Jesus: The end is just a little harder when brought about by friends. For all you care, this wine could be my blood. For all you care, this bread could be my body. The end. This is my blood you drink, this is my body you eat. If you could, remember me when you eat and drink.
Jesus: Why waste your breath moaning at the crowd? Nothing can be done to stop the shouting! If every tongue were stilled, the noise would still continue! The rocks and stones themselves would start to sing.
Jesus: Can you show me now that I will not be killed in vain? Show me just a little of your omnipresent brain! Show me there's a reason for your wanting me to die! You're far too keen on where and how, but not so hot on why.
Judas: You sad pathetic man! See where you've brought us to? Our ideals die around us, and all because of you.
Jesus: Spare me your speeches, I don't want to know. Go, now, go.
Pontius Pilate: I see no reason! I find no evil! This man is harmless, so why does he upset you? He's just misguided! Thinks he's important! But to keep you vultures happy, I shall f-log him.
Caiaphas: We need a more permanent solution to our problem.
Caiaphas: Fools! You have no perception! The stakes we are gambling are frighteningly high. We must crush him completely! So like John before him, this Jesus must die.
Pontius Pilate: Talk to me, Jesus Christ! You have been brought here, manacled, beaten by your own people! Do you have the first idea why you deserve it? Listen, King of the Jews, where is your kingdom? Look at me! Am I a Jew?
Jesus: I have no kingdom. In this world, I'm through.
Crowd: Talk to me, Jesus Christ.
Jesus: There may be a kingdom for me somewhere, if you only knew.
Crowd: Crucify him! Crucify.
Pontius Pilate: What do you mean? You'd crucify your king?
Crowd: We have no king but Caeser.
Pontius Pilate: He's done no wrong! No, not the slightest thing.
Crowd: We have no king but Caeser! Crucify him.
Pontius Pilate: Well, this is new, respect for Caeser! 'Till now, this has been noticeably lacking! Who is this Jesus? Why is he different? You Jews produce Messiahs by the sackful.
Apostles: Always hoped that I'd be an apostle. Knew that I would make it if I tried. Then, when we retire, we can write the Gospels, so they'll all talk about us when we've died.
Crowd: Pilate, crucify him! Crucify! Remember Caeser! You have a duty to keep the peace, so crucify him! Remember Caeser! You'll be demoted! You'll be deported! Crucify him.
Judas: Tell me what you think about your friends at the top! Who, do you think, besides yourself was pick of the crop? Buddha, was he where it's at? Is he where you are? Could Mohammed move a mountain, or was that just PR?
Judas: On Thursday night, you'll find him where you want him, far from the crowd in the garden of Gethsemane.
Choir: Well done, Judas... Good old Judas.
Apostles: What's the buzz? Tell me whats-a-happening? What's the buzz? Tell me what's-a-happening?
Jesus: Why should you want to know? Why are you obsessed with fighting times and fates you can't defy? If you knew the path we're riding you'd understand it less than I.
Caiaphas: We've been sitting on the fence for far too long.
Jesus: My temple should be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves! Get out! Get out.
Simon Zealotes: Christ, there must be over fifty thousand screaming love and more for you! And every one of fifty thousand would do whatever you asked them to! Keep them yelling their devotion, but add a touch of hate at Rome! You will rise to a greater power! We shall win ourselves a home.
Jesus: I only want to say, if there is a way, take this cup away from me, for I don't want to taste its poison, feel it burn me.
Jesus: Father, forgive them... they don't know... what they're doing.
Answer: In the song "Jesus Christ, Superstar, " Judas highlights several anachronisms. He makes comparison to Buddha, about whom he likely would have known little to nothing. He references Muhammad, not yet born. He even brings up the concept of mass communication, also unheard of in the ancient world. However, this number is meant to take place in a spiritual realm, out of place and time, where past and present have no actual meaning. Judas is shown to be eternally struggling with Jesus, his message, his methods, and whether or not he is truly divine. But also, let's face it...like its contemporary, "Godspell, " the entire film is pretty much an anachronism. For starters, it's a rock operetta which puts just about everything in modern terms in its language ("what's the buzz") and its cinematography (Judas being chased down by tanks, for example). If you are looking for temporal realism, there are many options for that. This film is far more allegorical than it is historical.
Michael Albert
The ghost of Judas is speaking from a modern perspective. Consider the lyric "If you'd have come today you would have reached a whole nation, Israel in 4BC had no mass communication." He is in the here and now, not in the times Jesus was alive.