My sister-in-law sent me the link: a video rendition of the Hallelujah chorus of Handel's Messiah, done by the Yupiq Eskimo village of Quinhaquak, population 550. The project was done with the help of a creative schoolteacher, along with community members pitching in. As I write this post, the video has over 1,211,000 hits.
Watching this clip, I was struck afresh by the multicultural truth of the Hallelujah chorus, pertaining to all nations and peoples: The Kingdom of this world is become the Kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ. For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth, King of Kings, Lord of Lords. And He shall reign for ever and ever. Hallelujah!
His reign shall never cease. And it's omniplicable [a word I just created, meaning "applicable to all"]. No human authority has ever risen above it, nor ever shall. Even the royal authority of King George II, who stood to his feet at a London performance on March 23, 1743, was not above it.
Did I say March? Not December? That's right. Handel's Messiah was originally written as an Easter oratorio, not a Christmas work. Although Part One deals with the birth of Christ, the Hallelujah chorus concludes Part Two of the oratorio, which describes the Passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
Yes, the Hallelujah chorus was written with Christ's resurrection in mind. King of Kings, ruling forever, and ever. Very much alive today.
What is remarkable about Handel's Messiah is that the entire score, taking nearly three hours to perform, took a mere 24 days to compose. I honestly don't think I could copy the score by hand in 24 days, let alone create it from scratch. Handel is said to have told a servant upon finishing the Hallelujah chorus, “I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God Himself!”
I believe it. I think this may explain my misty eyes. Like Handel, as I watched the video I saw the living Lord, not a dead one. I saw the resurrected Christ, not just an historic figure born in Bethlehem. I saw the Kingdom of our Lord proclaimed afresh, 'mid snow, ice, Eskimos and bush planes.
Hallelujah!
See for yourself: http://youtu.be/LyviyF-N23A.
Posts
