“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.” – Ephesians 1:17 (NIV)

Like millions of my countrymen, I spent part of Easter Sunday watching NBC’s live performance of Jesus Christ Superstar — the rock opera that tells the story of the last week of the life of Jesus. Although as a child I had listened to and had sung along with the soundtrack album enough to know the songs by heart, I hadn’t really thought about the play in a good 30+ years. Yet there I was in front of the television watching it in high definition.

What surprised me was how well it had held up musically. I was impressed with the casting choices and with the size and tightness of the band. The high point for me was the voices — kudos in particular to John Legend, Brandon Dixon, and Sara Bareilles –  and Alice Cooper as King Herod was the main reason I decided to tune in.

You knew there was a “but” coming…

It’s not a Legend: Peter and John ran to the empty tomb

(Spoiler alert: I’m going to divulge plot points and specific staging decisions for this production. Don’t get mad at me: the play has been around since the 1970’s.) But at the end, I remembered why as impressive as it was and is, “Jesus Christ Superstar” feels like a letdown: there’s no resurrection. In fact it’s worse than that. At the climax of the show, Judas, the betrayer, commits suicide offstage. We then have the scourging of Jesus and the crucifixion, followed by the truly bizarre decision to have Jesus fly into the distance while still on the cross. This is followed by the reappearance of the apparently resurrected Judas who sings the title song and the show ends.

There must be a pony in there somewhere

Because I’m an optimist, I tend to look for the pony responsible for the pile of manure. In this production, we do see Jesus again — at the curtain call. It is part of the show, but it is not part of the play. I know, I know: what’s next? Will I start yelling at kids to get off my lawn? Not for many years.

Let me explain that I defend Andrew Lloyd Weber’s artistic decision to write what he wrote about Jesus. I hope it’s clear I’m praising (see what I did there?) the artistic merit of the production at every level. And, as a social media acquaintance pointed out, we should note that NBC spent a lot of money to hire top talent to present the story of Jesus — however imperfectly — in prime time on Easter. I’m concerned about the lack of a resurrection portrayal for a different reason.

Back in my day…

In the 1970’s Americans of every faith knew the outlines of Jesus’ story — the virgin birth, the visiting shepherds and wise men, the genocidal rage of Herod, the healing miracles, the Sermon on the Mount, Palm Sunday, the crucifixion, and the resurrection. These days we can no longer assume this knowledge is a given. Let me offer one example.

NPR: Not Particularly Religious

You may have read or heard that taxpayer-funded and listener-supported NPR offered this description of Easter during a report on Good Friday:

Easter — the day celebrating the idea that Jesus did not die and go to hell or purgatory or anywhere like that, but rather arose into heaven — is on Sunday.”

If this represents the national media’s level of what Dr. E.D. Hirsch called cultural literacy, you can forgive me for being concerned about a telling of Jesus’s story that doesn’t include His physical death and a bodily resurrection.

What difference does it make?

The resurrection of Jesus is the proof that Jesus was fully God and fully man, and more — that he satisfied the claims of divine justice permanently. Without a resurrected Jesus, there’s no good news, no new covenant, no pardon for sins, and no eternal hope. So for my skeptical or hard-core atheist friends, if you want to undo Christianity, present the bones of Jesus of Nazareth and your job is done. Theories and suppositions won’t cut it.

In Part 2, I’ll elaborate on why the resurrection is so important, and I’ll outline some of the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus.

So how about you — What do you think about the resurrection of Jesus? How did you come to your conclusions? Add your comments below.