Current Theme | December 2024
Handel’s Messiah: Singing Scripture’s Hallelujah
Handel’s Messiah is perhaps the most iconic musical composition in modern history, and the “Hallelujah Chorus” is its crowning feature. Yet, beyond the angelic-sounding notes is a bedrock of Bible. In fact, the entire work chronicles God’s grand story of redemption through Scripture quotations alone. These biblical meditations sing of the Messiah’s foretelling in the Old Testament, as well as his birth, life, death, burial, resurrection, and glorious ascension in the New. This month, we will look at these Christ-centered scriptures and respond with our own exultant “Hallelujah” occasioned by Handel’s musical composition.
Concise
November Intermission: From the Kingdom of God to Singing Handel’s Messiah
By David Schrock • Concise Article • December 2
As we transition from reflecting on the kingdom of God in November to the month of December, we're doing something new: an entire month dedicated to an oratorio.
Longform
The Scriptures in Handel’s Messiah: An Overview
By Esther R. Crookshank • Longform Essay • December 4
Handel's Messiah is the most famous oratorio ever written, and it tells a thrilling story.
Podcast
3.62 Esther R. Crookshank • Reading • “The Scriptures in Handel’s Messiah: An Overview”
By Esther R. Crookshank • Longform Reading • December 4
Handel's Messiah is the most famous oratorio ever written, and it tells a thrilling story.
Concise
Isaiah in Handel’s Messiah: A Desert Highway, a Contested Virgin, and a Zion-Sun Rising
By Peter J. Gentry • Concise Article • December 6
How do the selections of Isaiah in Messiah prophetically anticipate King Jesus?
Podcast
3.63 Esther Crookshank, Stephen Wellum, David Schrock • Interview • “The Scriptures in Handel’s Messiah: An Overview”
By 3.63 Esther Crookshank, Stephen Wellum, David Schrock • Interview • "The Scriptures in Handel’s Messiah: An Overview" • December 9th
Handel's Messiah is the most famous oratorio ever written, and it tells a thrilling story.
Concise
But Who May Abide the Day of His Coming?: Handel’s Use of Haggai and Malachi in Messiah
By Josh Philpot • Concise Article • December 9
What will happen when the Messiah comes to earth?
Concise
Setting our Affections on the Good News of Great Joy
By Jim Knauss • Concise Article • December 11
How can a familiar gospel passage bring us great joy this Christmas?
Longform
An Interactive Edition of Handel’s Messiah
By Chase Rea • Longform Essay • December 12
Taste, see, and hear for yourself the glory of Christ in Handel's Messiah.
Concise
Psalm 22 in Handel’s Messiah
By Jim Hamilton • Concise Article • December 13
Charles Jennens, the text-selector of Handel's Messiah, applied the agonies of Psalm 22 to Christ. Was he being sloppy with the Old Testament, or was he chasing down a thread of biblical theology?
Concise
At Last, the King: Handel’s Messiah Sections 18–21
By Levi Secord • Concise Article • December 16
There is an already, not-yet kingdom that will endure for eternity. Jesus Christ came as its king.
Concise
The Servant of Servants: How All God’s Promises Will Be Yes
By David Christensen • Concise Article • December 17
Isaiah 53 describes the turning point of salvation history—and the turning point of Handel's Messiah. How are all God's promises guaranteed in Christ?
Concise
My Whole Being Rejoices: The Resurrection in Handel’s Messiah
By Godwin Sathianathan • Concise Article • December 18
While we enjoy Handel's Messiah at Christmastime, the Easter message of Christ's resurrection is beautifully woven into its biblical selections.
Concise
The Messiah and Psalm 22: A Carol of The King
By Brad Baugham • Concise Article • December 19
Do you hear that sound? It's God's Messiah King, screaming in the dark. Merry Christmas. It's the carol of the King.
Concise
Hell, Hallelujahs, and Beautiful Feet in Handel’s Messiah: Theological Reflections on Part II Scenes 2–7
By Toby Jennings • Concise Article • December 20
Part II of Handel's Messiah builds towards an exultant "Hallelujah!" What merits such praise?
Longform
Profane Sacrilege or Redeemer’s Praise: John Newton on the Messiah and the 1784 Commemoration of Handel
By Ben Purves • Longform Essay • December 23
Find out why performances of Handel's Messiah caused a stir of controversy in 1784.
Concise
Handel’s Messiah: Worship, Worldliness, and the Way of True Praise
By Bob Kauflin • Concise Article • December 23
What happens when the Bible becomes mere entertainment? When non-Christians celebrate biblical music without any conviction or belief, how should Christians respond?
Concise
Ascension in Messiah: Four Glorious Effects of Christ’s Heavenly Enthronement
By David Schrock • Concise Article • December 24
The ascension is a doctrine that should make our hearts sing and our souls pray. Consider its enormous theological implications with us in Messiah.
Concise
Wedding Scripture and Song: Singing and Savoring Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus”
By Ardel Caneday • Concise Article • December 25
The Hallelujah Chorus is the most famous section in the most famous oratorio . . . but what is it all about?
Concise
The Triumph of the Messiah and the Hope of Resurrection: Handel’s Messiah, Part III
By Alex Tibbott • Concise Article • December 27
Why does the key of G-minor sorrow give way to D-major exultation? Because the divine Messiah, the Christ, has risen from Death's hand victorious over sin and the grave!
Concise
From Scripture to Song—A Guide for Musicians
By Cody Curtis • Concise Article • December 30
Handel's Messiah is a beautiful example of setting the words of the Bible to music. How can Christian musicians today faithfully seek to do this well?
Concise
Re-clothing Handel with the Truths of History In Order to Reclaim Him from the Hands of Queer Theory
By Matt Wood • Concise Article • December 31
Reality would like to have a word with those who seek to revise history by queering George Frideric Handel.
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