0:00

strong word, God's word is our

0:02

great heritage. Almighty Father, bless

0:04

the word. Hi, this is Pastor

0:06

Will Whedon inviting you to

0:08

join us for our hymnsing at

0:10

the 2025 Issues, etc. Making

0:12

the Case Conference. This year's theme,

0:14

The Word of God. Making

0:16

the Case is Friday, July 18

0:18

and Saturday, July 19 at

0:20

Concordia University, Chicago. Find

0:23

out more and

0:25

register at issuesetc

0:27

.org or by

0:29

calling 618 -223 -8385. The

0:32

following is an encore presentation

0:34

of issues, etc. It

0:52

is one of

0:54

the most frequently performed pieces

0:56

of choral music in the

0:58

world. It is known largely

1:00

for the Alleluia Chorus, but there's so

1:02

much more to Handel's Messiah, an attempt, some

1:05

have said, to set the

1:07

Gospel of Jesus Christ to

1:09

music. Not just an attempt, but

1:11

many have concluded a success. Greetings

1:14

and welcome to Issues, et cetera, coming to

1:16

you from the studios of Lutheran Public Radio

1:18

on this Monday, Thursday. I'm Todd Wilkin. Thanks

1:21

for tuning us in. We're going to

1:23

talk about Handel's Messiah on the

1:25

Passion of Christ with Dr. Joseph Hurl,

1:27

an hour from now. We'll replay

1:29

an interview with Dr. Peter Scare of

1:31

Concordia Theological Seminary on apparent contradictions

1:33

in the events of Holy

1:35

Week. Dr. Joseph Hurl

1:37

is professor of music at Concordia University

1:40

of Nebraska. He's editor of

1:42

Lutheran Service Book, companion to

1:44

the hymns. Dr. Hurl, welcome

1:46

back. Thank you, Todd. It's

1:48

so great to be back. What

1:50

moved Hondle to

1:52

compose this epic

1:55

piece on the birth, life,

1:58

death and resurrection of Christ. Handel

2:02

was in fact a religious

2:04

man. He

2:06

was born in 1685,

2:09

named Georg Friedrich

2:11

Handel, and that

2:13

was the same year as Johann Sebastian Bach. He

2:16

was born in the city of

2:18

Halle in Saxony and baptized in

2:20

a Lutheran church. Then

2:22

he went to university to

2:24

study law. Well, not

2:26

right after his baptism. He grew

2:29

up first, but he gave

2:31

up the study of law after

2:33

a year. He actually dropped

2:35

out to become a church organist.

2:37

Maybe he figured it paid better or something. He

2:40

wound up at the electoral

2:43

court in the city of Hanover

2:45

with Elector Georg. He

2:47

worked there for a while,

2:49

but he'd sometimes ignore the

2:51

court because he'd take frequent

2:54

trips over to England to

2:56

produce music there to the

2:58

neglect of his duties in

3:00

Hanover. And

3:02

then the oddest thing

3:04

happened. Queen Anne

3:06

of Great Britain died, and

3:09

the nearest relative who wasn't

3:11

Catholic was none other than

3:13

Georg of Hanover. So

3:15

he became George I

3:18

of England. He

3:20

was an interesting sort of

3:22

ruler. He had very much a

3:24

hands -off policy because he didn't

3:26

bother to attend cabinet meetings.

3:29

He didn't speak any English, so

3:31

why bother? Anyway,

3:33

Handel was already in England, and

3:35

so he became somewhat attached to

3:37

the royal court there and became

3:39

quite well -known. He

3:41

was especially well -known as a

3:43

composer of Italian opera. Now

3:46

he was living in England,

3:48

but at the time Opera in

3:50

England was performed in the

3:52

Italian language. Handel even ran

3:54

his own opera company. It

3:57

was successful for a couple

3:59

of decades, but eventually the

4:01

public lost interest in Italian

4:03

opera, and Handel finally stopped

4:05

writing them. Instead, he

4:07

turned to writing

4:10

oratorios. What

4:12

is an oratorio? Hmm.

4:16

The oratorio got its

4:18

start in Rome in

4:21

the late 16th century.

4:23

A layman named Philip

4:25

Neri, a later canonized as

4:27

a saint, began a

4:29

series of devotional meetings that

4:31

met in a prayer hall

4:33

or oratory. Music

4:35

was an important part of

4:37

the meetings and included hymns sung

4:39

in Italian and musical presentations

4:41

of biblical events. These

4:43

were the oratorios named after

4:46

the room where they took

4:48

place, the oratory. By

4:51

the time of Handel, a century and

4:53

a half later, the oratorio

4:55

sounded a lot like an

4:57

opera, except that its

5:00

text, or libretto, was

5:02

religious rather than mythological

5:04

or secular, and

5:06

it was performed without costumes, scenery,

5:08

or staging. In other words,

5:10

it looked more like a concert

5:12

than an opera. How

5:15

did the work of the

5:17

Messiah come about? That

5:20

happened in 1741 when

5:22

the viceroy of Ireland

5:24

invited Handel to Dublin

5:26

to produce a concert

5:28

for charity. Handel

5:30

brought with him a new

5:32

oratorio that he had started

5:35

on August 22nd and completed

5:37

just 24 days later. What

5:40

can you tell us

5:42

about the texture libredo of

5:45

Messiah? It

5:47

was written for handle by

5:49

Charles Jennings whose family

5:51

wealth allowed him to spend

5:53

time doing such things

5:56

Most of handles oratorias are

5:58

based on Old Testament

6:00

themes first came Esther then

6:02

Deborah then Saul Israel

6:05

in Egypt and several others

6:07

Messiah is an exception

6:09

It forsook the usual characters

6:11

and plot in favor

6:13

of a loosely connected series

6:16

of biblical prophecies and

6:18

meditations concerning the coming of

6:20

Christ. Messiah

6:23

has three sections. The

6:26

first part sets to music

6:28

Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah

6:30

and the story of the

6:32

birth of Jesus. The

6:34

second part sets Christ's suffering

6:36

and death, His resurrection, His

6:39

ascension into heaven, and the spread

6:41

of the gospel on earth. The

6:44

third part brings the message

6:46

home and answers the question,

6:49

What does all of this mean for me?

6:52

Incidentally, a letter from the

6:54

librettist Jenins reveals that he

6:56

intended Messiah to be performed

6:59

during Holy Week. This

7:01

is Issues Etc. I'm Todd Wilkin.

7:03

We're discussing Handel's Messiah on the

7:05

Passion of Christ with Dr. Joseph

7:07

Hurl. When we return, did people

7:09

like the Messiah when it was

7:11

first performed? In

7:16

our day, many voices are

7:18

questioning whether we can take seriously

7:21

the opening chapters of the

7:23

Book of Genesis and what they

7:25

relate about God's creation of

7:27

the world. Dr. Tom Egger, president

7:29

of Concordia Seminary St. Louis,

7:31

talking about his presentation this year's

7:33

issues, etc., making the case

7:36

conference. And what difference

7:38

does it make whether we regard

7:40

the opening chapters of Genesis

7:42

as a true record of what

7:44

God did and how He

7:46

did it. And there are

7:48

a number of implications for

7:50

our Christian life and faith and

7:52

for our proclamation of the

7:54

saving work of Christ involved in

7:56

how we read the opening

7:58

chapters of Genesis. You can

8:01

meet and hear Dr. Tom Egger

8:03

making the case for the biblical

8:05

account of creation at the 2025

8:07

Making the Case Conference Friday, July

8:09

18 and Saturday, July 19 at

8:11

Concordia University, Chicago. For

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8:15

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9:28

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9:30

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find a great setting today. Welcome

10:29

back to Issues Cetera. I'm Todd

10:31

Wilkin. We're talking about Handel's Messiah on

10:33

the Passion of Christ with Dr.

10:35

Joseph Hurl, Professor of Music at Concordia

10:37

University, Nebraska. Dr. Hurl,

10:39

did people like the Messiah when it was first

10:41

performed? At its

10:44

first performance in Dublin, the

10:46

audience went wild with

10:48

excitement. The London

10:51

premiere the next year

10:53

had mixed reviews. Some people

10:55

found it blasphemous because

10:57

texts from sacred scripture were

10:59

being sung in a

11:01

theater. King George

11:03

was impressed, though. As the story

11:05

goes, he was so moved that

11:07

he rose to his feet during

11:09

the Hallelujah Chorus, and

11:11

so audiences have done that ever since.

11:15

What performers do we hear

11:17

on this recording? This

11:20

is a 1984 recording by

11:22

the Academy of Ancient Music

11:24

under the director of Christopher

11:26

Hogwood. I like

11:29

it both because it

11:31

uses original performing forces, in

11:33

other words a relatively

11:36

small choir and authentic instruments

11:38

and because it's musically

11:40

vital and exciting. Part

11:42

two begins with a

11:45

chorus with a text from

11:47

John chapter one. behold

11:49

the Lamb of God that taketh

11:51

away the sin of the world. Then

11:54

several movements with texts

11:56

from Isaiah 53. One

11:59

of them is the chorus, surely

12:01

he hath borne our griefs

12:03

and carried our sorrows. Here

12:07

it's obvious that Handel

12:09

did not need costume staging

12:11

or scenery to produce

12:13

good drama. He does it

12:15

with the music. The

12:18

chorus begins with the

12:20

driving dotted rhythm in the

12:23

orchestra. And

12:34

you're waiting for something to

12:36

happen. It finally

12:39

does when the chorus

12:41

enters surely. And

12:43

then, just in case there is

12:45

any doubt, repeats it. Surely. Surely

12:48

he hath borne

12:50

our griefs. And

12:52

on griefs Handel

12:54

uses an anguished diminished

12:57

seventh chord. He

13:02

does it again when the

13:04

phrase repeats. Then

13:11

we have a softer

13:13

and slower section. but the

13:15

word painting continues with

13:17

a lovely suspension on the

13:19

word wounded, displaying the

13:21

pathos of the moment, and

13:25

unexpected harmonies

13:27

on the

13:29

word bruised,

13:32

which is

13:34

pronounced bruised

13:37

here. Even

13:39

better, there are There are

13:41

unusual leaps in the lower

13:44

voices to emphasize the word

13:46

hour, in he

13:48

was wounded for

13:50

our transgressions, he was

13:52

bruised for our

13:54

iniquities. Christ

13:57

didn't die for some anonymous

13:59

world, but for us, for

14:01

you and me. The

14:03

final section, the chastisement

14:05

of our peace, brings

14:08

a soothing major

14:10

on the word peace. Let's

14:13

listen. Shorry,

14:36

shorry, in

14:39

the car! of

14:41

each

14:43

and every

14:45

of

14:48

us. Shorry,

14:50

shorry, in

14:52

the blood

14:54

of each and

14:57

every of

14:59

us. Shorry,

15:25

shorry, us.

15:42

Shorry, shorry,

15:46

of

15:54

each

15:59

us. Dr.

16:09

Hurl, what more would you say about that first

16:11

piece? That is

16:13

full of all the emotion Handel

16:15

could bring to it. The

16:17

next one, because it's

16:20

rather different, it steps back

16:22

from all the emotion

16:24

and sets the text and

16:26

with his stripes we

16:29

are healed Dispassionately almost clinically.

16:32

Handel's device for this is a

16:34

fugue with voices entering one

16:36

at a time with the same

16:39

musical motive or subject. Here

16:42

he the important

16:44

word stripes with

16:46

large unusual leap

16:49

downward. And

16:51

with his

16:53

stripes we

16:55

are led.

17:17

device for this

17:19

is fugue

17:26

with

17:30

voices

17:34

one the motive subject.

17:37

Handel's device

17:40

for fugue with

17:47

the

17:50

same

17:53

musical

17:56

motive

17:59

subject. and it's going to

18:02

be day.

18:05

And it's going

18:07

to be

18:10

a day. And

18:15

it's going

18:17

to be a

18:20

day. And

18:22

it's going to

18:25

a day. And

18:32

it's

18:35

going

18:37

to

18:45

day. day. Then

18:57

have the text all like

18:59

sheep gone astray, and the

19:01

Lord has laid on him

19:03

the of us

19:05

all, still from Isaiah

19:08

53 Now, if you

19:10

were a composer, what

19:12

sort of mood would you create

19:14

for these words, all we like

19:16

sheep gone astray, and the Lord

19:18

has laid on him the iniquity

19:20

of us all? something

19:22

somber Yeah,

19:24

I would too What

19:27

Handel does is interesting. A

19:30

month or two earlier,

19:32

he had written a duet

19:34

cantata in Italian for

19:36

the of King George. In

19:39

it, the singers declare

19:41

that they never again allow

19:43

blind love or beauty

19:45

to trap them. And

19:47

the last movement sounds like this. Super

20:12

Pro! Super

20:14

Pro! you

21:07

Handel took this music, adapted it

21:09

to fit new words and set

21:11

it for four -part chorus. What

21:13

is amazing is how

21:15

perfectly it fits. Here

21:19

we are, like the

21:21

prodigal son, wasting our

21:23

time in frivolous pursuits,

21:25

going away like sheep,

21:28

and Handel sets this

21:30

text to perfectly frivolous

21:33

music. On the

21:35

words, have gone astray,

21:37

Handel retains that to

21:39

duet texture and we

21:41

hear the two voices moving

21:43

apart from each other occasionally in

21:45

odd harmonic directions, underscoring

21:47

the idea of going

21:49

astray. All through

21:51

this the instrumental bass is

21:54

in running eighth notes that

21:56

never stop After all

21:58

the ways of the

22:00

world. keep us mighty busy

22:02

then We get to

22:04

the words, we have turned,

22:06

we have turned everyone

22:08

to his own way. Can

22:11

you guess how he sets the

22:13

word turned? It's

22:15

just begging for word

22:17

painting and handle

22:19

can't resist. We

22:22

have turned.

22:29

That's. The music

22:31

we just heard in the duet

22:33

cantata, only they sang it much

22:35

better than I did. So

22:37

we play and play

22:39

all night and day, and

22:41

eventually our dissolute life

22:43

lands us right in the

22:45

gutter. And

22:47

it is then that

22:49

Handel gives us the

22:51

gospel, and the Lord

22:54

hath laid on him the iniquity

22:56

of us all. This

22:59

he sets to newly composed

23:01

music. What sort

23:03

of music does he use for that? Well,

23:06

I'm not going to tell you. Let's

23:09

find out. We

23:35

have done, we

23:37

have done, we have

23:40

done, to, to,

23:42

to, to, to, to,

23:47

to, to, to, to, to, to, to,

23:51

to, have

24:00

come to stay We

24:04

have turned world,

24:11

into a world Into

24:13

a world, into world

24:17

We have

24:19

turned Everyone

24:25

to his own way

24:27

Everyone to his own way

24:29

Oh, real like a

24:31

sheep you

24:34

gone astray

24:36

We've gone astray

24:39

We've gone

24:41

astray We've

24:44

gone astray

24:46

We have

24:48

turned We

24:53

have turned We

24:57

have turned We have

24:59

turned Everyone

25:01

to his own way We have

25:04

turned they have turned and there's

25:06

a his white, there's a white,

25:08

his own way there's a a

25:10

white, there's white, white, white, there's

25:12

a a white, white, white, Oh,

25:14

white, white, there's white, white, a

25:17

sheep white, Oh,

25:20

real like a

25:22

sheep We've gone astray

25:27

We've gone astray We

25:31

have turned We

25:34

have turned We

25:36

have turned Everyone

25:42

to his own way

25:44

We have turned We

25:48

have turned

25:51

We have

25:53

turned We

25:56

have turned

25:59

To Thank

26:01

you. everyone, to

26:03

be a way,

26:05

We will challenge

26:08

everyone to this

26:10

whole way. And

26:13

the moment,

26:17

and

26:19

the

26:21

moment, moment,

26:24

and the

26:26

moment, And

26:29

the moment,

26:31

and the

26:33

moment, And

26:36

moment, moment, the

26:42

moment, and

26:44

moment, And

26:51

the moment,

26:56

and

27:05

moment, It's

27:16

an interesting choice for Handel to have

27:18

made there. You

27:20

know, on the one hand, he

27:22

had the music handy. He'd

27:25

just written it not long before

27:27

that. And so he said, I'm

27:29

going to reuse this. He actually

27:31

did that a lot. Wasn't always

27:33

his own music either. Sometimes he'd take

27:36

moment, by other composers that was And

27:38

moment, not uncommon at the time for

27:40

composers to do. But also

27:42

think he understood this text. He

27:44

knew where it was coming

27:46

from. He was a religious man

27:49

to the end of his

27:51

life. and even in England, where

27:53

Lutheran churches were hard to

27:55

find, he still managed to get

27:57

to the Lutheran chapel in

27:59

London. so I Think he was

28:01

expressing the text here Dr.

28:04

Joseph Hurl is our guest. Handles

28:06

Messiah on the Passion of Christ is

28:08

our topic. I'm Todd Wilkin. You're

28:10

connected to issues, etc. After

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Lutheran School for the Deaf. Welcome

32:03

back. I'm Todd Wilken. This is

32:05

Issues, etc. We're talking about Handel's

32:07

Messiah and the Passion of Christ

32:09

with Dr. Joseph Pearl, professor of

32:11

music at Concordia University, Nebraska, editor

32:13

of Lutheran service book, Companion to

32:15

the Hymns. If you're enjoying the

32:17

music of Handel's Messiah, be sure

32:19

to listen to our 24 -7th

32:21

Sacred Music Station. We'll be

32:23

playing Sacred Music for Holy

32:25

Week from now until Easter

32:27

Sunday, then Sacred Music for

32:29

the 50 Days of Easter.

32:31

Listen at your convenience at

32:34

Lutheranpublicradio .org, Amazon Alexa, Google

32:36

Home, Apple HomePod, or the

32:38

LPR mobile app, Lutheran Public

32:40

Radio. Dr. Hurl,

32:42

what's next? Next,

32:44

we're going to do a

32:46

movement from Psalm 22. This

32:48

is the Psalm that begins,

32:50

my God, my God, why

32:52

have you forsaken me? This

32:54

is David speaking, but Jesus

32:57

quotes that while he's on

32:59

the cross and David continues

33:01

and complains but I am

33:03

a worm and not a

33:05

man scorned by mankind and

33:07

despised by the people all

33:09

who see me mock me

33:11

they make mouths at me

33:13

they wag their heads and

33:15

they're saying he trusts in

33:17

the Lord let him deliver

33:19

him let him rescue him

33:21

for he delights in him

33:23

These are the words that

33:25

Handel sets to music here.

33:27

He trusted in God that

33:29

he would deliver him Let

33:31

him deliver him if he

33:33

delight in him. So is

33:35

God gonna deliver Jesus from

33:37

the cross or not? Well,

33:40

we know how that

33:42

turns out, but those people

33:44

mocking him didn't know

33:46

yet and Handel sets this

33:49

to strong shall we

33:51

almost say masculine music He

33:53

trusted in God

33:56

that he would

33:58

deliver him. Let

34:00

deliver him if

34:03

he delight in

34:05

him. Except, let's

34:07

hear the chorus, sing it better

34:09

than I did. He

34:12

trusteth in God that

34:14

he would deliver him.

34:17

let deliver him, if

34:19

he delight in him.

34:21

He trusted God that

34:23

he would deliver him.

34:26

Let him deliver him,

34:28

if he delight in

34:30

him. Let

34:33

him deliver him,

34:35

if he delight in

34:37

him. he delight

34:39

in him. Except, the

34:42

chorus, sing it

34:44

better did.

34:46

Let him deliver

34:49

him, if he him.

34:52

Let him deliver him, he

34:55

delight in

34:57

him. Let him

34:59

deliver him, if

35:02

he delight

35:05

If him. him he delight

35:07

in him. Let him deliver

35:09

him, him

35:11

deliver him,

35:14

if he

35:16

him. you

35:18

you There's

36:31

a few more minutes of

36:33

music before Jesus dies. Then

36:35

comes the resurrection, and

36:37

here, Handel has a

36:39

problem. You've just

36:41

put everything you've got, musically

36:45

speaking, into Christ's

36:47

passion. Now, how are

36:49

you going to top that? Here,

36:53

Jenin's The provides a

36:55

tidy solution. The

36:58

resurrection happens as

37:00

it were, and and the just

37:03

refers to it. In

37:05

fact, the whole oratorio does

37:07

this. It's not really a narration

37:09

of events, but an attempt

37:11

to show from Scripture Jesus

37:13

is the Messiah. So

37:16

next thing you know, Jesus

37:18

is ascending into heaven. Then comes

37:20

the day of Pentecost, as

37:22

usual represented by an Old

37:24

Testament text. The

37:26

Lord gave the word. Great

37:29

was the company of the

37:31

preachers. that's from Psalm 68. Listen

37:34

for the simplicity and

37:36

directness of God's Word

37:38

as compared with the

37:41

busyness of the preachers

37:43

as they run excitedly

37:45

around. Jesus,

37:56

great was the company preachers,

37:59

68. Great

38:08

was the company of the

38:10

nations. The Lord

38:13

gave the world

38:15

great was the

38:17

power. So

39:01

how does the world

39:03

react to the preaching of

39:05

the gospel? In

39:07

the words of Psalm 2, the

39:10

nations furiously rage

39:12

together, the of

39:14

the earth rise up and

39:16

the rulers take counsel together

39:18

against the Lord against

39:20

his anointed. The

39:22

soloist here is David

39:25

Thomas, who does a

39:27

marvelous job. Why

39:52

do the nations

39:54

of New York still

39:56

rage together? Why

39:59

do... people imagine

40:01

a fainting, while

40:03

good an dread.

40:12

So you're just a little

40:14

ghetto Why

40:17

do the people fainting?

40:28

a fainting The

40:32

kings of the

40:35

earth rise up

40:37

And the rulers

40:39

take counsel together

40:41

against the law.

40:44

and His anointing

40:48

Let us break the

40:50

silence Let us

40:52

break the silence Let

40:55

us break the

40:57

silence And

41:03

cast our

41:05

weapons Let

41:12

us Let

41:16

us

41:19

break

41:23

the

41:26

silence

41:29

l!

41:53

O! But

42:45

God wins in the

42:47

end. As

42:49

the book of Revelation tells us, the

42:52

kingdom of this world is

42:54

become kingdom of our

42:56

Lord of His Christ,

42:59

and He shall reign for

43:01

ever and ever. Hallelujah!

43:26

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

43:30

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

43:42

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

43:51

I know, I

43:54

know, I know, I

43:56

know He

44:30

is in town,

44:32

born in the

44:34

northern grove, And

44:37

come with Christ,

44:39

and come with

44:41

God. He shall

44:43

reign forever and

44:46

ever, And

44:48

he shall

44:51

reign

44:53

forever and

44:55

ever,

44:57

And he

44:59

shall

45:02

reign forever

45:04

and

45:06

ever, And

45:08

he

45:10

shall ever,

45:24

Halleluja

45:28

halleluja

45:32

Hallelujah

45:36

halleluja

46:00

O 'er the land

46:02

of heaven and

46:04

home of God.

46:08

He is

46:10

the

46:12

King, the

46:14

King,

46:16

the King

46:18

of

46:20

Heaven and

46:22

Earth. Dr.

46:51

Dr. Hurl, what would you like

46:53

for our listeners to know

46:55

about this particular piece that most

46:57

familiar with from Hunnels the

46:59

Hallelujah chorus. You

47:02

know, with something like

47:04

this, all you have to

47:06

do is soak it

47:08

in. I've heard this

47:10

many, many times and have performed

47:13

it myself and every time

47:15

I hear it I still get

47:17

chills up and down my

47:19

spine. This

47:21

is in fact one of

47:23

the last pieces of music

47:26

that ever heard as far

47:28

as we know. The

47:31

last performance he attended

47:33

in his life was a

47:35

performance of Messiah and

47:37

a few days later

47:39

he was taken ill

47:41

and he died on

47:44

April 14th 1759 at

47:46

his home the

47:48

age of 74 I

47:50

the was going through

47:52

his mind as he

47:54

listened to that last

47:56

performance? Was

47:59

he looking forward to the life to

48:01

come? I'm

48:04

guessing yes. We're

48:06

talking about Handel's Messiah on the

48:08

Passion of Christ. Dr. Joseph Hurl, professor

48:10

of music at Concordia University, Nebraska,

48:13

is our guest. We'll get his final

48:15

thoughts after this. This

48:37

week on The Word of

48:40

the Lord Endors Forever, we continue

48:42

our study of Ecclesiastes with

48:44

a full, multiplies words, a

48:46

bird of the air, bread upon the

48:48

waters, pleasant to see the sun,

48:51

and remember your Creator. Join

48:53

me, Pastor Will Whedon, for

48:55

The Word of the Lord

48:57

Endors Forever, your daily 15 -minute,

48:59

verse -by -verse Bible study on demand.

49:01

Listen at thewordendors .org or your

49:03

favorite podcast provider. Psalm

49:07

144 1. Blessed be the Lord

49:09

my rock who trains my hands

49:11

for war and my fingers for

49:13

battle. Those serving in the armed

49:15

forces want LCMS chaplains. We need

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courageous pastors to bring the gospel

49:19

and sacraments to those protecting our

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nation, along with wise counsel and

49:23

the peace found only in Christ

49:26

Jesus. If you are between the

49:28

age of 26 and 43 and

49:30

have a heart for ministry in

49:32

the armed forces, call 314 -996 -1337

49:34

or email LCMSchaps at lcms .org. Registration

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is now open for the

49:40

Lutherans for Life National Conference, September

49:42

24th through the 26th at

49:44

the Great Wolf Lodge in Colorado

49:46

Springs, Colorado. We have

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a host of remarkable speakers and

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gospel -motivated voices for life, including Jim

49:52

Daly, president of Focus on the

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Family. Take advantage of

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Early Bird pricing through June

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30th. For more information, including

50:00

schedules, speakers, and links

50:02

to the hotel and local

50:04

attractions, Keep checking

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LutheransForLife .org slash conferences.

50:09

Did you know that we send out an

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My friends, Jesus comes only

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51:31

Bye. Welcome

51:54

back to Issues, etc. I'm Todd

51:57

Wilkin. We're talking about Handel's Messiah on

51:59

the Passion of Christ. Dr. Joseph

52:01

Hurl is our guest professor of music

52:03

at Concordia University in Nebraska, editor

52:05

of Lutheran's service book, Companion to the

52:07

Hymns. Dr. Hurl, your final thoughts

52:09

on Handel's Messiah on the Passion of

52:11

Christ. The

52:13

passion is not depicted

52:16

literally in the

52:18

way it is in

52:20

the passions of

52:22

composers such as J

52:24

.S. Bach. It's hinted

52:26

at. What we

52:28

see in Messiah is

52:30

the result of

52:32

the passion. What it

52:34

means for us. We

52:37

get that actually more in

52:39

part three, which we're not

52:41

hearing today. But even

52:43

here, we see that

52:45

in the end, God

52:48

is in charge. He

52:51

is victorious over death. Death

52:54

has not defeated him. Christ

52:58

is risen from the dead,

53:00

trampling down death by

53:02

death and bestowing

53:04

life on those in

53:06

the tombs. Isn't

53:09

that amazing? Dr.

53:12

Hurl, you are the editor

53:14

of Lutheran service book, Companion

53:16

to the Hymns. What can

53:18

you tell us about this

53:21

much needed resource? That

53:24

book in two volumes

53:27

tells the story behind

53:29

every hymn in Lutheran

53:31

service book. It's

53:34

the first companion in English. Every

53:36

major hymnal has one of these,

53:38

and a lot of minor hymnals

53:40

have them too. But

53:42

it's the first companion

53:44

in English to make

53:46

use of the earliest

53:48

known sources of every

53:50

text translation. tune and

53:52

harmonization in the book. And

53:55

the result of

53:57

that is that we

54:00

changed over 500

54:02

attributions to those that

54:04

are in the

54:06

hymnal. Either clarified

54:08

information that wasn't quite

54:10

right or changed it

54:12

altogether. And so

54:14

it should be a significant

54:16

contribution to the scholarly

54:19

side and it also has

54:21

a devotional component as

54:23

the essays each have a

54:25

devotional background to each

54:27

him. You can

54:29

purchase Lutheran service book

54:31

companion to the hymns

54:33

by calling Concordia Publishing

54:35

House, 1 -800 -325 -3040 or

54:37

browse before you buy

54:40

on the talk on

54:42

demand archives page at

54:44

issuesetc .org. Dr.

54:46

Joseph Hurl is professor of

54:48

music at Concordia University, Nebraska and

54:50

editor of Lutheran Service Book

54:52

companion to the hymns. Dr.

54:54

Hurl, thank you very much. It's

54:57

such a pleasure to be back with you.

54:59

Thank you. In hour two, we'll

55:01

discuss apparent contradictions on the

55:04

events of Holy Week with Dr.

55:06

Peter Scare, professor of New

55:08

Testament at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort

55:10

Wayne, Indiana. They say

55:12

that composers and hymn writers are some

55:14

of the best preachers and longest -lived

55:16

preachers in the church. That's true

55:18

of Handel, his attempt to set the

55:20

gospel of Jesus Christ to music

55:22

a success. I'm Todd Wilken. Stay

55:25

with us. Listen

55:30

weekday afternoons to Pastor Todd

55:32

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