First Fruit
April 2025 - Bruce Fairbairn, Elder
Like a magnificent celestial conjunction of planets, three wondrous events converge in the coming days: (1) springtime continues toward its full blossoming; (2) we look forward to the blessings of Holy Week; and (3) Tax Day cometh. OK, I’m being a little facetious about that third point, but certainly the coming of Spring and Holy Week are times to rejoice, give thanks, and appreciate God’s good gifts. And, as it just so happens, Spring and Holy Week culminating in the Resurrection both share and illustrate the life-affirming, God-given power of Regeneration—renewal and new life in body and Spirit.
As a Midwestern boy born and bred, I love having four distinct seasons of the year and experiencing the interesting changes each bring. Changing seasons really enhance our sense of the rhythm of life and the passage of time in God’s great Creation. I enjoy the warm and languid days of summer, the beautiful colors and moderate temperatures in the fall, and the silent, crisp, serene carpeting of a snowy landscape. In springtime, it seems like life emerges from a long wintry nap. Renewed activity and growth are apparent everywhere in budding trees, colorful flowers, and the tiny chirping sounds from every bird’s nest.
As an agrarian people, the Hebrews were certainly well attuned to the rhythm of life and the changing seasons. In the springtime, the people offered God their firstfruits—the initial and best crops from the early harvests. In doing so, they showed obedience and gratitude for God’s past provision and their trust that God would continue to provide for them in future harvests. Firstfruits were dedicated at the Temple in the Feast of Firstfruits during Passover and subsequently at the Feast of Weeks during the Harvest Festival, a day we call Pentecost. (Refer to Leviticus 23:9-21 and Deuteronomy 26:1-11 for more information on firstfruits.)
In the New Testament, firstfruits are revealed as a harbinger of the resurrection of Christ and of those who believe in Him. Paul wrote “Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep…For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive…Christ the firstfruits, then, when he comes, those who belong to him.” (1 Corinthians 15: 20-23). Speaking to the new believers in Christ, James wrote that God “chose to give us birth through the word of truth (i.e. Christ), that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. (James 1:17-18)
In our Koinonia Bible study class, we often remark “there are no coincidences”; in other words, events that look to some as sheer happenstances are really the continued workings of God’s mighty eternal plan. The Hebrew word for first fruit is ‘bikkurim’, literally translated as “the promise to come.” Christ, the first and finest fruit of Creation, came into this world as the long-awaited promise ultimately fulfilled through the Resurrection, an unblemished lamb offered up in perfect trust of God’s future provision. And, during the Harvest Celebration, 1500 years after Moses gave the people the instructions for firstfruits, came the day we know as Pentecost—the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
When celebrating the Lord’s Supper this month on Sunday and Maundy Thursday, let’s welcome the flowering of springtime and the regenerative powers found in the cup of the New Covenant in Christ and through the continuing workings of the indwelling Spirit. And as believers in Christ, we are also instructed to bring God the very best of our lives and livelihoods, the firstfruits of our material possessions, spiritual gifts and time. The wise King Solomon instructed the Israelites (and us) to “Honor the LORD with your wealth and firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.” (Proverbs 3:9-10)
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