The first version of the work was completed as a cantata for Easter Sunday in Leipzig on 1 April 1725, then under the title Kommt, gehet und eilet.

The choir was present only in the final movement until a later performance in the 1740s when the opening duet was set partly for four voices.

The oratorio opens with two contrasting instrumental movements, an Allegro concerto grosso of the full orchestra with solo sections for trumpets, violins and oboes, and an Adagio oboe melody over "Seufzer" motifs (sighs) in the strings (in 3rd version, solo instrument is a Flute).

Saget, saget mir geschwinde, the aria of Mary Magdalene, is based on words from the Song of Songs, asking where to find the beloved, without whom she is "ganz verwaiset und betrübt" (completely orphaned and desolate), set in the middle section as Adagio, different from the original.

The final movement in two contrasting sections resembles the Sanctus composed for Christmas 1724 and later part of the Mass in B minor.