A Chicago Tribune article in early 2008 began: "For nearly 40 years, Ted Neeley has been Jesus. He's lived Him. He's breathed Him. He's spent nearly his entire lifetime researching Him." Though the opening words sound a little odd, they're actually true. Since the 1970s, Ted Neeley has been playing the part of Jesus in the popular musical Jesus Christ Superstar. Neely is now 64 years old—"nearly 30 years older than Jesus was when He was crucified," the article points out, tongue in cheek.

In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Neeley said something interesting—something we should reflect on as Christians. "I'm only playing Jesus," Neely told the interviewer. "He got it right the first time. I'm still working on it, you see. The key word there is 'playing.' I'm a performer. I'm pretending to be something which I am not."

I don't know whether Mr. Neeley is a Christian or not. If he isn't, here's a guy who can say Jesus' words, dress like Jesus, and walk in Jesus' footsteps, but in the end, he cannot make Jesus really come to life. No matter how inspired it might be, no one will ever watch Neely's performance and say, "You know, for a little while, I forgot I wasn't actually watching Jesus himself." However, if Mr. Neeley is a Christian, with Jesus' life flowing through him, I would venture to say that whether on a stage or not, those who know him personally would say, "Ted really is like Jesus. It's not the costume or the words he says. He's just—I don't know—like Jesus."