Resurrection Firstfruits

PastorRodney’s Weblog

03/31 Resurrection Sunday (firstfruits); Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20240331_resurrection-firstfruits.mp3

He is risen!

(He is risen indeed!)

Today we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Good Friday (Passover)

Friday we celebrated Good Friday, the day we remember Jesus crucified. Good Friday was a Passover; as the Jewish day began at sunset, Jesus began that day with a Passover meal with his disciples.

Luke 22:15 And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.

That night he crossed the brook Kidron, prayed earnestly to his Father that if possible the cup of wrath he was to drink on the cross would pass from him; nevertheless not his human will but the will of the Father be done. He was betrayed by a friend with a kiss, gave himself up into custody after securing the protection of his followers, endured humiliation and mocking in his trials before Annas and Caiaphas, and at daybreak on Passover morning was condemned by the council and brought to Pilate to have him executed. He was brutally beaten, publicly humiliated, exhausted, collapsing under the weight of the cross he was forced to carry to the place of execution. At around 9 in the morning, he was nailed to the cross, from noon to about 3 pm darkness fell over the land as he bore my sins in his body on that cruel tree (1Pet.2:24). Jesus cried out the words of Psalm 22 ‘My God, My God, why have you forsaken me’. Then he cried out with a loud voice ‘It is finished’ (paid in full), and surrendered his spirit into the hands of his Father. The earth shook, the heavy curtain that barred sinners from the presence of a holy God was ripped from top to bottom. A soldier thrust a spear into his side, releasing a flow of blood and water.

A secret follower from the Sanhedrin, Joseph requested the body from Pilate, who had the soldiers confirm beyond doubt that he was already dead. Just before nightfall as the Sabbath was beginning, with the help of Nicodemus,

Matthew 27:59 And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

Luke tells us:

Luke 23:54 It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. 55 The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. 56 Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

The Sabbath; The Sealed Tomb

Matthew 27:62 The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ 64 Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.

On the Sabbath (Saturday), the Jewish leaders busied themselves making sure a dead man stayed dead and his body didn’t disappear. The disciples, on the other hand, had scattered in fear and confusion after his arrest and execution. Saturday they rested according to the commandment; Saturday after sundown the women buy spices. Sunday morning finds the women coming to the tomb to intending to finish embalming the body of their Lord with spices and ointments.

Sunday is filled with confusion; an early morning earthquake, appearance of angels, soldiers paralyzed with fear, reports of a missing body and the stone rolled away, disbelief, disciples running to check, finding an empty tomb, Mary even claiming to have seen the Lord, disciples traveling to Emmaus, other disciples hiding behind locked doors for fear of the Jews. Matthew records it this way:

Matthew 28:1 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” 8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

6 Feasts of Israel; 3 Pilgrim Feasts

To help us understand what was going on, we are going to look back to the Old Testament to look at the appointed feasts of Israel.

Leviticus 23 gives us the six primary feasts of Israel; three spring feasts, and three fall feasts. Three of these feasts were pilgrim festivals and had to do with different parts of the harvest; Deuteronomy 16 summarizes these three pilgrim feasts;

Deuteronomy 16:16 “Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God at the place that he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths. They shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed. 17 Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God that he has given you.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread was connected with the firstfruits of the barley, the earliest maturing crop. The Feast of Weeks was also called the Feast of Harvest (Ex.23:16), 50 days after the first of the barley harvest and connected with the wheat harvest. The Feast of Booths, also called the Feast of Ingathering, was at the end of the agricultural year and included produce like grapes and olives.

What does this have to do with Jesus and the resurrection? Remember, Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples after dark on Thursday evening, which was the beginning of the 14^th day of the Jewish month of Nisan. He was crucified on Passover, (still the 14^th) and Passover is connected with the feast of Unleavened Bread. Passover is the 14^th of Nisan, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread runs from the 15^th to the 21^st of Nisan, so this whole 8 day cycle is often referred to as ‘Passover’. That’s why we see in the gospel accounts this whole period of time being referred to as Passover, not just the actual Passover meal on the 14^th of Nisan. Luke tells us:

Luke 22:1 Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover.

Here’s what Leviticus says:

Leviticus 23:4 “These are the appointed feasts of the LORD, the holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at the time appointed for them. 5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight, is the LORD’s Passover. 6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. 7 On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. 8 But you shall present a food offering to the LORD for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work.”

The Hebrew calendar was based on the lunar cycle, so the 14^th day of the month could fall on any day of the week. Whatever day it fell, it would start an 8 day cycle; the Passover, followed by a feast on the 15^th and concluding with a feast on the 21^st. But Leviticus goes on to describe another part of this feast:

Leviticus 23:9 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, 11 and he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 And on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the LORD. 13 And the grain offering with it … a pleasing aroma, and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, … 14 And you shall eat neither bread nor grain parched or fresh until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

As part of the feast of Unleavened Bread, on the day after the Sabbath that fell during that feast, a firstfruits offering of barley was to be offered. This was the first of the first, and was to be offered to God before anything from that harvest year was eaten. The firstfruits, like the firstborn, belong to the Lord; a reminder that every good thing we receive is a gift from God, and ultimately belongs to God. This firstfruit sheaf of barley was to be waved before the Lord on the day after the Sabbath. All Hebrew days were calculated in relation to the weekly Sabbath. The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, so the day after the Sabbath is the first day of the week, Sunday.

God gave Israel this law after the Exodus from Egypt, on the front end of the 40 years of wilderness wanderings, during which he patiently provided for his rebellious people who grumbled and rejected his promised land. But finally under Joshua, the next generation crossed the Jordan river on dry land and entered the land on the 10^th day of the first month (Josh.4:19; Ex.12:3); the day the Passover lambs were to be selected .

Joshua 5:10 While the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening on the plains of Jericho. 11 And the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. 12 And the manna ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land. And there was no longer manna for the people of Israel, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.

God did what he promised to do. He provided for the needs of his people even in the wilderness wanderings. He brought them safely across the Jordan during the spring floods, and he gave them the early barley harvest in the land to eat.

Jesus the Firstborn and Firstfruits

Again, this is resurrection Sunday. What does all this have to do with Jesus and the resurrection? In Colossians 1:18 and Revelation 1:5, Jesus is called the firstborn from the dead. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul reminds us of the good news that saves us;

1 Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is essential to the gospel. He says

1 Corinthians 15:14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. … 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. … 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

Christianity stands or falls on the real, historical, physical resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul goes on:

1 Corinthians 15:20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, …

Jesus in fact was raised from the dead, and as Luke tells us:

Acts 1:3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

Paul gives us not only the fact of the resurrection, but the laundry list of eye-witnesses to whom he appeared, and invites his original readers to check his sources for themselves. He goes on:

1 Corinthians 15:20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

Paul calls Jesus the firstfruits of the resurrection. He is connecting us back to this Old Testament pattern. Jesus died on Passover. He was raised from the dead on the day after the Sabbath, when the first of the firstfruits was to be presented before the Lord. What does firstfruits mean? No one was allowed to eat any of the produce until the firstfruits were offered to the Lord. Firstfruits is a promise of more to come. It was a small sheaf taken from a field of barley, and it meant that there was a bountiful harvest as a gift from God to be enjoyed. If Christ is the firstborn from the dead, the firstfruits of the resurrection, that means there is more to come! That means us! Without the resurrection of Jesus, our hope is limited to this life only. But if the resurrection of Jesus is true, then we have hope beyond the grave.

In John 12, Jesus, anticipating his crucifixion;

John 12:23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. … 27 ​“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”

The glory of Jesus is that he conquered death by dying. He died for our sins. He went down into the grave like a grain of barley, and he burst forth as the firstfruits of an abundant harvest.

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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org