The Plain Truth about The Real Jesus

April 10, 2024

Today is the Feast of First Fruits--On the day of the feast there would be no servile work.

This was also observed on the first day of the week after the last day of Passover which could be any day of the week. There was a disagreement between the Pharisees and the Sadducees on this feast. The Pharisees and their rabbinic teachings considered the Passover as a Sabbath, meaning that this feast was to be observed the day after Passover. The Sadducees had the biblical approach that it was the first day of the week after the day of Passover. Passover could be any day of the week, but as the Lord gave the Feast of First Fruits, it was to be only on one day which was the first day of the week after Passover.

After testifying to the reality of Christ’s resurrection (v. 20), the second thing Paul addresses in 1 Corinthians 15 is the kingdom that Jesus inaugurated by his resurrection. Verse 20 says that the Jesus who was raised from the dead is “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”

Paul calls Christ the firstfruits of God’s harvest, a harvest of living souls who will be raised to life because of the atoning death of Jesus Christ. His resurrection is not just another resurrection. It is better than that as it is the firstfruit of a harvest that will cover the earth and include believers from more than two thousand years.

Paul describes the harvest in verses 21-23. It is all the people whom the Second Adam is giving life to. Notice how Paul contrasts Adam and Jesus.

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 15:21-23).

The Plain Truth about The Real Jesus

Listen to Bob Barney's take on just who Jesus was.