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… "And the government shall be upon his shoulders"

As I was getting up this morning, the local classical station was playing Handel's Messiah and that familiar phrase above is oft repeated, as I am sure you are well aware. It has always struck me as quite strange. I am hoping some of our musicological  members can help me understand the meaning and intent of Handel giving that phrase such a prominent place in the work. Certainly, it seems to run counter to Christ's own teaching that we should "render under Caesar, the things that are Caesar's, and to God, the things that are God's".

I am aware that our modern American notion of separation of church and state was not the case in the Europe of Handel's time. Also that the medieval church had maneuvered itself into the rather convenient arrangement with earthly Kings that their right to rule proceeded from God. Which was known as the divine right of kings. This fortuitous arrangement put the church officials in the position of validating earthly power as the manifestation of God's will. But all of that still doesn't quite square with the mantra, "and the government shall be upon his shoulders".

From everything I have ever learned Christ did not give a fig for earthly power. Is this as big a contradiction as it appears? Is Handel's Messiah a propaganda piece?

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yesiam_a_pirate
206 posts
 

The lyrics were taken from Isaiah 9:6. A messianic prophesy written 700 years before Christ's birth. 

“The government will be upon on His shoulders” affirms His lordship uber alles. This is a prophesy of the Millennium. It speaks of and anticipates the time when Christ will reign over a literal, earthly, geopolitical kingdom that encompasses all the kingdoms and governments of the world. 

The Millennium s a post rapture earth where the enemies of Christ have been damned to hell for eternity and Jesus The Prince Of Peace sits on the throne of the world in Jerusalem as the Wonderful, Counselor adjudicating righteousness and peace to the great pleasure of the inhabitants of the earth.

 Daniel 2:44; Zechariah 14:9

jomace
19 posts
 

Handel didn't write the libretto. The man who did was a close friend and a  devout Catholic, where Handel was not.  Handel wrote the music rapidly and did not rearrange the words. The librettist was unsatisfied with some of the music,yet they remained friends for the rest of their lives.

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yoyoyaya
772 posts
 

A lot of the Messiah is eschatological. For example - "though the worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see god" (I know that my Redeemer liveth). The government shall be upon his shoulders makes sense in that context.

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waytoomuchstuff
1,142 posts
 

My daily search for intelligent life on planet earth often begins with this forum.

We're off to a good start today.

 

jonwolfpell
397 posts
 

Wrong forum but who truly thinks we have separation of Church & State? The repeal of Roe V Wade is proof we do not.. The Catholic Church owning half of Boston & pays no taxes is another one….

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