The Disciples

I know nothing about this recording of Jesus Christ Superstar other than it is from the 70s, so I am not going to comment on it. Instead, let's continue our wrapping-up theme. Today I want to talk about my New Favorite Line.
I call it that even though I don't think I had an Old Favorite Line. I have favorite songs--early on in my life, I could just listen to "Everything's All Right" over and over, and later my allegiance switched to the "Trial Before Pilate." But individual lyrics? None of them stood out in particular.
Then I engaged in this Lenten experiment. When I heard the original Broadway cast recording, a moment came in the "Trial Before Pilate" I had not heard in the recordings I knew before this Lent--the brown album, the movie soundtrack, or Jesus Christ Superstar: A Resurrection (a version we will get to soon). It came right after Pilate seethes:
"Look at your Jesus Christ.
I'll agree--he's mad. Ought to be locked up.
But--that is not a reason to destroy him.
He's a sad little man,
Not a king or god--
Not a thief--I need a crime!"
The crowd answers him in staccato rhythm. I couldn't make out what they were saying in this version. I heard the same shouts in the BBC Radio 2 version but still couldn't make them resolve into intelligible speech. Finally I had to consult Greg. He said the mystery lines were:
"Kill him! He says
He's God--He's a blasphemer.
He'll conquer you, and us,
And every Caesar!"
(In some versions they say "And even Caesar"--I prefer "every.")
Why is this so fantastic? Because it cuts right to the heart of the Jesus Problem. Far from being "harmless," as Pilate later claims Jesus is, He is the most dangerous character there can be. And killing Him is not going to solve the problem He poses. Brendan Kennelly sums up the paradox well in his Book of Judas poem "No Image Fits":
"I had not understood that annihilation
Makes him live with an intensity I cannot understand."