Saturday Night Live Tackles Tim Tebow, Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ played an integral role in the Denver Broncos' recent six-game win streak, according to a skit from this past weekend's episode of Saturday Night Live. But the risen savior wants the team to pick up more of the slack during games.
"Here's the thing, okay. If we're going to keep doing this, you guys gotta meet me halfway out there. I mean, let's face it, it's not a good week if every week I, the Son of God, have to come in, drop everything, and bail out the Denver Broncos in the fourth quarter, okay. I'm a busy guy,” said Jesus (played by Jason Sudeikis).
The setting for the sketch was in the Denver locker room after the Broncos defeated the Chicago Bears in overtime on Dec. 11. After briefly addressing his teammates, Tim Tebow (played by Taran Killam), begins to kneel in prayer when Jesus suddenly walks through the locker room doors.
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In the skit, Tebow is portrayed as overzealous with his faith, to the point that Jesus tells him to “take it down a notch.” He also advises Tebow to not just pray before games but to also stretch and read the playbook.
“The Holy Bible is my playbook,” says Tebow, smiling.
Jesus, who is shown wearing tube-socks with flip-flop sandals, has a laid back attitude and is less than impressed by Tebow's enthusiastic devotion.
At the end of the skit, Jesus tells the players that he won't be able to help them at their next game, but that they'll be fine if they just focus. When he finds out the game is against the New England Patriots, however, he says, "That's going to be a tough one. I mean, hey, this doesn't leave this room, okay, but if I'm the Son of God, Tom Brady's got to be the Guy's nephew."
The SNL skit appears to have accurately foreshadowed Sunday's game, where the Broncos were walloped in a 41-23 loss to the Patriots. The loss snapped a six-game win streak and dropped Denver's record to 8-6 while giving New England the AFC East title.
Still, one loss isn't likely to stop the wave of Tebow coverage which has saturated the media over the last few months.
“The fact that SNL did a skit on Tebow lets you know how big Tebow mania has become,” Jemele Hill, ESPN columnist and analyst, said in a post on her Twitter account Sunday.
Though many people thought the skit was funny, others thought it was disrespectful toward both Tebow and the Christian faith.
“The world mocks Christians who obey the command to stand for Christ,” said one commenter, who wrote about the skit on the Tim Tebow Fan Club page on Facebook. “I don't like seeing the Saviour of the world mocking Tebow for his faithfulness.”
“I'm a Christian and still found this skit humorous ... Nobody is mocking Christianity. Relax and enjoy what GOD has given us. A sense of humor,” said another commenter.
