Could We Start Again, Please?

I’ve been living to see you
Dying to see you
But it shouldn’t be like this
This was unexpected
What do I do now?
Could we start again, please?

I’ve been very hopeful, so far
Now, for the first time
I think we’re going wrong
Hurry up and tell me
This is just a dream
Or could we start again, please?

I think you’ve made your point now
You’ve even gone a bit too far to get the message home
Before it gets too frightening
We ought to call a halt
So, could we start again, please?

We went to see Jesus Christ Superstar in Ipswich yesterday. It was a Christmas present. I first saw it fifty years ago. Yesterday’s re-interpretation of the musical was excellent.

This song, sung by Mary Magdalene and Peter, comes towards the end of the show. There’s been the betrayal by Judas, the Last Supper, the arrest in Gethsemane and Peter’s denial. Jesus is on trial, his execution is inevitable and Mary and Peter ask, ‘Could we start again please?’

I’ve got friends who, facing the failed marriage, the devastating bereavement, the addiction from which there appears to be no escape, ask, ’Could we start again please?’ A violent or painful conclusion appears inevitable… ‘

And Christian friends who believe in an all-powerful, loving God but can’t see Him, who find themselves in fear-full places without hope or an apparent way out… ‘Could we start again please?’

This morning I was reading the story of Moses and the Exodus. There have been plagues of frogs and flies, boils and locusts and now there is darkness. ‘No-one can see anyone else or leave his place…’ Of course we know the end of the story. Freedom from slavery is coming; but for now the people are kept in darkness.

We have an advantage over Mary and Peter. We know the story. Things are going to get worse. There will be further torture, painful death and apparent hopelessness. But then Mary and then Peter will see the living Jesus again. Their hearts and minds will be changed.

Superstar ends with ‘John 19:41’ – a garden and a tomb, Jesus is laid to rest. ‘Could we start again please?’ is still a good question.

However it’s an unfinished story. Tears and cowardice becomes joy and determination. Darkness becomes light. Hopeless becomes hopeful. Purposeless becomes purposeful. Resurrection changes everything.