#I apologize to Jupernatural

[mathmusicreading]

Currently thinking about the title of Supernatural season 4 episode 1 "Lazarus Rising". It's so simple and so evocative. I think I get something extra from it because I love Terry Pratchett, Discworld, Hogfather, Discworld's Death, and the quote "where the falling angel meets the rising ape". (Do the Destiel shippers go wild with this? The Cas fans supporting his love for humanity and even creating free will? They should.) But just on it's own, it's referencing coming back to life and the phrasing has connotations of ascension and empowerment. It also avoids connotations of zombies or likening Dean to Jesus Christ.

On that note, I wonder how much Supernatural meant to parallel Dean Winchester to Lazarus of Bethany, and Castiel to Jesus for that matter. (With how little I engage with Supernatural canon, I think my thoughts on Chuck's relationship with Castiel are mixed and not set, but for fun right now: Castiel is Chuck's favorite angel, and Chuck hates it and hates him for it!)

Dean was dead for four months, much like Lazarus was dead for four days. (Dean was also in hell for 40 years, a significant number and amount of time in the Bible. And moving away from the Christianity angle, four is a fitting motif with Dean's death given "four" sounding like "death" in Mandarin Chinese.)

Dean is "the righteous man", while part of the title with which Lazarus is venerated is "Righteous Lazarus".

If "risen dead" evokes zombies and "risen from the dead" invokes Jesus, then "Lazarus rising" conveys that the subject of resurrection is a normal human, and the key is that they are resurrected by a great power who is good. Specifically, Lazarus is resurrected by Jesus, the Son of God, and Dean is resurrected not by a necromancer or demon, but by the angel Castiel, sent on a holy mission.

Jesus did not immediately save Lazarus, rushing to heal him upon hearing of his illness, but waited two days before traveling to and resurrecting Lazarus after he died. I can't help but feel like this is similar to Castiel's not rescuing Dean until 40 years into Dean's sentence in Hell, after he had broken on the rack and become a torturer shedding blood in Hell.

Jesus did not merely heal Lazarus when he was sick, but resurrected him after death, for God's glory and that people might believe in Jesus' own coming resurrection. (God resurrecting Castiel, anyone?) I think Supernatural canon is not explicitly clear, and it may be widespread fanon or a popular fan head canon that Castiel was sent immediately to rescue Dean, but wow the similarity to Jesus and his mission if Cas couldn't reach Dean or wasn't sent until after Dean broke because of heaven's ultimate plan to carryout the apocalypse, rescuing Dean not being about saving a righteous man but about breaking the first seal to Lucifer's cage.

Not full of meaning, but Jesus resurrected Lazarus in his tomb and still wrapped in his grave cloths. So for the people jokingly asking why Castiel left Dean in his coffin, six feet under, instead of zapping him out, it's because we're really leaning into the Jesus angle. (Is Cas lobotomized Jesus?!)

And the kickers now that we've gone through all that: Jesus wept. He was moved with compassion for Lazarus' sisters and friends. He mourned Lazarus' death even while on the way to resurrect him. It was well known by all that he loved Lazarus. Take that how you will and run with it, Cas fans and Destiel shippers!

Last thing not being included with the rest because you can't as easily get it just from reading John 11:1-44 or doing an internet search for Lazarus. DiscIaimer that above, I got the title with which Lazarus is venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church from Wikipedia, and so too the following Biblical interpretation/theological commentary.

The miracle of the raising of Lazarus is the climax of John's "signs". It explains the crowds seeking Jesus on Palm Sunday, and leads directly to the decision of Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin to plan to kill Jesus. Theologians Moloney and Harrington view the raising of Lazarus as a "pivotal miracle" which starts the chain of events that leads to the Crucifixion of Jesus. They consider it as a "resurrection that will lead to death", in that the raising of Lazarus will lead to the death of Jesus, the Son of God, in Jerusalem which will reveal the Glory of God.[17]

Dean's resurrection led to Castiel's death. Castiel died because he saved and loved Dean. When Castiel first laid a hand on [Dean] in Hell, he was lost! Castiel died because Chuck is a Pharisee that can't accept his manly everyman main character (sorry, Sam) is bisexual instead of straight. Chuck can be bisexual, but the manly everyman main character has to be straight, and so he killed Castiel for it. Dean too if you believe Chuck won.

And if the point of Lazarus' resurrection is Jesus' divinity, then the point of Dean's resurrection is that the angel is gay and Dean is bi!

[menschofletters]

Tada! It's episode 3! This week: Dean (thinks he) looks young enough to be a college student, a ghost leaves out of embarrassment, Sam Winchester: Tarantula Whisperer, bad anthropological practices, and garbage disposal-based nightmare fuel.

[jewishcharliebradbury]

OHHHH MY G-D

seeing a somewhat popular spn blog have a meltdown bc people are calling them out for randomly adding stuff about jesus on a post talking about jewish anger vs catholic guilt is uh. something

[violenceenthusiast]

Seeing your jupernatural posts were a part of what finally convinced me to rewatch Supernatural ("okay well if the posts about it are gonna be this interesting I might as well get back into it" kinda thing) and your post about Chameleon Circuit has led to me almost exclusively listening to them for the last 24 hours, reading DW fic, and planning to rewatch it once I'm done catching up on Supernatural. Thank you for influencing me to reembrace who I was at 13 asdfghdfghjghjk

i feel like i’m supposed to apologize for the evil my influence has brought upon you but also where’s that dolly parton quote about finding out who you are and then doing it on purpose. we r cringe but we r free !!!!

but fr we r holding hands, i am happy to report i still know all the words to every chameleon circuit song on their debut album (the only one that really matters imo. only bc it was a cultural moment and the second album came after the moment yk? ANYWAY)

[finaledenialist]

bud I'm sorry you're getting death threats and being told to like kermit sewer-cide, that is totally not okay. but there are a lot of us justifiably upset because we were having an intra-community discussion about Jupernatural and antisemitic people in the spn community being cruel to us for watching the show with a Jewish lens, & you started talking about jesus. you came into a space that was not for you, and so far we haven't seen a real apology.

i said this under the first ask i got about this

and i meant every word. and i made a mistake of thinking that this apology would be enough, but it was just the beginning. if anyone was cruel to you - i am sorry for that, too, but i don't believe that i was cruel. stupid and unwelcomed, but cruel?