Dean sometimes refers to holy water as "Jesus Juice. Madge and Edward Carrigan are pagan gods disguised as a suburban couple. They blame Christianity for their marginalization. Eve , the Mother of all Monsters, tells Rick , a devout truck driver, that Jesus was only a man, and that God has abandoned humanity. Vesta blames Jesus and Christianity for the diminishing in her prominence. Sam tells Dean that the homeless encampment where Metatron is currently located sees him as a messiah.
Jesus is held to be a manifestation of God as a human. The religion of Christianity is centered on belief that his death provided atonement for sin. He may have been an actual historical figure, a Jewish teacher and political leader who lived in Palestine.
Jesus' likeness, character and symbolism are fair game, especially to a show so firmly rooted in his theological pasture. Again, though, the question isn't whether Supernatural could feature Jesus in physical form, but whether it should. Except that there is one loose end: Joshua. The angel first appeared in Season 5, and despite claiming to "just trim the hedges," Heaven's humble gardener had a reputation as the last being to speak with God before he went MIA.
In fact, he was the Creator's designated confidante, although he told Sam and Dean that their conversations were mostly one-sided. He was also the one to break it to them that God was hiding somewhere on Earth. Fans have noticed that, as well as his intimate relationship with the Lord, Joshua bore other parallels to Jesus: In the Bible, Jesus was mistaken for a gardener when he first rose from the dead, and the name Joshua is only one letter different from Jesus' Aramaic name, Jeshua or, Yeshua, in its Hebrew spelling.
Either Joshua and Jesus are one and the same in Supernatural , or the angel is a close stand-in. The big wrinkle in the former theory is Joshua's death in Season 12 at the hands of a vengeful Knight of Hell.
Then again, Chuck appeared to "die" before his true identity was revealed. With the final season looming on the horizon, it's now or never for Jesus to actually rear his bearded face, whether it's as a miraculously resurrected Joshua or in some other form.
But, given Kripke and the casts' past comments, fans probably shouldn't hold their breaths. Remember that Jesus was born and preached in a subjugated province of an empire where a high percentage of the population was enslaved and most of the free poor lived in miserable circumstances little better than slavery. Redemption was a compelling message, which is why Eastern mystery cults like early Christianity were popular in the first place. The flip side of this aspect of Christ as Redeemer is Christ the Judge, who will separate the sheep from the goats at the Day of Judgement.
But a lot of people like to apply that only to other people. They see themselves as hanging out with Christ in Paradise after that day has come and gone, while all their enemies go into the fire. Third, a Christ character must be a Scapegoat. The way Christ redeemed the world was by taking its sins on his own shoulders and taking responsibility for them. This is a combination of a sacrificial lamb with that of the scapegoat of Leviticus This aspect of the Christ story is strongly evoked by the moving ending of The Dark Knight :.
Because he can take it. A watchful protector. A Dark Knight. Fourth, a Christ character must be a Revolutionary.
A lot of Christians like to ignore this part of Jesus, but he was quite the subversive, what with clearing out the Temple marketplace with a whip, interfering in the proper stoning of adulteresses, healing lepers on the Sabbath, mixing up new wine out of water for weddings, showing kindness to Gentiles, and hanging out with prostitutes and moneychangers. Christ was and is not a comfortable person to engage. Fifth, a Christ character must be a Teacher.
Christ did not simply come to earth to die for humanity, but also to teach humanity how to be better — kinder, more humble, more loving, more just. He did so both by example and by direct advice.
Sixth, a Christ character is a Healer, which involves to a great extent being an exorcist and even slayer, when he is conflated with the Archangel Michael of demons, due to the strong belief at the time that much physical, and all mental, illness derived from demonic possession.
Note that Christ himself used these miracles to teach people and make them receptive to his message, but stated that the message was far more important. People tended to focus on the miracles which got them what they thought they actually wanted , anyway. Because we humans are like that.
The show has been very cagey about the person of Jesus in the SPNverse. We also see Crucifixion artifacts like the Spear of Destiny which Dean discovers in the archives of the Men of Letters , as well as regularly used Christ-related objects like the rosary and holy water, that indicate Christ made his ultimate sacrifice — and that it was magically powerful — in the SPNverse.
Christ alters the Natural Order. So does Dean. In addition, the show employs Liturgical colors. During this scene, as Castiel resists, the normally pure-white light of her office windows is purple shading down to red.
Purple is the color of Lent; red is the color of Easter Week. What the reader thinks of what you wrote is also important. In Supernatural , creator Eric Kripke has said straight out that he intended Sam Winchester to be a Luke Skywalker type in the beginning. Had Sam successfully fought his way through all this to become a better human being, he could still have remained a Christ figure as the Apocalypse heated up.
This is especially true, considering that Christ is the protagonist of the two stories the show used as a basis for its mytharc: The Book of Revelation and Paradise Lost. Just as the story needed to have a Lucifer, an Antichrist, a Whore of Babylon, and a quartet of Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, it also needed a Christ figure.
And that Christ figure needed to be the Hero of the story. Note the careful juxtaposition of angelic and demonic, Christ and AntiChrist imagery:. So, for the brothers to be central protagonists of the story rather than spectators like most of the characters in the movie Legion , or The Omen series from season four onward, one of them had to be a Christ figure.
Other possible candidates included John Winchester who traded his life and soul to save his son Dean at the beginning of season two and Bobby Singer who was a major leader and teacher of other Hunters. However, both of these father figures fell short due to their vengeful natures and their intolerance toward anyone who was not fully human by their judgements. Similarly, while the Prophet Chuck has been bandied about as a God the Creator character, he does not even remotely fit the Christ trope.
More recent and interesting have been the characters of Cain and of the Phoenix. In fact, Cain in particular is so close that one should classify him as a proto-Christ figure and the Phoenix in lore is a strongly Christological image. But does he fit this complex trope? It is no coincidence that this sequence was so powerful and struck such a chord with the audience. The many Christians watching had been raised steeped in such imagery. Plus, what else would we expect from Jesus in the storyline but to ride into the pissing contest between two archangels in a hot muscle car, blasting Def Leppard?
Nor does the Phoenix ever do anything to be a Redeemer for others, only an innocent who seeks vengeance for his wife and for his own lynching. Dean is an advance on these two characters in his actions and morality.
In addition, Dean puts himself at risk in protecting Sam from the attacks of other Hunters like Gordon Walker and his friends. Those who die on behalf of the Brothers end up in a better place.
Ash, Pamela, Ellen, and Jo all end up in Heaven and later assure the brothers they do not regret dying for them. On the flip side, those who attack the Brothers do not fare well at all. Benny, who aids Dean in Purgatory, is able to come back to earth and settle his unfinished business, before ultimately deciding when Dean asks him for help in guiding Sam back from Purgatory to stay in Purgatory. For him, Purgatory is now better and he feels as though he belongs there.
Similarly, the angel Castiel aids Dean and dies on his behalf, only to be brought back several times under mysterious circumstances. And Gadriel seeks Dean out twice in his search for redemption, despite betraying him in the middle, and eventually dies a hero. Those who ignore him do so at their peril. When he curses someone, they are as good as dead, no matter how powerful they are. Dean may not kill them, but they are a dead character walking, even so. Even with the Mark of Cain storyline, everyone Dean has pitilessly killed has thoroughly deserved it.
One classic example of this is ! With this sympathy-for-the-Devil crap. I know what you are. An ugly, evil, belly-to-the-ground, supernatural piece of crap. The only difference between them and you is the size of your ego. You are nothing but Bernie Madoff with wings. And I can save them. Dean: Sure you can. And Dean openly mocks him for his pretension, calling him a fraud. But we also see Naomi obsessed with killing Dean, Anna reawakened to her angelic nature by his resurrection, Gadriel seeking Dean out for redemption and his literal favor.
Dean is the Servant of Heaven who slays the schismatic Whore of Babylon. He is the First Seal and the one who will finish it, Alpha and Omega another powerful image of Christ.
Also, a major role Dean plays with the angels is that of teacher and even judge. Dean teaches Castiel about Free Will and the value of humanity. He teaches the wayward Archangel Gabriel to stand up to his brother Lucifer. He judges Lucifer. And he judges and executes Zachariah. He is also instrumental in Lucifer and Michael ending up in the Cage together, wearing his brothers.
Even Uriel meets his death after he balks at following Dean. He is the leader of Team Free Will Whenever things look bleak. Whenever it appears that the Big Bad is going to win. Whenever it appears that Orthodoxy will prevail.
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