Music courtesy of The Falls Church Anglican Choir, Falls Church, Virginia, under the musical direction of Simon Dixon. Audio mastering by Andrew Schooley. From Messiah by George Frideric Handel (1742)

Listen to the full playlist for Handel’s Messiah.

Christ’s holy redemption is the subject of Scene 5 of Handel’s Messiah. It reveals to us a new method of adoration – restoration. Isaiah offers readers of the prophets a sneak peek into the transformative nature of the redemption to come.

While the viola strings suggest a far off hope with its recitative strum, God promises in eloquent alto that His people will undergo a glorious transformation. Eyes that have been closed shall be opened to really see! Ears that have never experienced sound shall hear harmonious oratorios! The lame will leap like deer on the heights! The voiceless will sing at the top of their lungs! And living water will rush in to cleanse and irrigate this new life.

Scripture is more than great text—it is life itself. Handel’s lyricist, Charles Jennens, understood this, and allowed the text to optimize itself, stating that its subject “excels every other subject.”¹ God in His Word brings bios—physical life; it brings psuke —identity; it brings zoe—eternal life. Have you suffered? You will recover! Have you become lifeless? You will be revitalized! Have you experienced loss? Restoration is ahead!

Handel first offered his Messiah in a church in Ireland, a vulnerable island where tribes of people had been expended and used again and again by force and slavery and mercenary reprisal. That is where God goes—where the human soul longs for new life. I am also reminded that when Handel’s Messiah was performed before King George, the king stood for the King of Kings; and that habit has persisted to this day. The Messiah, the King of Kings, brings with Himself holy redemption, restoration, and flourishing for all humanity— from outcast to king.

Notes:
¹ Stapert, Handel’s Messiah, 41.