Faithful Shepherd: Bach's Cantatas for the Second Sunday after Easter

Continuing my survey of the 198 surviving sacred cantatas of J.S. Bach.... This weekend’s cantatas for the Second Sunday after Easter (on CD 16 of the set) are: “Du Hirte Israel, höre” (BWV 104, “Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel”), “Ich bin ein guter Hirt” (BWV 85, “I am the good shepherd”), and “Der Herr ist mein getreuer Hirt” (BWV 112, "The Lord is my faithful shepherd"). The CD photo is of a girl in Bamiyan, Afghanistan.

As the titles suggest, these cantatas are all based on Psalm 23. My mom helped me memorize the psalm for Sunday school years ago, although as time went by, the psalm took a close second place behind Psalm 121 as a favorite. Likely Psalm 23 is a cherished or at least a very familiar scripture for many of us.

In the CD notes, conductor John Eliot Gardiner writes that the first cantata “leads” the faithful to the “meadow of heaven” by moving from G major to B minor to D major to A major. But (he writes) the effect is not only pastoral (in the sense of bucolic) and placid, because the text of the cantata is also beseeching: Christ’s followers call out to the Savior to to hear their needs.

"Though my shepherd hides too long,
though the desert frightens me,
my feeble steps still hasten on.
I cry to Thee,
and Thy Word, my shepherd, doth cause me
to utter a faithful Abba….
Happy flock, sheep of Jesus,
the world for you is a heavenly kingdom.
Here already you taste Jesus’ goodness…"

Gardiner writes that BWV 85 is the third cantata in a series: BWV 6, 42, and 85 on consecutive feast days (Easter Monday, First Sunday after Easter, and Second Sunday after Easter) have the theme of the disciples’ concern about living without the physically present Jesus. Bach uses the instrument called a cello piccolo, which “seems theologically associated with the believer’s personal relationship to Jesus.” As with so many cantatas, the believer who is in distress must hold onto Christ and not lose confidence in the risen Lord's power and presence. By connecting Christ's death on the cross with his love and care for his flock, this cantata is thematically related to the St Matthew Passion.

"Behold what love can do.
My Jesus takes tender care
of His own flock.
He has shed on the cross
His precious blood for them...
no calamity can touch me:
retreat, all who are my enemies...
I have God as my friend."

The text for the third cantata, BWV 112, is more straightforwardly a statement and exposition of the twenty-third psalm.  But the musical mood is different from the other two. Bach uses horns to depict (as Gardiner writes) “a much more regal portrait of the good shepherd than we have previously met." Bach also uses strings and oboes to suggest the movement of sheep, giving the piece a certain bounce. The text, though, still grounds us in the pastoral mood of the psalm.

"The Lord is my faithful shepherd,
He has me in His care,

wherein I shall want nothing
 that is good.
He feeds me continually 
on pastures
where the sweet-tasting grass
of His wholesome Gospel grows."

Years ago, when I was serving a small church in a rural area, I preached a sermon on Jesus the good shepherd. I commented that shepherds weren't so common as in Jesus' time and so I explained some of the responsibilities of shepherds. Later, there was a cheerful laugh at my expense, because one of our church's pillars was indeed a shepherd, though his role was (as I recall) coordinator in the animal science area for a nearby agricultural research center, specifically the center's sheep herd.

I said last week that the cantatas for the first Sunday after Easter have been favorites so far on this "journey," but I also love these three. We use the word "pastoral" in different ways: to refer to the work of sheepherders, to bucolic or rural life or scenery, to art that evolves landscape (I love British music, often characterized as "pastoral"), and to the work of clergy. The word "pastor" comes from the Latin word meaning "to lead to pasture," and so there have always been etymological and metaphorical connections of pastors, their "flocks," and shepherds.

I like the phrase "mein getreuer Hirt"---my faithful shepherd---to refer to Christ, and these three cantatas are beautiful depictions and proclamations of this aspect of Christ. I've felt spiritually "dry" and sad lately---not for a deep theological reason, like St. John's dark night. I'm just tired from the about-to-end semester, feeling grief from family deaths in 2012 and 2013, and generally let-down-feeling for reasons I won't get into here.

I need to focus on the many great people and many blessings of my life. But even a fixable attitude is something we can commit to the care of the good shepherd. My mother once commented that she thought we shouldn't "bother" God with our everyday problems. But in this case Mom preached bad theology. The Lord is ready to listen and care for us at every moment, just as a shepherd is always patient and kind with needy, easily distressed sheep.

In this Easter season, it would be good to follow Bach's lead and connect Jesus' death and resurrection to the image of the good shepherd. When we are hurting, we must never think that the Lord just wants us to "deal with it," pull ourselves up by the footsteps, and not bother him. The Lord is completely committed to us.

(All English translations of Bach's texts are by Richard Stokes)