Grace Covenant Church Of Mid Missouri

1 week ago

Nisan 18 (First Day of the Week)

This corresponds to Sunday, beginning Saturday at sundown through Sunday sundown. The Feast of First Fruits was biblically observed on the day after the Sabbath during Unleavened Bread. In the timing of that year, Nisan 18, the Sunday morning, was the Feast of First Fruits (the “morrow after the Sabbath” of Lev. 23:11, interpreted by many to be the Sunday after Passover week). Fittingly, the Gospels record a sequence of events on this day: just before dawn, an earthquake and angelic appearance occurred, rolling away the tomb’s stone (Matthew 28:1-4). Women arrived at the tomb at dawn and found it empty; Jesus had risen (Matthew 28:5-6, John 20:1). Jesus then began appearing to His followers: first to Mary Magdalene (John 20:14-17), then to other women (Matthew 28:8-10), then to two disciples on the road to Emmaus by afternoon (Luke 24:13-31), and later that evening to a group of disciples behind closed doors (John 20:19). It was a day of astonishment and joy—the Lord had truly risen. Notably, that very Sunday was likely the Feast of First Fruits, when according to Leviticus 23:10-11 the priest would wave the first sheaf of the barley harvest before God as an offering of the firstfruits. Jesus’ resurrection on this day embodies the fulfillment of First Fruits: “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20, NKJV). In God’s providence, Jesus, the firstborn from the dead, rose on the very feast day celebrating the firstfruits of the harvest. This was not a coincidence, but part of a pattern of prophetic fulfillment. ... See MoreSee Less