Monday in Holy Week Musing: Rabble Rousers

Every year, during Holy Week, the musical soundtrack of our family life is Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Jesus Christ Superstar.  This has been the case since the “kids” were actually children. 

Slight birdwalk: Three years ago, while serving at Trinity Lutheran Seminary, the Drexel Theatre in Bexley/Columbus, OH hosted Ted Neeley at a screening of the original movie version of JCS.  Neeley played Jesus in the original movie.  Bruce and I accompanied a group of students, some of whom dressed as their ‘favorite’ (?) characters in the story.  It was quite an evening!

During the Palm Sunday scene, the song “Hosanna” has the hosannas interrupted by Pilate who sings: Tell the rabble to be quiet, we anticipate a riot.  This common crowd is much too loud.  Tell the mob who sing your song that they are fools and they are wrong.  They are a curse.  They should disburse.

The empire wanted those Jesus followers to be seen as dangerous – likely to cause a riot- rabble rousers.  In fact, they were choosing to follow a way of love and wide acceptance instead of the way of those in charge at government levels, who were scheming and cheating to keep everyone but the upper classes oppressed and beholden to them.  It is also an old, old story.

The first time I ever heard the term “rabble rousers” was from my high school principal.  I remember that I was running off something for a teacher on the office mimeograph machine (remember those?) when he accompanied some trouble making students out of his office.  When he passed back by me, he decided to warn me against ever becoming a “rabble rouser”.   Me, the biggest rule-following, people-pleasing version of myself. 

I wonder what he would think now?  Because the more I’ve learned about Jesus and his old, old story, the more I’ve come to know that he was always pushing back against authority as he taught and preached love, justice, freedom, and peace.  The more I’ve learned about Jesus the more I came to understand that blindly following authority because it is authority is not only not smart, but it is exactly what those in authority hope for.  Jesus always answered questions, often with a question of his own.  But he didn’t shy away from the mutual debate that generates deeper understanding.  He persisted in helping his followers and the Pharisees and the authorities try to understand.

Telling the rabble to be quiet is not the way of the kingdom.  The rabble have a mission on their hearts and a story on their lips.  And if they were to be quiet, Jesus said, even the stones would cry out.

So, dear ones, in this Holy Week, here’s to the holy rabble rousers, who have never stopped speaking out and who are fools for the God who loves us all enough to come and live and die among us.