on the story of Christ. and quite a respectful one.
I'm glad Alice Cooper's performance with King Herod's Song because it is fairly accurate because Herod believed Christ was crazy. Also That Jesus Must Die, The Arrest and Peter's Denial are fairly accurate that veers off only as much as Joseph or even Veggetales Stories did. But that's about it.
And with all due respect, that's exactly why I'm not going to see it... I had the chance to see it this Sunday which is Palm Sunday, however, I've changed my mind. I've only become familiar with it recently... And before I realized what it was about, I actually thought it was a celebration of Jesus's life, instead, it's making Judas Iscariot look like the good guy. I'm not even going to waste my time watching it
@k.c.elemenopy2393 That was the point yes But the story was bigger than just judas So the musical also is bigger than just judas Willie wonka and the chocolate factory was made to be a commercial But I think all the adoring fans of that movie would say that it is much more than just a commercial
Even thought it’s not that accurate to scripture I still really love the album. The shear performances and musicality of it impresses me and the fact that it’s consistent despite having 24 songs is also impressive. And it helped to push the rock opera format into the mainstream.
I saw it on tv in the 70s. I was middle school age. I was amazed. It was the most biblically accurate movie about Jesus i had ever seen. But i wasnt sure how accurate it was. That night i started reading the new testament and read it straight thru. Finished in less than a week and moved on to the Old Testament. I had read parts of the bible before. But never just straight thru. Thats the power of making such an accurate adaption.
I used to like this movie, but for these reasons, I changed my mind for these kinds of issues. "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." (Galatians 1:8) I do enjoy The Last Temptation of Christ, but that doesn't pretend to be the actual story of Jesus.
This work never fails to move me to tears. This analysis is rather a surface one and there is always more to art than surface. You have to remember that our omnipotent hindsight gives us an entirely different view of the Jesus story than the view the people who lived it would have had. They didn’t know how the story ended. Jesus was “fully God and fully human.” If he was fully human, he certainly would have “sweat blood” over what he knew he had to do. It was going to be excruciatingly painful, the most terrible form of execution of the time. The fact that he is plainly terrified and tempted to throw the whole thing over makes his passion more powerful. It is shattering. I would also point out that while there is no resurrection as part of the drama (probably to enhance its universal appeal to a general audience) the opera ends on a major chord rather than a minor one. ALW’s dad was a preacher. ALW wrote a mass. I think that major chord is his assertion that, “oh by the way, it is going to be okay.” Weeping endures for the night but joy comes in the morning.
Thank you so much for speaking the truth! This movie is a mockery of Jesus’ life. We need to have wisdom and be discerning in what we choose to watch. Thank you for your explanation!
When viewed as "The Gospel According to Judas," it makes a lot more sense. Mathew, Mark, Luke and John are all pretty much on the same page, but that doesn't mean their version is true. It's good to get a contrasting angle on things. Also, there very much was a resurrection in the 1973 movie and the stage versions, but it took different forms. Most noteably, it's framed as actors playing the roles, and the "actor" playing Jesus was the only one not present at the end-until the curtain call.
As a Christian and a fan of musical theater, I agree with everything you say about how the musical makes Judas look like the good guy and the Lord Jesus Christ look like somebody who is burned out. Just one little bone of contention: pilot actually does sing a line about after the after the being locked up part he sings I need a crime that’s not you know having being mad is not enough to reason to destroy him I need a crime. So he does say that, and he does ask what is truth. Like I said a tiny little bone of contention and that pilot actually does specify that he needs a crime in order to crucify someone. This is somewhat outside the biblical narrative although I really think it’s great. Pilot calls the Jews a bunch of hypocrites when they say we have no king but Caesar. That’s pretty fun that’s a fun part of the musical. The thing that really bugs me is the fact that there’s no resurrection either in Godspell or in JCSS.
Interestingly, the portrayal of Judas actually draws from several other religions depictions of Judas, Including Judas being Jesus closest confidant and Judas understanding his role in having to be the one to betray him
I don't see it quite as a rewrite as you do. I have always felt they try to understand that it was a hard choice for him to submit to the sacrifice he knew that was coming. On the garden, he prayed so hard as to produce blood in his sweet, likely due to the stress of knowing what he had to do. Plus jesus never revealed his mission fully , and it was only toward the end he started to hint at who he was. Since shows have a time limit plus this being put to music, I think they did a nice job in the show.
thanks bro I really appreciate this vid, I was recomemnded this movie , and was sceptical, and lost it at the Jesus cant heal all the sick scene. Like I know my God can heal all these sick people. Thats LIGHT WORK FOR HIM!!
Excellent analysis. This musical is a mockery and a deliberate distortion of Jesus' sacrifice. I can watch 'Life of Brian' and enjoy it. This however, feels calculated to mislead people, and it insults the viewers' intelligence.
I’m surprised it took 12 comments to get here 😢 I’m not sure if the above commenters are Christian or not, but for me, any mockery of Christ, especially from the man who betrayed him, is a no. Granted I know we all have our different views on things, but I figured something like JCSS would be a unanimous no
Hmmm. I appreciated how it respected the viewers intelligence and the amazing accuracy. Most movies about Jesus are hard to watch if you're a believing Christian who has read the Bible. But this movie is for the people who love reading the gospels.
In this video religious dogma crashes into creative liberty... ironic, considering that the gospels are also creative interpretations of the perhaps real, perhaps embellished events surrounding Jesus' life and death. Dogma is, as usual, humorless and forbidding. Jesus, if he was real and accurately quoted, was neither of those things. Is the opera blasphemy, or this preacher's take on the bible?
Just to point out one thing, Jesus of Nazareth did actually exist. Even secular anthropologists agree he was actually someone who lived and got crucified under Pontus pilot. Plus there are thousands of Greek manuscripts that agree with each other on such a major degree (practically no contradictions except for punctuation) talking about what Jesus said did and talked about his death resurrection. Kinda ironic how you’re pointing out how “religious dogma crashes into creative liberty” when it comes to historical texts that are genuinely important to billions. You are allowed to think and say as you want but please atleast be accurate and respectful
You are quite wrong. You are making the mistake of taking everything a character says as the authors point of wiev. Example - when Maria Magdalene sings "he's a man. He's just a man" she is not making a statement on the devinity of Jesus - she is desparately trying to convince herself that there is nothing special about him, even thoug there clearly is. As for Judas, just because he gives some explanation for his betrayel, does not mean he is in the right. Jesus clearly does'nt think so "save me your speeches i don't wanna know. Go!" Im with JC on that one. If you deliver a fellow human being up to torture and death, you are a piece of shit, and no amount of justifications can change that. Same goes for the pharasies. They are wery conserned with the danger Jesus posses to the jewish people, because of the romans possible retaliation. It does'nt take a genius to see that he is also a threat to their position of wealth and power, and that may play a part in their decision to have him killed. The whole play brilliantly exposes human weaknes and self justification, and that is in no way contradictory to the christian doctrine.
I love the perspective of seeing Jesus as only a man. I believe he was the Christ and the Son of God. But it's easy to forget he was human too. By focusing only on this aspect, it helps one really remember how he was just like us when in the flesh. I disagree with many things in the musical, but it wasn't written for believers like me. I think we can cautiously approach such interpretations in a way that is fun, entertaining, and provoking enough to encourage growth in our faith.
also, the music is awesome
For me the scene after his flagellation when he turns around in a white dress is a reference to his ressurrection..
You completely missed and glanced over the most biblically accurate parts of the opera. When Mary says “He’s just a man.” Shes quoting her past life as a prostitute and being possessed by demons. Now to the number “Poor Jerusalem” when Christ says “To conquer death, you only have to die, you only have to die.” This is referencing how he has to die to conquer sin and win eternal life. As Christians we are taught to Believe that Christ had died on the cross for our sins. And Christ conquered death, He died and rose again. The scene “The Lepers” where Christ says “Leave Me Alone!!” Or “Heal yourself!” (Depending on which version you watch) Is depicting a time in the Bible were Christ chosen not to do his miracles “And He did not many works there because of their unbelief.” (Matthew 13:57-58). In “The Last Supper” when Christ sings “For all you Care this wine could be my blood” ect.. He states shortly later “This is my blood you drink, this is my body you eat. If you would remember me.. when you eat and drink.” Christ is asking us to remember him when we eat and drink. When he says “I must be mad thinking I’ll be remembered” he’s referencing the two disciples that would be betray Him. For the number “Gethsemane” we see the more human side of Christ asking God to take the cup away from Him. He later asks “What will be reward?”. Christ was holding back his divine power and mind and in the newer version of the script Christ says “God, thy will be done, destroy your only son. I will drink your cup of poison!” And “Before I Change My Mind!” Symbolizes the man of Jesus understands that we tend to change our mind. In “The Arrest” you completely missed the part when Christ said “Put away your swords, don’t you know it’s all over?” Christ is telling them to put away their swords and stop fighting. “Why are you obsessed with fighting?” Is Christ asking why must they fight their way to the kingdom of God. In the scenes with Jesus being mocked were very real things. Even us as Christians we are mocked for our beliefs. In “Trial Before Pilate (Including The 39 Lashes)” Christ saying “I have no kingdom in this world. Im through. There maybe a kingdom for me somewhere if you only knew.” - John 18:36
Is Christ not fully giving us the answers to Gods plan. You missed what Pilate said in the opera and what he said in the Bible.. here’s some of the lines you missed! (The parts straight from the Bible have Bible verses right under)
“What do you mean, you crucify your king?”
-John 19:15
“I see no reason, I find no evil, this man is harmless so why does he upset you?” - John 18:38
“That is not a reason to destroy him!”
“You hypocrites! You hate us more than him?!”
“Who is this Jesus? Why is he different?”
“Not a thief, I need a crime!”
-John 19:6
“I’ll wash my hands of your demolition”
And also it’s not “miss-guided puppet” the line is actually “innocent puppet” which references that Christ innocent. The idea isn’t that Jesus “won his fame” the idea is that he completed Gods plan. The superstar scene is supposed to symbolize Judas coming back as a false angel to ask Christ these questions such as “Do you think you’re what they say you are?” And “Did you mean to die like that was that a mistake or? Did you know your messy death would be a record breaker?”..
Finally, the Resurrection and The Message and how the Resurrection is still there without fully showing us. Christ takes His final breath on the cross and the Camera zooms out on the hill where Christ was crucified at. Look closely for two things
1: The cross is unoccupied
2: There is a Shepard with his flock passing by
I personally believe these are signs that Christ rose again and he is coming back for his Children (The flock).
Multiple versions the show powerful imagery of a cross being lifted up and showing that he will rise again. (Some versions of the show do contain a actual resurrection)
Now lastly, the message that you completely missed. The message of Jesus Christ Superstar is to depict Christ in a world with media, news, widespread sin, and hatred. JCSS shows us that Christ resisted every temptation thrown at Him. And you must really have your faith while watching the beautiful rock opera. You twisted and changed lyrics in the show just so you could put out this review to slander this incredible rock opera. Your review is dishonest and not correct. I truly hope you change your mind.. Godspeed 🙏🏽
Very good message sir. I really agree with everything you wrote. It's a very good musical, and the lyrics are really good, there's a lot of meaning that is easy to gloss over. There's plenty of scenes implying that Jesus is really more than just a man, but the idea is telling everything from outside, and of course with a lot of creative decisions.
@@tonk82 Exactly, people take five seconds to see one scene and call it blasphemy. They need to fully watch it to understand it. (Well if we are talking about that one Swedish production that was quite over sexualized I can understand why they wouldn’t want to see any other version. I honestly despise that production.) God worked his magic beautifully throughout the movie and the concept album plus many other amazing productions!
What you say is nonsense. JCS is nowhere near an attempt to rewrite history. It is not biblical, but then it doesn't claim to be. It is a non-biblical take on the story of Christ. and quite a respectful one.
I'm glad Alice Cooper's performance with King Herod's Song because it is fairly accurate because Herod believed Christ was crazy. Also That Jesus Must Die, The Arrest and Peter's Denial are fairly accurate that veers off only as much as Joseph or even Veggetales Stories did. But that's about it.
The story is told through the point of view of Judas. That is and was always the point of the show.
And with all due respect, that's exactly why I'm not going to see it... I had the chance to see it this Sunday which is Palm Sunday, however, I've changed my mind.
I've only become familiar with it recently... And before I realized what it was about, I actually thought it was a celebration of Jesus's life, instead, it's making Judas Iscariot look like the good guy.
I'm not even going to waste my time watching it
@@noname-jh3bdThe musical never tries to justify Judas' betrayal. It shows him regretful and guilty over it.
@noname-jh3bd the movie celebrates the life and teachings of Jesus.
@@langreeves6419 …from the point of view of Judas, yes.
@k.c.elemenopy2393 That was the point yes
But the story was bigger than just judas
So the musical also is bigger than just judas
Willie wonka and the chocolate factory was made to be a commercial
But I think all the adoring fans of that movie would say that it is much more than just a commercial
Even thought it’s not that accurate to scripture I still really love the album. The shear performances and musicality of it impresses me and the fact that it’s consistent despite having 24 songs is also impressive. And it helped to push the rock opera format into the mainstream.
I saw it on tv in the 70s. I was middle school age. I was amazed. It was the most biblically accurate movie about Jesus i had ever seen.
But i wasnt sure how accurate it was. That night i started reading the new testament and read it straight thru. Finished in less than a week and moved on to the Old Testament.
I had read parts of the bible before. But never just straight thru.
Thats the power of making such an accurate adaption.
I used to like this movie, but for these reasons, I changed my mind for these kinds of issues.
"But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." (Galatians 1:8)
I do enjoy The Last Temptation of Christ, but that doesn't pretend to be the actual story of Jesus.
This work never fails to move me to tears. This analysis is rather a surface one and there is always more to art than surface. You have to remember that our omnipotent hindsight gives us an entirely different view of the Jesus story than the view the people who lived it would have had. They didn’t know how the story ended. Jesus was “fully God and fully human.” If he was fully human, he certainly would have “sweat blood” over what he knew he had to do. It was going to be excruciatingly painful, the most terrible form of execution of the time. The fact that he is plainly terrified and tempted to throw the whole thing over makes his passion more powerful. It is shattering. I would also point out that while there is no resurrection as part of the drama (probably to enhance its universal appeal to a general audience) the opera ends on a major chord rather than a minor one. ALW’s dad was a preacher. ALW wrote a mass. I think that major chord is his assertion that, “oh by the way, it is going to be okay.” Weeping endures for the night but joy comes in the morning.
Thank you so much for speaking the truth! This movie is a mockery of Jesus’ life. We need to have wisdom and be discerning in what we choose to watch. Thank you for your explanation!
When viewed as "The Gospel According to Judas," it makes a lot more sense. Mathew, Mark, Luke and John are all pretty much on the same page, but that doesn't mean their version is true. It's good to get a contrasting angle on things. Also, there very much was a resurrection in the 1973 movie and the stage versions, but it took different forms. Most noteably, it's framed as actors playing the roles, and the "actor" playing Jesus was the only one not present at the end-until the curtain call.
Thank you for sharing truth and wisdom!
As a Christian and a fan of musical theater, I agree with everything you say about how the musical makes Judas look like the good guy and the Lord Jesus Christ look like somebody who is burned out. Just one little bone of contention: pilot actually does sing a line about after the after the being locked up part he sings I need a crime that’s not you know having being mad is not enough to reason to destroy him I need a crime. So he does say that, and he does ask what is truth. Like I said a tiny little bone of contention and that pilot actually does specify that he needs a crime in order to crucify someone. This is somewhat outside the biblical narrative although I really think it’s great. Pilot calls the Jews a bunch of hypocrites when they say we have no king but Caesar. That’s pretty fun that’s a fun part of the musical. The thing that really bugs me is the fact that there’s no resurrection either in Godspell or in JCSS.
Interestingly, the portrayal of Judas actually draws from several other religions depictions of Judas,
Including Judas being Jesus closest confidant and Judas understanding his role in having to be the one to betray him
I don't see it quite as a rewrite as you do. I have always felt they try to understand that it was a hard choice for him to submit to the sacrifice he knew that was coming. On the garden, he prayed so hard as to produce blood in his sweet, likely due to the stress of knowing what he had to do. Plus jesus never revealed his mission fully , and it was only toward the end he started to hint at who he was. Since shows have a time limit plus this being put to music, I think they did a nice job in the show.
Some people saying it’s not accurate to their Bible but forget that theres a variety of fucking bibles😭be so fr
thanks bro I really appreciate this vid, I was recomemnded this movie , and was sceptical, and lost it at the Jesus cant heal all the sick scene. Like I know my God can heal all these sick people. Thats LIGHT WORK FOR HIM!!
Excellent analysis. This musical is a mockery and a deliberate distortion of Jesus' sacrifice. I can watch 'Life of Brian' and enjoy it. This however, feels calculated to mislead people, and it insults the viewers' intelligence.
I’m surprised it took 12 comments to get here 😢 I’m not sure if the above commenters are Christian or not, but for me, any mockery of Christ, especially from the man who betrayed him, is a no. Granted I know we all have our different views on things, but I figured something like JCSS would be a unanimous no
Hmmm.
I appreciated how it respected the viewers intelligence and the amazing accuracy.
Most movies about Jesus are hard to watch if you're a believing Christian who has read the Bible. But this movie is for the people who love reading the gospels.
@@langreeves6419 I recommend 'The Chosen'.
In this video religious dogma crashes into creative liberty... ironic, considering that the gospels are also creative interpretations of the perhaps real, perhaps embellished events surrounding Jesus' life and death. Dogma is, as usual, humorless and forbidding. Jesus, if he was real and accurately quoted, was neither of those things. Is the opera blasphemy, or this preacher's take on the bible?
Just to point out one thing, Jesus of Nazareth did actually exist. Even secular anthropologists agree he was actually someone who lived and got crucified under Pontus pilot. Plus there are thousands of Greek manuscripts that agree with each other on such a major degree (practically no contradictions except for punctuation) talking about what Jesus said did and talked about his death resurrection. Kinda ironic how you’re pointing out how “religious dogma crashes into creative liberty” when it comes to historical texts that are genuinely important to billions. You are allowed to think and say as you want but please atleast be accurate and respectful
💟💟💟
You are quite wrong. You are making the mistake of taking everything a character says as the authors point of wiev. Example - when Maria Magdalene sings "he's a man. He's just a man" she is not making a statement on the devinity of Jesus - she is desparately trying to convince herself that there is nothing special about him, even thoug there clearly is. As for Judas, just because he gives some explanation for his betrayel, does not mean he is in the right. Jesus clearly does'nt think so "save me your speeches i don't wanna know. Go!" Im with JC on that one. If you deliver a fellow human being up to torture and death, you are a piece of shit, and no amount of justifications can change that. Same goes for the pharasies. They are wery conserned with the danger Jesus posses to the jewish people, because of the romans possible retaliation. It does'nt take a genius to see that he is also a threat to their position of wealth and power, and that may play a part in their decision to have him killed. The whole play brilliantly exposes human weaknes and self justification, and that is in no way contradictory to the christian doctrine.