Jesus Christ Superstar: Palm Sunday

March 29, 2015 by JoAnna 12 Comments

Yesterday I shared about not being good at knot tying. So I was pleased to remember the steps to making palm crosses for Palm Sunday service. I had to find an old dried up palm cross and unwrap it to get one of the final steps. Once I get something, I keep practicing to use it or lose it, so I made lots of palm crosses yesterday afternoon.

In my early twenties, I was staunchly agnostic, valuing science much more than religion. During that time, I saw the musical film, Jesus Christ Superstar.

( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Christ_Superstar_%28film%29)

I fell in love with music of the film which had the feel of a hippie rock opera. I bought the album and listened to it over and over, singing along. I watched the movie on TV a couple times over the years. It told the story of Jesus and his friends during the days leading up to his crucifixion. Though some may say the movie/play does not follow the Bible accurately, it told the story in a way that appealed to me, in a way I could relate to.

The music of Jesus Christ Superstar softened my heart to the story of the man called Jesus. My journey back to him picked up speed after the birth of my son when I was 29, followed by a short lived but challenging job with the Department of Social Services. I’ll always be thankful to that job for driving me back to church. I’m also thankful to the open minded  Episcopal priest who accepted my questions and hesitations with reason and understanding. Many years later, I took my daughter to see the musical performed live by a local theater company. I sang the songs softly, so as not to embarrass her too much.

This week being holy week, I thought I’d share with you video clips of songs from Jesus Christ Superstar.

This clip, depicting Jesus being praised by a crowd waving palm branches, has the best sound, though the video quality is a bit compromised, so I hope you enjoy the music.