First Fruits
This year, 2016, Easter was celebrated on Sunday, March 27th. Since none of us were there for the resurrection of Christ, and we will not see those that were there until the second coming of Christ, it is impossible to know exactly when the Resurrection of Christ occurred. But today, Resurrection Sunday or Easter is defined as the first Sunday after the first full moon, after the spring equinox. Since the spring equinox, the time when the sun apparently crosses the equator, is always March 21st, the earliest that Easter could every be is March 22nd. This year, the first spring moon occurred on March 23rd which then put Easter on March 27th.
But, as we studied the bible, we realized that Christ’s institution of the eucharist occurred at the end of the Passover meal. As this is written, we are approaching Ascension Day and Pentecost, the birthday of the Christian church when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles and the early members of the Christian church in the form of tongues of fire per Acts 2. But, this year Resurrection Sunday came very early, and Passover was not celebrated until April 22nd -30th. Our curiosity was getting the best of us.
As we studied further, we found that Pentecost and the Jewish holiday of Shavuot should theoretically fall at the same time. Pentecost is supposedly 49 days after Easter. Shavuot, the Festival of First Fruits, is 50 days after the Passover. Shavuot celebrates the giving of the law, Resurrection Sunday is the fulfillment of the law, and Pentecost is the spreading of the salvation from Christ’s resurrection to the rest of us, the Gentiles. The penalty for violating the laws of God is eternal separation from God, but because of the shedding of Christ’s blood and the work of the Holy Spirit, we never have to face an eternal death that should be ours. Thanks be to God.
All I(Shary) asked was what Shavuot was as I have been reading a series of books on biblical history and this came up and I had no idea what it was, in spite of the fact that I grew up with a Jewish family next door and they would invite me to their celebrations. This one I missed somewhere.
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