This cantata for Quinquagesima (Sunday before Ash
Wednesday) focuses on Jesus' prediction in the gospel
of his impending death. His going up to Jerusalem is
towards his atoning sacrifice on the cross. The text of
the cantata treats the reaction of the believer to
Jesus' intention - first reluctance to let the beloved
Jesus go to his death, then commitment to be with him
as he walks his path, finally the giving up of the
world and dying to self in order to be with Jesus and
in gratitude for the s...(+)
This cantata for Quinquagesima (Sunday before Ash
Wednesday) focuses on Jesus' prediction in the gospel
of his impending death. His going up to Jerusalem is
towards his atoning sacrifice on the cross. The text of
the cantata treats the reaction of the believer to
Jesus' intention - first reluctance to let the beloved
Jesus go to his death, then commitment to be with him
as he walks his path, finally the giving up of the
world and dying to self in order to be with Jesus and
in gratitude for the salvation won by his death. The
theme is that of Galatians 6:14: "May I never boast of
anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by
which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the
world."
Exegetically this cantata is interesting for the way in
which it intertwines the Biblical fact of Christ going
up to Jerusalem, the devotion of the believer to Christ
in his passion, and the believer's dying to the world
and living to Christ. These themes are set in very
dramatic and emotionally expressive music.
Note that Bach wrote no cantatas for the first and
second Sundays of Lent because cantatas were not
performed in Lent, except for the third Sunday. His
series then resumes on Palm Sunday.
SHEET MUSIC