“Messiah was not originally intended as a piece of Christmas music. Messiah received its world premiere on 13 April 1742, during the Christian season of Lent, and in the decidedly secular context of a concert hall in Dublin, Ireland.
The inspiration for Messiah came from a scholar and editor named Charles Jennens, a devout and evangelical Christian deeply concerned with the rising influence of deism and other strains of Enlightenment thought that he and others regarded as irreligious…
Jennens compiled and edited a concise distillation of Christian doctrine, from Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah’s coming through the birth, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ and then to the promised Second Coming and Day of Judgment.
Jennens took his libretto to his friend George Friedrich Handel and proposed that it form the basis of an oratorio expressly intended for performance in a secular setting during the week immediately preceding Easter. “Messiah would be directed at people who had come to a theater rather than a church during Passion Week,” according to the Cambridge Handel scholar Ruth Smith…
“When he finished writing what would become known as the Hallelujah Chorus, [Handel] said, “I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God Himself.” … The premiere on 13 April 1742 at Fishamble Street Musick Hall was a sensation. An overcapacity crowd of 700 people attended, raising 400 pounds to release 142 men from prison.”
George Friedrich Handel (1685-1759) as recounted in “Handel’s Messiah premieres in Dublin 13 April 1742” and 131 Christians Everyone Should Know (Nashville: Christianity Today, 2000) 113-114. Last night I listened to Messiah on my flight home from San Diego where I was training pastors for a few days. I am convinced it is the music of the throne room of heaven!
Join me in sharing with at least one person this Passion week that Handel’s Messiah was intended to be performed not merely in churches but for the world during the season of Lent and throughout the year. And even as it proclaims the gospel that sets people free from the power of sin and death, the proceeds donated from the premiere of Handel’s “gift to the world” set 142 captives free.
Don’t just share these historical facts with people. Some day this Passion Week, take time to either listen to Handel’s Messiah, or read through the Scriptures that proclaim the prophecies (part one), the passion (part two), and the promise of the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ! Do this, be blessed, and share the blessing with others!