Andrew Peterson: The True Tall Tale of the Coming of Christ

This past weekend I attended my third annual Andrew Peterson concert called “Behold the Lamb of God – The True Tall Tale of the coming of Christ” in Milford, Ohio. Andrew is an extremely gifted Christian musician from Nashville. In addition to having a successful career as a song writer, singer, and author, he has gathered together an impressive assembly of 6-8 Christian musician friends who take the Behold the Lamb of God experience on tour as a special Christmas concert. They have done it for 13 years in a row; I saw them twice before in Montague, Michigan and now in Milford, Ohio. And it blows me away every time I see it. I want to encourage you to get this CD and enjoy it too.

The concert is divided into two parts. The first part is a collection of two songs from each of the guest performers and the second part is “Behold the Lamb of God – The true tall tale of the coming of Christ”.

Behold the Lamb of God begins with the events of the first Passover as an introduction to a sweeping view of Israel’s history. The ups and downs of Israel’s heart wrenching saga are captured in haunting guitar transitions and telling lyrics. The prophetic view funnels Israel’s hopes of a conquering king down to a suffering servant. As we all know, this narrowed view misses Israel’s expectation and they grind on in subjection to Rome, waiting.
Andrew has written a delightful song that goes through the generations outlined in Matthew chapter 1 and ends up with the family of Joseph and Mary. The opening of the story to the Gospel is embellished with some wonderful guitar pieces.

Jill Phillips (one of the guest performers) does with music what I hope to do in art someday: depict the birth of Jesus in the reality of what it was. Her Labor of Love song beautifully introduces the reality of the time: “It was not a silent night, there was blood on the ground…” it captivates the soul and sets the stage for a stirring reprise of the climax that is the birth of the Messiah.

When I do my artwork of this event I will put the menacing hulk of Herodium on the horizon of Bethlehem’s landscape –I remember seeing its remains there when I first approached the city in 1999. I hope to have it ready by Christmas 2013. (Lord willing) Until then, enjoy the music of Andrew Peterson.

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