Peter, Paul, and Handel's reflections on the resurrection

I spoke in church two weeks ago on Easter Sunday. I shared some things that Paul and Peter said in the New Testament about the resurrection (and how GF Handel used this in The Messiah).

Peter

Acts 2:22-24

https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/acts/2.22-24?lang=eng#21

Remember how Peter denied knowing Christ three times in one night? Here he is 50 days later, preaching to thousands of people. Quite a rapid change. What caused this? He had seen the resurrected Lord many times! I love his language in the scripture above. Here is the logic (progression of thoughts) that I see:

22 - Jesus did miracles, so of course you have heard about him before.

23 - But, he was crucified! (How could such a bad thing happen to such a good person!?)

24 - Well, god reversed this, and now he is resurrected!

I love how Peter has such a powerful testimony, and he leads his sermon with the resurrection. It clearly had a big impact on him. He then references how David (the first and favorite king of Jerusalem) also prophesied of the resurrection in the subsequent verses. The power of this speech/message on the crowd can be seen in Acts 2:37.

Paul and GF Handel

1 Cor 15:55

https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/1-cor/15.55?lang=eng#54

I like this verse because of Handel's Messiah. The famous "Hallelujah Chorus" is all about the resurrection, and all the "songs" after the Hallelujah Chorus in "The Messiah" are all about the resurrection, with most of the text coming from 1 Corinthians 15!

One of the songs in the Messiah is "O death where is thy sting?"

http://youtu.be/g0_13MWR8xA?t=27s

Paul was a very interesting guy, but here it is almost as if he is taunting death, and taunting the grave, saying "Oh death, where is thy sting?" "Oh grave, where is thy victory?" Trash talking in basketball is one thing…

Paul, GF Handel, and Peter definitely knew that Christ resurrected. This caused them to preach and prophesy (and write beautiful, timeless music) with power. I know that knowledge of and faith in resurrection can have the same effect on us, just as it did them.