Christ's Musical

I love musicals. They tell real-life stories, yet through song, those stories become magical. Specifically, when a musical sings about love, the whole story becomes mythicized. Take “Summer Nights” from Grease: the story is realistic. Two teenagers meet and have a summer fling. But when it is sung in a musical number, the simple love story becomes a fantasy.

Song of Solomon is a musical. It tells the story of two young lovers giving themselves to another in marriage. My first encounter with this book was in my Western Literature class in college, where it was taught as taboo and sexual in nature. However, Song of Solomon is a gospel-centered book that uncovers the “mystery of marriage” (Eph. 5:32).

In Tolkien’s essay “On Fairy Stories”, he explains why we are drawn to fantasies. He coined the term “eucatastrophe”, which is the sudden turn of events that saves a character from inevitable disaster. We are gravitated towards those stories because they speak of Chirst’s love for us:

“The Gospels contain a fairy-story, or a story of a larger kind which embraces all the essence of fairy-stories. They contain many marvels—peculiarly artistic, beautiful, and moving: “mythical” in their perfect, self-contained significance; and among the marvels is the greatest and most complete conceivable Eucatastrophe.” (“On Fairy Stories”, J.R.R Tolkien).

This is what makes Songs of Solomon so great. Not only is it a love story of a couple, but it displays our own union to Jesus. This love is best summarized in this verse: “My beloved is mine, and I am his; he grazes among the lilies.” (Song of Sol. 2:16) The phrase “My beloved is mine” is repeated multiple times in the book and emphasizes how we belong to Christ. The song reminds us that we are united with Christ in his death and resurrection (Rom. 6:5). Charles Spurgeon joyfully preached about this great love:

“Jesus is able to preserve his own, and none can pluck them out of his hand. The truth that Jesus calls me his is enough to make a man dance and sing all the way between here and heaven. Realize the fact that we are dear to the heart of our incarnate God, and amid the sands of this wilderness a fountain of overflowing joy is open before us.”  (“Among the Golden Apple Trees”, C.H Spurgeon).

When we were doomed to eternal death, God, at the right time, performed the greatest eucatastrophe by saving us from our sins (Rom. 5:6-8). It seems almost legendary, yet Songs of Solomon is not fantasy like the musicals of this world. Their songs are about a love that can easily be taken away. We, however, will never be divorced from Christ’s love. 

Cling to your Beloved; He is yours forever. Then be eager like a bride on her wedding day, to tell others of the joy she has found.

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