Jesus is the firstfruit of those who have fallen asleep, which parallels those who will be made alive in Christ and further aligns with those who belong to him at this coming. For you who believe in Christ, who rest in him, Jesus is the firstfruit of your own personal resurrection.

But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. — 1 Corinthians 15:20-23

Resurrection is supposed to be happy news, a celebration of joyful victory and sweet reunion. Yet, you can’t reach the shores of the resurrection without passing through the bitter trenches of death. So it was when Jesus raised Lazarus. Before he could call his friend from the tomb, Jesus was brought to tears with Lazarus’s two distraught sisters. And so it is with Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians. As he displays the glory of the resurrection before us, he does so mindful of our grief and with the aim to comfort.

Some saints in Corinth were skeptical of Christ’s own resurrection.

In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul is dealing with an issue that some of the saints of Corinth had—they were saying there is no resurrection. Some of them may have been skeptical of Christ’s own resurrection, but the chief sticking point seems to be our own resurrection. Surely, the average Christian is not raised from the dead. And it is definitely not a bodily resurrection.

Paul makes the point that if there is no resurrection, if those who died have perished forever, if we hope in Christ only in this life, then we are the most pitiful people ever. If there is no resurrection, then the whole Christian religion is pointless, a hoax, a waste. This is how important the resurrection is to our faith.

For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hopein this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. (1 Cor. 15:16-19)

Next, Paul transitions to make a positive point. He declares a factual assertion: “But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead” (1 Cor. 15:20a). Paul states as a fact of history that Christ was resurrected. Jesus was once dead; he was laid in the ground and covered with the stone door of death.

But he did not stay dead; he did not remain under the power of death like every human before him. Jesus was raised—it is a fact of history, an actual event of our physical world. The popular religions in Corinth within the Roman world believed all sorts of things and stories about the gods and goddesses.

The problem, though, was that these religious sagas were just that, stories. They were fiction, make-believe fantasy novels. They didn’t actually happen. Not so with Christ and his resurrection.

Christ is indeed risen from the dead.

Beloved saints, your faith is not based on a nice, emotional story that gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling; it is not founded upon a myth, on fake news, on a conspiracy story, or upon wishful thinking. Rather, your faith is established on a true fact. Jesus Christ has been raised. God acted marvelously in history to raise Jesus Christ from the dead to be alive forevermore.

After stating this fact boldly, Paul adds a line of description:

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. (1 Cor. 15:20).

Christ was raised as the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. Paul labels and characterizes Jesus’ resurrection as the firstfruits. But how is Jesus’ resurrection a firstfruit? And what is meant by firstfruit?

What is meant by the word “firstfruit”?

This idea of firstfruit comes from the Old Testament. Now, the basic idea of firstfruit is just like it sounds: it referred to the first ripe/processed fruit of the harvest. Let’s say that you are living during the time of the old (Mosaic) covenant administration and have an acre of fig trees, and from your first picking you get a bushel (firstfruit). Or perhaps you have a plot of grapes, and the first jug of wine finished is your firstfruit.

Firstfruits were often considered some of the best of a harvest—they were to be given to God as an offering. That first bushel of figs had to be handed over to the Lord. Yet, aside from this general idea of firstfruits, there was actually a special day of firstfruits on Israel’s calendar.

Israel had a special day called “the day of firstfruits.”

Generally, firstfruits could be brought at any time, but one day on the sacred calendar of Israel received the label of “the day of firstfruits” (Num. 28:26). And because this is a calendar day, Paul’s first point is one of history. Jesus was raised not just as a firstfruit, but on the day of firstfruits. Yet, when did this day fall on Israel’s calendar?

The day of firstfruits came in the first month, during a festive season. First, there was Passover on the fourteenth day of the month. The next day, the fifteenth, was the first day of Unleavened Bread, which was a special day of convocation that could be called a sabbath. Then, on the next day of the sixteenth fell the Day of Firstfruits. So the order was Passover, Unleavened Bread, Day of Firstfruits—the 14th, 15th, 16th—1,2,3.

Jesus was raised on the third day.

You can see how Leviticus 23:9-14 is an Old Testament text that pointed to Jesus’s resurrection on the third day. In 1 Corinthians 15:4, Paul writes that Jesus rose from the dead on the third day according to the Scriptures. Yet, what Old Testament text predicted a third day resurrection?  Well, by calling Christ’s resurrection a firstfruit, Paul echoes Leviticus 23.

Indeed, think of your history. Jesus died on Passover, the fourteenth day, as the true Passover lamb. The next day, the fifteenth, was a high Sabbath, meaning the weekly Sabbath aligned with the festival convocation of the Unleavened Bread. This is when Jesus lay in the tomb and the disciples waited at home. Then, on the sixteenth, the day of firstfruits, the women ran to the tomb and found it empty.

This means that Sunday is both the Day of Resurrection and the Day of Firstfruits. Just as God linked Jesus’ death to the fulfillment of Passover, so he tied his resurrection to the fulfillment of the day of firstfruits. Our Lord’s resurrection is both an event of history and the fulfillment of one of the Old Testament’s ancient promises.

Our Lord’s resurrection is not a firstfruit just for its historical value, but also for its meaning.

Here you have further evidence for your faith that you should not doubt, but rest confidently and joyfully in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul labels our Lord’s resurrection as a firstfruit not just for its historical value, but also for its meaning. Firstfruit describes the nature and character of his resurrection.

So, what was the day of firstfruits all about? Again we see how the Lord worked out the truth of our redemption within the realities of the lives of his people. Passover fell right at the beginning of the barley harvest, and the offering brought on the day of firstfruits was a sheaf or bundle of barley.

And this barley offering did two things. First, it opened up the harvest season for food. Before this day, the Lord prohibited Israel from eating any of the new harvest; they could only eat last year’s crop. Yet, with the day of firstfruits and the barley sheaf, the harvest could officially begin; they could now taste the sweetness of fresh new grain.

Read More