Until the End of the World: For Christian U2 Fans, a Good Friday Dilemma

This is a re-post from last year – still applicable for Good Friday and Easter weekend! – Brook

“This is Jesus; this is Judas.” We all know what song is coming next when we hear that. We love the onstage hijinks that have accompanied it for years, especially when it was never a commercial hit and yet remains such an expected staple of U2’s show. But for me, it has always posed a dilemma – and there’s no time to address it like on the very day we observe the story of this song. Yes, there are dilemmas in U2 fandom and one of them is how Christian fans should feel about the song “Until the End of the World.” If you aren’t a Christian or you don’t believe me, just Google “Bono is the antichrist” to bear witness to some very fanatical, conspiracy-laced blogs that have used that song as an example to support their case. Other upsetting keyword combos that will reveal the same results include “Bono deceives Christians,” “Bono fake Christian,” etc. You get the picture.

I don’t believe those things. But what I do understand is why the lyrics to “Until the End of the World” may be troubling to a Christian who is unfamiliar with Bono’s lyrical nuances.

Bono has given two perspectives on this song: In the book Into the Heart (which I don’t own anymore so I’m totally paraphrasing and going off memory here), he said something like: The song is a one-sided conversation…Judas speaking to Jesus in his mind. In other words, the song gives us a glimpse into the sick, twisted mind of a disciple who was plotting to betray his Lord. Of course, that includes the line that Christian fans may find especially problematic: “Surrounding me, going down on me, spilling over the brim.” To a Christian, it’s upsetting to hear a lyrical analogy involving some kind of sexual relationship between Jesus and Judas. Most Christians believe that Jesus was not sexual period, much less homosexual (such a divisive topic in Christianity that I won’t elaborate any further). So that lyric is a problem – unless the conversation truly is one sided, and we are simply hearing Judas’ side. Not Jesus’ side. And that is what I believe about this song.

Later, however (this is the second perspective) – in an excerpt from the book U2 by U2 – Bono explained that when he wrote the song, “I woke up one morning and it was in my head, a conversation between Jesus and Judas.” Okay, so that could imply that maybe this is a dialogue, rather than a monologue. Unless it doesn’t. Maybe that’s just the broader concept Bono woke up thinking about, and by the time the song was done, the lyrics were solely meant to be a rambling existing in Judas’ messed up head. The onstage pantomimes between Bono and Edge certainly seem to illustrate that, don’t they? Edge (Jesus) stands tall, peaceful and pious. He’s ignoring the taunting of Judas (Bono), who tries to provoke him by dancing seductively (I guess?) and making weird devil horns with his fingers. In the end, Edge is always the one left standing and Bono is the one who falls to the ground, defeated. Judas never wins. Jesus always triumphs. And maybe that’s why Christian U2 fans can feel a little less guilty the next time they hear the amazing riff that signals the beginning of this song – because they know that Jesus conquered sin, death and the grave. We’re not celebrating Judas’ fall, but Jesus’ victory. Isn’t that the point of this entire weekend, right up to Sunday?

“And lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the world.” – Matthew 28:20