March, even with its unpredictable and sometimes dreary weather, is a month full of promise. Notwithstanding the cold and the wind, the vernal equinox comes with its equilibrium of light. Baseball players have come out of hibernation to take part in spring training. Gardeners have gathered their seeds and are staring out their windows, full of hope. The poet Caroline May, with a sense of seasonal justice, wrote, “March, when days are getting long, Let thy growing hours be strong to set right some wintry wrong.” It seems appropriate that in this month when we desire light, action, growth, and rightness, the Easter season comes to us as well.
The forty-something days of Lent preceding Resurrection Sunday are observed differently by all, whether by the devout, the depraved, or by those in between. So, too, with Resurrection Day itself, of course. My Lenten experiences have been mostly personal and not collective or ritual. My preparation for Easter has simply involved devotions, praying, some fasting, and attending a Good Friday service. The editors of Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter, in their introduction, suggest that this time is an “opportunity, not a requirement. After all, it is meant to be the church’s springtime, a time when, out of the darkness of sin’s winter, a repentant, empowered people emerges.” They go on to say that any self-sacrifices during this time are without purpose unless in doing so “we are able to focus on our heart’s deepest longing: unity with Christ.” Paul responds to that longing with confidence: “For if we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection” (Rom. 6:5). To that, all God’s people say, “Amen!” and “Hallelujah!”
Speaking of Hallelujah, that’s what I’m listening to as I write this. Several years ago, during Christmastime, Jenny and I led our daughters through Cindy Rollins’ book Hallelujah: A Journey through Advent with Handel’s Messiah. We all found it helpful to read the text as we listened to the music and the words. Like most people, I’ve always considered Messiah to be traditional Christmas music; after all, that is the time of year when you are likely to hear it on the radio or performed by a choir. Lately, though, I’ve come to realize from the libretto (lyrics) that it is truly Easter music. In fact, the public debut of this sacred oratorio took place in Eastertide of 1742.
So, in my personal preparation for Easter this year, I am listening to this great work over and over, reading along with Charles Jennen’s text, while revisiting the scriptures from which it is taken (directly from the KJV). Perhaps you would like to join me. Messiah is divided into three parts, and only Part One contains the Advent and Christmas themes (prophecy, birth, life). Part Two focuses on Christ’s Passion and His resurrection and ends with the famously emphatic “Hallelujah Chorus.” Part Three highlights our hope and resurrection and our worship of the Messiah.
There is so much in the first section about the glory and light of the Lord and our anticipation of it, particularly from the prophets. “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together” (Isa. 40:5). “Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee . . . the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee . . . the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising (Isa. 60:1-3). Toward the end, the chorus sings joyfully from Luke 2:14, “Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth, good will towards men.” The second section draws heavily from the Suffering Servant chapter of Isaiah: “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows . . . he was wounded for our transgressions . . . bruised for our iniquities . . . with his stripes we are healed” (Isa. 53:4-5). All of Christ’s sufferings here are because, as the chorus reminds us, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way” (v 6).
The suffering and sorrow are met at the end of this section with the heavenly jubilance recorded in Revelation and sung by the full-throated choir, for our Christ has triumphed. “Hallelujah: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth . . . the kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever . . . King of Kings, and Lord of Lords” (Rev. 19:6; 11:15; 19:16). Turn up the volume here! March around the room and sing along: Hallelujah!
Part Three celebrates Christ’s resurrection and looks forward to our own. “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22). The final chorus exults in the words of the angels innumerable from Revelation 5: “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, and hath redeemed us to God by his blood . . . Blessing and honour, glory and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever.” Handel’s masterpiece ends with over three minutes of layered Amens. I am looking forward to Easter, but more so to singing, “Amen” with you in Heaven!
