Patterico's Pontifications

8/19/2018

Sunday Music: Bach Cantata BWV 27

Filed under: Bach Cantatas,General,Music — Patterico @ 12:01 am



It is the thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost. The title of today’s Bach cantata is “Wer weiß, wie nahe mir mein Ende?” (Who knows how near to me my end?)

Today’s Gospel reading is John 6:51-58, which continues last week’s theme of Jesus as the bread of life.

I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

The text of today’s piece is available here. It contains these words, which remind the listener of Christ’s admonition in the Gospel passage that those who drink his blood have eternal life:

Who knows how near my end is?
It is known to dear God alone,
whether my pilgrimage on the earth
might be short or longer.
Time runs out, death approaches,
And finally it comes down to this,
that they will meet each other.
Ah, how quickly and swiftly
can my death-struggle come upon me!
Who knows, whether today
my mouth might not speak its last words.
Therefore I pray all the time:
My God, I beseech through Christ’s blood,
make my end good!

Happy listening!

[Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.]

10 Responses to “Sunday Music: Bach Cantata BWV 27”

  1. The prophets seem not to have made any impression on them, they had eyes, but would not see.

    Narciso (e50d2b)

  2. The prophets also said that they will not know where the Messiah is from (John 7:27, contrast John7: 41-42), and since they knew that Jesus was Mary’s son, they figured that they knew where Jesus was from and that this knowledge disqualified Him as the Messiah.

    felipe (023cc9)

  3. But you are right, and the same can be said about Christians as well. We are, all of us, a stiff-necked people.

    felipe (023cc9)

  4. Yes we are, but didn’t Isaiah speak of this, then again they did pay he great attention to him either.

    Narciso (a94554)

  5. Yes, Isaiah did. It is as you say.

    felipe (023cc9)

  6. “Therefore I pray all the time:
    My God, I beseech through Christ’s blood,
    make my end good!”

    My prayer, indeed. A life, from early childhood to present day of turmoil, hurt, and pain, cannot end soon enough. I sometimes wonder why the Lord torments me so, keeping on this earth in this miserable existence. So many attempt, so many failures to make it better to no avail. So, yes, may have a little dignity that the coming of my end be as a sweet kiss.

    Al (767563)

  7. prophets are often not heeded, even after the 400 hundred years of greek and roman captivity, they did not head the lesson, in point of fact, jesus’s words are only heeded in part, the attitude of this world is ‘he couldn’t possibly mean that,’ when they admit he existed,

    narciso (d1f714)

  8. this is very lovely and sincere with bonus weezer guitars

    it’s “trending” as they say

    … weezer’s cover of toto’s africa

    Mr. puller would get a kick out of this I think

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  9. they did roseanna too

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  10. oopers *rosanna*

    happyfeet (28a91b)


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