Tag: Christmas

Why Handel’s Messiah Is More Than a Christmas Classic

Did you know Handel’s “Messiah,” usually linked to Christmas, was originally intended for Easter, drawing from Old and New Testament scriptures. Tdditionally, Handel’s father was a barber-surgeon, medieval surgeons also cut hair.

updated April 3, 2025

Handel’s masterpiece-Messiah 

Even though Messiah tells the story of Jesus, whose life unfolds in the Bible’s New Testament, many of the lyrics come from the Old Testament, like this passage from Psalms. Several Isaiah passages referring to Jesus are also lyrics for music in Messiah.

lightstock_254158_medium_aletha

Gates, proudly lift your heads!

Open, ancient doors, the glorious King will come in.

Who is the glorious King? He is the Lord, the powerful soldier.

He is the Lord, the war hero.

Gates, proudly lift your heads!

Open, ancient doors, and the glorious King will come in.

Who is the glorious King?

The Lord All-Powerful is the glorious King.

Psalm 24:7-10, ERV

© 1987, 2004 Bible League InternationalLearn More About Holy Bible: Easy-to-Read Version

 

Handel-A doctor who cut hair

Handel’s father, Georg Handel, was a barber-surgeon, a term for physicians in the Middle Ages who performed operations and cut hair. Surgery was primitive and dangerous due to no anesthesia and no antibiotics to treat infection. Most surgery was done to treat war injuries. 

For centuries, surgery was a craft rather than a profession, and it was often practiced by barbers. In fact, up until the time of Sweeney Todd, a London resident would commonly visit a barber-surgeon for the treatment of a health problem.

Besides providing grooming services, barber-surgeons regularly performed dental extractions, bloodletting, minor surgeries and sometimes amputations.

pbs.com

Is Messiah for Christmas or Easter?

We usually associate  Messiah with Christmas, but Handel wrote it to be performed at Easter. For the lyrics, he used words from Scripture, choosing passages that tell the story of God sending Jesus to earth to redeem His people.

This article at Smithsonian.com explains how a surgeon’s son became a musician instead of a lawyer.

The Glorious History of Handel’s Messiah

a hymnal opened to the word Alleluia, with a tulip lying above

Let scripture DWELL in you

Many people find using their phones a convenient way to read and meditate on the Bible. And it’s easy to do so with the Dwell Bible App.

With Dwell you can listen to and read the Bible and special devotional offerings for Advent, Lent, and throughout the year.

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Dr. Aletha

Here is another Messiah story from my archives.

words for Lent – Good news

And before anyone can go and tell them, they must be sent. As the Scriptures say, “How wonderful it is to see someone coming to tell good news!”Messiah selections from the New Testament

Keep reading

The Heart of Christmas

My family and I send Christmas wishes for peace, love, joy, and the HEART of health to you and all those you love.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another,

“Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 

And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.

(Luke 2:11–14)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Christmas nativity scene
photo of a Nativity set at my church-Dr. Aletha 

If you are grieving the loss of someone you love, please know that I care. My husband lost his brother a few weeks ago, so we also are missing someone, plus all the others we have lost through the years. We feel their absence most at the holidays.

I pray you’ll find comfort in sharing love with those still here, whether in person or at a distance. My family and I send Christmas wishes for peace, love, joy, and the HEART of health to you and all those you love.

in faith, hope, and love always Dr. Aletha

Peace on earth will come to stay, when we live Christmas every day.
graphic from LIGHTSTOCK.COM