Handel – Page 4 – watercress words by Dr Aletha

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.

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

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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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

Luke 2, NIV

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another,

“Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.

When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

figures in a nativity scene with a bright start in the sky

The origins of Handel’s Messiah

We usually associate Messiah with Christmas, but Handel composed it to be performed at Easter.

The London Symphony Orchestra presents Handel's Messiah

“Handel got the lyrics from a preacher named Charles Jennens, who wrote out the whole piece as a collage of Bible verses designed to tell a story about the Messiah.

In some cases Jennens copied verses from the King James Version of the Bible directly, and in other cases he abridged or modified the wording of the Bible verses somewhat to fit into something that could be set to music and sung.

He also decided to change the “point of view” in a couple of places. Rather than quoting Jesus’ words about himself directly, for instance, he made a few changes so that the singers are singing about Jesus rather than portraying the role of Jesus.”

quoted from wheatwilliams.com

These Bible verses, attributed to the physician Luke are sung in Part 1 of Messiah.