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Eilt, ihr angefochtnen Seelen, Geht aus euren Marterhöhlen, Eilt - Wohin ? - nach Golgatha! Nehmet an des Glaubens Flügel, Flieht - Wohin? - zum Kreuzeshügel, Eure Wohlfahrt blüht allda! |
Hurry, you tormented souls, leave your dens of torment, Hurry – Where to? – to Golgotha! Take the wings of faith, Fly – Where to? – to the hill of the cross, there your salvation flourishes! |
… while the chorus interjects and repeats its pressing question, "Where to?"; Bach's stroke of genius.
On Palm Sunday, Red Baron listened to Saint John Passion BWV 245 at the Lutheran Church of Christ three blocks from his department.
While Bach's Saint Matthew Passion BW 244, with its musical highlights, demands a good amount of sitting ability, the Saint John Passion is shorter. Many people regard the final choruses of the two Passions as the highlights. Indeed, the forceful "Ruhet wohl "(Rest in peace) of BW 245 is haunting, particularly when listened to in a live performance.
Indeed, the best performance on your Hi-Fi equipment never replaces a life presentation's transparency when you sit "within" the music. As the Badische Zeitung wrote, "Proximity changes the perspective. In Freiburg's spatially manageable Christuskirche, Bach's St. John Passion, thus the more dramatic of the oratorio passions of the Leipzig Thomaskantor, became an intimate spiritual theater. "
The "late "Gospel of John dates to the end of the first century and is independent in presentation and theology compared with the other three earlier synoptic gospels. The Christian faith of the congregation is now clear and consolidated and clearly distinguishes itself from Judaism, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us (John 1,14)."
Bach transports that message in his composition. The encounter with Pilate in John 18 becomes a pivotal point:
33 Pilate returned to the palace, summoned Jesus, and asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?"
34 "Is that your own idea," Jesus asked, "or did others talk to you about me?"
35 "Am I a Jew?" Pilate replied. "Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?"
36 Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place."
37 "You are a king, then!" said Pilate. Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."
38 "What is truth?" retorted Pilate. With this, he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, "I find no basis for a charge against him.
The themes raised by John in this discussion scene - the kingship of God versus worldly power and Jesus as truth, play a decisive role in the Christian faith.
In Matthew's gospel, Jesus dies with a cry, having been tortured and suffering. In John, the sentence "It is finished" makes Jesus the master of the situation. He knows about the "great plan." John portrays a strong Jesus who seems to be in control.
The rather austere St. John Passion appeals to its theology. One critique once wrote, "St. Matthew Passion leads the way of mystics, St. John Passion the way of metaphysics:"
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God (John 1,1).
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