The ‘Jesus’ Super Bowl Ad & Valentine’s Day Are ... Anarchist?

Both the HeGetsUs.com Commercial and the Candy-Filled Holiday Have Roots in Subversive Incidents

Today is Valentine’s Day, with all its attendant cards, flowers, and other gifts of romantic affection.

Three days ago was Super Bowl LVIII, and a Christian-themed HeGetsUs.com commercial created plenty of buzz from several angles.

Let’s discuss a curious link between heart-shaped chocolates and AI-looking pictures of people getting foot baths: ANARCHY!

JesusGetsAnarchy!

Here’s the HeGetsUs ad:

The video references an incident from the Last Supper, celebrated hours before Jesus’ arrest leading to His trial, conviction and crucifixion.

The Gospel of Luke (22:24-26) notes that the Apostles resume an argument from earlier in Jesus’ public ministry (Matthew 20:20-28 & Mark 10:35-45), “about which of them should be regarded as the greatest.” Jesus commands them not to seek this kind of social-hierarchy status and coercive authority over people (I recount this in the Introduction to my book, Good Neighbor, Bad Citizen).

The Gospel of John gives much more detail about the Last Supper, including Jesus not only telling this lesson, but showing it in a remarkable way: Jesus washes their feet (John 13:1-20), an act considered very lowly.

The Apostles consider Jesus to be their social superior — rabbi, master, teacher, Messiah — so for Jesus to treat them first as peers and then to willingly serve them, is astonishing.

This is one of the most explicitly anarchist teachings in the Gospel.  Jesus flattens the rigid, social-status hierarchy, in word and deed.

And it’s the subtext of the HeGetsUs Super Bowl Ad. The producers describe the message as Jesus not “spread[ing] hate.” But if you actually know what’s happening at the Last Supper, it’s much deeper and more profoundly subversive.

I wonder if the producers realize Jesus’ example in washing feet is more than “good neighbor”; it’s “bad citizen” too! And I’m almost certain that some of the ad’s loudest detractors — even though they’re Christian — misunderstand the Gospel reference; for instance, this popular counter-video is good on its own, but it fails as a retort.

Who were the people behind the Saint Valentine stories?

Image from clipart-library.com

In many Christian cultures around the world, Valentine’s Day is attached to some vague Saint Valentine. I say “vague” because both secular and traditionally Christian outlets acknowledge that there were multiple Early Church figures named Valentine/Valentinus. They agree that these subversives were killed by government authorities, and many of the accounts have something to do with marriage.

Wait, what’s so subversive about love and marriage? Our popular language even refers to a man and woman marrying as “settling down,” indicating a publicly approved stability and routine.

Well, in the Third Century A.D., the Church was still persecuted for undermining the Romans’ imposed, hierarchical social order, especially its military culture. From a pro-Christian site on the topic of St. Valentine:

Christians discouraged serving in Rome’s armies — so Valentine probably viewed marrying off soldiers as a way to keep men from dying while serving a pagan power.

And a popular, secular site also notes these stories (while admitting that they might’ve been legends rather than actual, historical events):

[Valentine] healed his captor’s blind daughter[.] … Before being tortured and decapitated on February 14, he sent the girl a note signed “Your Valentine.”

Some accounts say another saint named Valentine during the same period was the Bishop of Terni, also credited with secret weddings and martyrdom via beheading on February 14.

Real historical facts or not, the stories that led to the eventual Valentine’s Day are steeped in both the Church-at-large and the “domestic church” — as the nuclear family is known — foiling Roman imperialism specifically and coercive civil authority more generally.

Too materialistic? Share your thoughts!

One criticism of both the Super Bowl ad and the modern Valentine’s Day is that the goals of each are too shallow and materialistic.

But whatever else might be said about the ad and holiday, there’s nothing necessarily contra-Christ about spending resources on large-scale evangelization or genuine romantic affection. After all, Jesus sometimes addresses big crowds, and His Gospel encompasses more than alleviating physical poverty. He supports marriage and uses wedding images in His parables.

Acknowledging all this …

… What are your impressions of the HeGetsUs ad and/or the decision to air it during the Super Bowl? Did you catch the Last Supper reference the first time you watched it?

… Do you celebrate the Valentine’s Day religious aspects? Secular aspects? Some of each?

Show me that YouGetMe (heh!) in the Comments below …