Superstar at the End of the World

Can We See the Truth of Jesus Through His Betrayer?

It is Holy Week for Christians. This is a week in which we observe and meditate upon the events of Jesus' ministry in the week leading up to the Cross. Amongst all the stories of the passion week, one character gets treated as a caricature and rather unfairly at that. That character is Judas Iscariot. We know little about Judas other than what we read about in the Gospels. Even with the little information we have, Judas has become a caricature of scheming and evil intent. But is that fair to Judas? Is it fair to the account in scripture?

It doesn’t help that the Gospel writers, adding context for those unfamiliar, tag Judas with “betrayer” almost as a title. But maybe to understand ourselves, we may need to look more closely at Judas. Maybe we can even identify with Judas and the motivations for his choices. To look more closely at Judas, I’d like us to consider two songs in which Judas is a main character; one from the rock opera Jesus Christ: Superstar and one from the band U2. I will also go into speculation about Judas that adds depth. Mainly the idea that Judas, like his fellow disciples, mistakes the purpose of Jesus' ministry and assumes the conquering king understanding of Messiah. Within this context, we see Judas pushing Jesus to reveal himself and seize the power he is due. Our first song deals with the idea of Judas doubting from a secular context, but our second one will be more about relationship.

If you are unfamiliar with the rock opera Jesus Christ: Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, it is a musical first recorded in 1970. It was first released as an audio only album, then a movie, and eventually performed as intended on stage. If you have never seen the play, I recommend the 1970’s movie overall. For an updated cast, the NBC live production from 2018 is also good. If you have seen the musical in some form, you probably recognized that Jesus is a supporting character in the production. Mary Magdalen and Judas Iscariot are the main characters. This forces us to see the passion from the eyes of characters that have a different point of view. This focus causes the production to present Mary and Judas as Jesus' closest disciples, with Judas being depicted as his best friend, for lack of a better term.

The song I want us to start with is the climactic Superstar which follows Judas' death and leads into the crucifixion. If you want to listen to it, I suggest the Carl Anderson performance from the 1973 movie as it is the standard and Anderson’s performance is amazing. The movie opens the piece with Judas wearing an all whit fringe covered leisure suit being lowered by a crane as the music begins.

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Every time I look at you I don’t understand
Why you let the things you did get so out of hand.
You’d have managed better if you’d had it planned…

Israel in 4 BC had no mass communication

Here we see Judas still questioning Jesus' actions and motivations as he does at the beginning of the musical. Jesus is merely a spectator listening to Judas as the choir moves into the refrains of the chorus.

Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ,
Who are you? What have you sacrificed?
Jesus Christ Superstar,
Do you think you’re what they say you are?

Judas could easily move into accusation, as he does when the guilt of his betrayal overcomes him before his self-inflicted death. But instead, he sounds hurt, concerned, and emotional as he goes outside time and brings up Buddha and Mohamed.

Tell me what you think about your friends at the top
Now who’d you think, besides yourself, was the pick of the crop?
Buddha, was he where it’s at? Is he where you are?
Could Mohamed move a mountain, or was that just PR?

But he then gets back to Jesus and the crucifixion which the movie overlays the walk to Golgotha on the scene.

Did you mean to die like that? Was that a mistake, or
Did you know your messy death would be a record-breaker?

Ultimately, the rock opera ends on an unresolved moment which was the point. But with any artistic portrayal, the truth is preveniently put before us. We can understand the confusion Judas feels because it is the confusion of all the disciples upon the crucifixion. I like to think Jesus Christ: Superstar ends at the original ending of Mark with its cryptic wonderment. But we also see the potential reconciliation of Judas after his repentance. Judas felt his world was ending and saw no other way out than the betrayal of his friend.

Which brings us to Until the End of the World by U2 in which we see Judas telling Jesus how he feels and what he experienced as he betrayed Jesus. This song is Judas' pleas to Jesus and the way that Judas heard talk of going away and how that sounded like the end of the world. These lines in the opening stanza bring us straight to the last supper.

We were as close together as a bride and groom
We ate the food, we drank the wine
Everybody having a good time
Except you
You were talking about the end of the world

The language of spiking a drink and of being felt to have ben led on come next. I believe this is much like the confusion from Superstar in which Judas struggles with understanding what is happening. He doesn’t accuse God like he does in Jesus Christ: Superstar, but he sees the talk as unnecessarily apocalyptic and it frightens him. But then we get the garden scene which has Judas using teasing language within is own discomfort.

In the garden I was playing the tart
I kissed your lips and broke your heart
You
You were acting like it was the end of the world

Judas is still confused as to what Jesus was doing. He was missing the point and his pain in that is severe. Judas shows us the most deeply felt hurt of the disciples as he struggles with his lack of understanding. Even in retrospect he seems to miss the point. He shifts to the depression and sorrow he feels after the betrayal. This is a description of darkness and accusation flowing over Judas as he drowns in those feelings.

In my dream I was drowning my sorrows
But my sorrows, they learned to swim
Surrounding me, going down on me
Spilling over the brim
Waves of regret and waves of joy

Deep pain and anguish flow over Judas as he contemplates what he has done. U2 then sing one of the most beautifully felt ways of showing the response of Jesus to Judas when he reaches out for Jesus. The last lines of the song are the turning point of understanding and the grace and love Jesus gives, even to his betrayer. This shows us the truth of who God is and that God is with us - even when we fail to see God.

I reached out for the one I tried to destroy
You, you said you’d wait
'Til the end of the world

“You said you’d wait 'til the end of the world.”

And he will…

And he does…