There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus…So begins the third chapter of John’s gospel, the chapter from which the most famous piece of scripture unfolds. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,” Jesus reveals to Nicodemus.
In 1725, Bach applied his singular talent to this text in one of his cantatas, Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt. Although written for Pentecost, Bach captures the joy, hope, and sacrifice imbued within Christ’s words to Nicodemus.
The meditation this week is that cantata, performed by the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir.
– Logan Henke, Music Minister