Bach's relationship to his litbrettist Picander
who wrote the text to the St. Matthew Passion
was felicitous like Mozart's to Lorenzo da Ponte.
The librettist of the St John Passion, Brockes
was another matter.
Quite possibly, Bach found his lyrics obnoxious,
and I wonder about the social or economic pressure
that made him use them.
Hence also, to get away from the lyrics,
the emphasis on the evangelist.
The opensing chorus and the closing chorale
are to my mind two of Bachs most remarkable compositions.
Herr unser Herrscher
to get away from the lyrics.
The opening chorus and the closing chorale
are to my mind two of Bachs most remarkable compositions.
Herr unser Herrscher
Dessen Ruhm in Allen Landen herrlich ist
Zeig uns in deiner Passion
This text very much a contrast to Kommt Ihr Toechter helft mir klagen.
which is a summons to "behold and see".... if there be any sorrow,
like unto my sorrow."
The St John Passion opening chorus
may be interpreted as Bach's commentary on Brockes.
Bach himself also had a ceremonial streak:
viz. the Brandenburg Concerti and the Orchestral Suites.
as well as the ceremonial opening choruses ofs
many of the Cantatas: Lobe den Herrn, Preise dein Gluecke, etc.
I hear the St. John Passion as the intersection
of the ceremonial and personal, of the public and private.
In the opening chorus, which is not a personal lamentation,
the music never rises above "Niedrigkeit".
(lowliness)
This dialectic between public and private
is most dramatic in the Aria Es ist vollbracht,
where the listeners empathy for the martyr
is interrupted by the declamation, vivace, of history:
Der Held aus Juda siegt mit Macht, 
to be sustained only briefly before again
subsiding into the ritornello,
Es ist vollbracht.