For God Alone: Jesus Paid It All
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:4-5)
George Frederic Handel (1685-1759) composed his oratorio, MESSIAH, in 1741. His librettist, Charles Jennens, compiled the text using the King James Bible, and the Coverdale Psalter, which was the version of the Psalms used in The Book of Common Prayer. The work was first performed in Dublin, Ireland on April 13, 1742, and was performed in London 1743. This sacred choral work remains to this day a worldwide artistic treasure.
But for Christians, Handel’s majestic oratorio encapsulates the truth of the Gospel from Old Testament prophecy, to prophecy fulfilled in Christ, including His death by crucifixion, burial in a borrowed tomb, resurrection from the dead (Hallelujah), and the glories of life eternal (Worthy Is the Lamb). Jesus accomplished for all humanity what we could not do for ourselves:
But God shows His love for us, in that while we we’re still sinners,
Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
One of my favorite choruses from MESSIAH is Surely, He Hath Borne Our Griefs and Carried Our Sorrows.* This piece captures the pain and anguish our Savior must have felt as He was tormented and tortured, and crucified; but, more significantly, the anguish Jesus suffered when He took upon Himself our sin and our sorrow.
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him
we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Elvina M. Hall (1820-1889), wrote the poem, Jesus Paid It All in 1865. The first stanza: I hear the Savior say, “Thy strength indeed is small, child of weakness, watch and pray, find in Me thine all in all” echoes the words of Jesus as He spoke to Peter in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:38). But, in fact, our strength, like Peter’s, is weak and small as well, and we must rely completely on Jesus, certainly for our salvation, for but every matter in this life.
Robert Sterling composed his beautiful setting of Jesus Paid It All, one with which many of my readers are familiar. Below is Rob’s setting performed by my talented friend, Stephen Aber at the piano, and a friend of his, Karen Galvin, on the violin.
Jesus Paid It All, arr. Sterling (Stephen Aber, piano, Karen Galvin, violin)
Today, offer thanks to God for sending His Son to be our Savior. Thank Him for His sacrifice on the cross. Then, live today with a heart of gratitude for all God has done - saving, keeping, and carrying each of His children all the way into Eternity.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16-17)
*Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows (G. F. Handel)
© Paul R. Magyar, DMA, 2020
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