The Apostle Paul writes that Yeshua’s resurrection, which we celebrate at Easter, is the most significant event in history for believers (1 Cor. 15), as our faith would be meaningless without it (15:14).
Paul says that Jesus’ resurrection represents the firstfruits of those who have already died (I Cor. 15:20-23). Paul intentionally chooses the word “first fruits” as an allusion to the Jewish holiday by the same name. God commanded the nation of Israel to offer the first fruits of their harvest to Him on the first day following the Sabbath of Passover (Lev 23:9-14).
When God commanded the nation of Israel to offer the first fruits of their harvest, He was asking the nation to make a sacrifice of faith. If God had already provided the nation a bountiful initial harvest, then the nation could expect an even more bountiful harvest in the coming months. In the same way, Jesus’ resurrection gives us hope that we too will experience the resurrection in the future. For us as believers, the resurrection is not simply an historical event, but also a foretaste of what is to come in the future, when God gives us new, redeemed bodies.
