So this past Saturday night I got to see something I never expected to see (and hear) a live performance of Jesus Christ Superstar wherein the music and singing was as good as the so-called Brown Album (with Ian Gillan singing the part of Jesus).

I also realized things watching it that for whatever reasons I did not get before.

I realized that (within the parameters of this musical or rock opera) Judas did not think that the religious authorities would kill Jesus. It seems to me that he thought they'd just rough him up a bit and kick him out of Jerusalem, because they didn't have the authority to "put a man to death." He just wanted Jesus reigned in so they could all go back to having a quiet little prayer circle and charity group.

Now it is obvious that Judas is really the protagonist of this rock opera, but what I did not really get before is that Mary is his foil, his opposite number and provides an interesting contrast (obvious in that they both sing "I don't know how to love him" but they do so in almost opposite manners). Judas is full of convictions (cynical worldly ones for the most part) but has no faith (he doesn't know what Jesus is up to and fears it will lead to disaster for all of them, he wants a quiet contained Jesus for himself). Mary, however, is bewildered and frankly admits she doesn't know where any of this is going but she has faith. She is just there for Jesus and sticks by him and she is the one who gets it when none of the men seem to (going by what Jesus sings in the beginning).

Also, after all these years of loving this musical (or rock opera) I finally looked up the verse that the last musical number (no singing) is named for. The verse is John 19: 40 which says: "Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid." Why that verse? Why not include verse 42 in the title? Verse 42 says: "And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus in it." Maybe it's because to end with this verse is to end with an "empty tomb" wherein no one has been interred. It leaves things very open-ended. It made me think of the original ending of the gospel of Mark (the earliest gospel) that ends with the empty tomb (the part about the resurrection appearances in verses 9-19 are a later interpolation). Mark 16:6 has an angel saying to the disciples who came to the tomb after the interment: ""Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look there is the place they laid him." Of course that music would have to be one of great portent and mystery whereas the track in JC Superstar John 19:40 is sad and the action in the play is of the disciples taking down the body. The verse in Mark is a positive announcing of the resurrection, so it is a post-resurrection empty tomb, whereas John 19:40 is a pre-resurrection empty tomb. There is still an empty tomb but the one in John is not a positive indication of anything but can be seen as either an anticipation of an imminent resurrection or simply as the location of the final resting place of Jesus - it is left up to each audience member to imagine how things go from that empty place.

And the empty tomb of course also connects by association with the Phillipians 2:5-11 which says: "Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross. Therefore, God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every other name so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of our Father."

I am not a Christian (nor am I not one, nor a Christian and not a Christian, nor neither a Christian or not a Christian); but if I were I would find it marvelous that a cosmic story that begins with an emptying also ends with an emptiness ready to be filled and emptied again.

Also, if I were a Christian I would remind everyone that going by the New Testament Jesus compassionately and out of love died for the sins of me and you and Donald Trump and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. So if anyone has a problem with that kind of universal love and compassion and impartiality they can take it up with the Christian God.