Transcript for April 12, 2009 by Ian Lawton

For those in the Christian tradition, Easter relates to the story of Jesus’ death and rebirth. So in a spirit of fun, let’s consider some of the different ways to understand Jesus.

There are 3 good arguments that Jesus was Jewish:
      
1. He went into His Father’s business.
      
2. He lived at home until he was 33.
      
3. He was sure his Mother was a virgin and his Mother was sure He was God.



But then there are 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was a Californian:
      
1. He never cut His hair.
      
2. He walked around barefoot all the time.
      
3. He was very skeptical of religion, so he started his own.



But the most compelling evidence of all — 3 proofs that Jesus was a woman:
      
1. He fed a crowd at a moment’s notice when there was no food.
      
2. He kept trying to get a message across to a bunch of men who just didn’t get it.
      
3. And even when he was dead, he had to get up because there was more work to do.

There are so many different theories about Jesus. Most western people, even the non religious, have various notions of Jesus loitering in some corner of our consciousness. Jesus is part of the fabric of western consciousness. This has as much to do with the musical Jesus Christ Superstar as anything else.

Liberating Judas

Jesus Christ Superstar was released in the early 1970s, at a time when all sorts of new interpretations of the Jesus story were being released. The most interesting aspect of Jesus Christ Superstar is the interpretation of Judas. Judas is painted in a different light to what we are used to. In Sunday School Judas was the pinup boy for betrayal. When I was a kid, I thought his name was Judas Asparagus. I thought he was so evil that they named him after the nastiest tasting vegetable in the world.

Haven’t you always thought of Judas as the epitome of evil, an unrepentant snitch? Andrew Lloyd Webber had other ideas; giving Judas all the best songs in the musical and presenting Judas as being the disciple with a conscience who truly cared about the poor. Andrew Lloyd Webber was a prophet in 1971, as it was only a few years later that the Gnostic Gospel of Judas was released to the public. The Gospel of Judas is fascinating because it portrays Judas as carrying out Jesus’ own instructions. Judas was the favored disciple of Jesus, the most trusted ally.

It doesn’t mean that this new interpretation of Judas is the true one. It just questions our life long assumptions about Judas, and causes us to wonder if we really know the whole story about Judas. Why is this important? It challenges whether you can find space in your heart for a fallible character like Judas.

I read an interview with the original Jesus Christ Superstar; Ted Neeley who played Jesus Christ in the Broadway production in 1971. He’s been JC ever since. As well as knowing the part so intimately, it seems that Neeley is a wonderful human being with a true Gnostic spirit. He is SBNR, Spiritual but not Religious. He doesn’t embrace any particular religious organization, preferring a universal approach. He said this-

“It’s not that I know something. It’s just there’s a feeling of spirituality there that I believe we all have. I truly believe there is a universal spirituality that we all share, no matter what we may believe in, even if you’re an absolute nonbeliever.”

So here’s a thought for this Easter. There is a universal spirituality that we all share. ALL of us. How deep is your forgiveness? How far does it extend? Would it go so far as to accept even Judas? Will you liberate yourself from all the assumptions you have about the Easter story, especially the assumptions that make you feel self righteous? Will you liberate the Easter story from being a Disney tale of good triumphing over evil, and let it be a story of radical forgiveness and universal acceptance?

One of the last verses in Bob Dylan’s song, God on Our Side, says this-

“In a many dark hour
I’ve been thinkin’ about this

That Jesus Christ

Was betrayed by a kiss

But I can’t think for you

You’ll have to decide

Whether Judas Iscariot

Had God on his side.”

This Easter, you’ll have to decide. Whether Judas had God on his side? Whether Bernie Madoff had God on his side? Whether your ex-spouse had God on their side? Whether the detractors in your life have God on their side? Whether your inner critic has God on its side?

Or maybe God doesn’t take sides, and the Easter challenge for you is to stop dividing the world up into good and bad, betrayer and victim. After all, you don’t always know the whole story.

Changing the Course of History

There was a great commercial a few years back. It was for a new video cell phone. The scene had Jesus sitting around the Last Supper table. When he realized that Judas wasn’t there, he called him on his video cell phone. He caught Judas downtown telling jokes to some Roman soldiers. In the background, you see one of the soldiers dangling a bag of silver coins. There is guilt written all over Judas’ face. The look on Jesus’ face is, “Aha, I caught you in the act.” Then the caption flashes onto the screen- “So and so brand mobile phone- Changing the Course of History!”

As you reflect on resurrection this year, please consider this phrase- changing the course of history. Do you feel the agony of betrayal? As you reflect on the betrayals of your past, consider that you now have a choice. You can’t change what happened. You can’t make another person repentant. You choose whether you will continue to take the betrayal personally. You can change the course of history from this moment forward, by rising above the hurts of the past.

Resurrection is a choice. You can allow the past to haunt you, or you can learn from it and move forward. You can continue to be the victim, or you can become the victor by taking charge of your life. You can dwell in blame, or you can learn something about strength and move on. You can grow or you can shrink. Choose to learn from the past and use this new understanding as an opportunity to create the life you want for yourself.

This Easter, rise above judgment and bitterness. Practice forgiveness and resurrection. Just as you have seen the possibility of liberation for Judas, you can liberate yourself from the betrayals of the past. The past is what it is. Now you choose who you want to be in the present.

This Easter, consider a perspective so large, compassion so deep and forgiveness so wide that it might even include the betrayer. Forgiveness can’t change the past. But it can open up an incredible future of freedom and peace. This is resurrection.

I choose to do the work of resurrection, beginning in my own life. How about you?