When Handel's Messiah was composed, Handel's friend Charles Jennens, Jr. gave him a libretto (a text) for this work. Jennen's role was to go through the King James Bible and assemble the verses about the Christ to go with the music that Handel wrote. Jennens and Handel wanted to use the following parts of scripture to help create the text for Messiah: Old Testament prophesies of the Messiah's birth; New Testament stories of the birth of Christ, his death, and resurrection; and finally verses relating to Judgment Day with the final chorus text being drawn from Revelation. The libretto of Messiah is comprised of 73 verses - 42 being drawn from the Old Testament and 31 being drawn from the New Testament - all of which point to Jesus as the Christ, Anointed One, and Messiah.
Messiah premiered in Dublin on April 13, 1742 around Easter rather than Christmas like it is today. The first performance was a benefit concert for charity and helped to free men from debtors' prison. King George II, especially enjoyed going to see Messiah performed. King George II also started the tradition of standing during the Hallelujah Chorus as he rose to his feet, thinking it was his cue for something. This masterpiece is now a Christmas tradition for a lot of choral/orchestra groups to perform in today's age and it reminds us of Christ during the Christmas season.