The words of Messiah, selected by Charles Jennens, are taken entirely from Scripture. The original edition bore the preface,

"And without controversy, Great is the mystery of Godliness:
God was manifested in the flesh, justified by the Spirit, seen of Angels,
preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory.
In whom are hid all the treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge.
(1 Timothy iii 16; Colossians ii, 3)"

The theme is Christ prophesied, born, suffering, and glorified. The essence of Gospel is declared, born up in Handel’s music which shows such inspiration. (More on this point later.) This is not just a Christmas musical; it has timeless and profound theology.

The chorus (41), "Let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away their yoke from us," is taken from Psalm 2.    It proclaims the wilful rebellion of mankind expressed elsewhere in the Psalms in the line, "The fool has said in his heart, ’There is no God’"; the desire to throw off all knowledge of God and to live as one pleases without any constraint. It leads up to the Hallelujah chorus which declares that, "The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our God and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever."

But the Christ who shall reign is also the Christ who suffered.

To me, the slow, measured cries of, "Behold! The Lamb of God" paint a picture of the Via Dolorosa, the supposed route through Jerusalem where our Lord carried his cross. He stumbled, fell, and the cross was carried for Him by one of the crowd.

Skilfully, more scenes of the picture are painted as we are told that, "Surely, He has born our griefs, carried our sorrows, and with His stripes we are healed." When we had gone astray like sheep, "The Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all."   As a team of skilful evangelists, Jennens and Handel impress upon us that timeless Gospel which Paul sums up as, "When we were helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly."

I find in the details of Handel’s music even greater insights. The Christmas theme, "Unto us a child is born; unto us a son is given," is echoed (at least in the music of the bass part) in "The Lord of Hosts." There is a marvellous balance of thought which places on one side of the scales the King of Glory, and on the other the helpless baby.

At the same time, there is a progression of thought from the one born amongst us to the Lord of Heaven. In His humanity, God is accessible. His yoke is easy. Like a shepherd He feeds his flock. He leads gently. He gives rest. But there is that great climax, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain. … Blessing and honour, glory and power … for ever, Amen."

That finale is one of my favourite pieces of music, even more than the famous Hallelujah.

There is not space here to develop this in greater detail. Just to sum up by saying that in this music some of the greatest themes of the Bible are wonderfully made alive in music which shows spiritual insight as well as genius.

Robert Higginson

© March 2000

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