Jesus has indeed been raised from the dead! (See previous BDBDs). Paul points out that Jesus is the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. This is no mere miracle considering the Hebrew calendar and the year of Jesus’ death, burial, and bodily resurrection.
The Passover, according to Old Testament law, was to be eaten at twilight on the 14th day of the Hebrew first month (Leviticus 23:9). The 15th day, the Lord’s Feast of Unleavened Bread begins (Leviticus 23:10). Therefore, every year these two feasts fall on different days of the week. One year the Passover could be on a Monday, and the next year it could be on the Sabbath (our Saturday).
The Feast of First Fruits is when the high priest presents the first sheaf of the spring harvest to the Lord at the temple. The spring harvest is the barley harvest in the western Mediterranean lands. The priest is to wave the sheaf on the day after the Sabbath after the Passover (Leviticus 23:9-11). Then he is to burn it. Therefore, the Feast of First Fruits will always be on a Sunday, just as Easter is always on a Sunday! Jesus, as well as Scripture, says that he would be in the tomb three Hebrew days. (They start at sunrise and end at sunset.)
The combination of these could only be fulfilled that year, making Jesus the true first fruit of those who have fallen asleep. Only one year in Jesus’ entire earthly life was it possible for all these to be fulfilled! In other words, the Passover had to be eaten on a Thursday evening, he had to be dead and in the tomb before sunset the next day, Friday, he had to remain in the tomb the entire Sabbath rest, and he had to rise on the third day at sunrise and appear before God his Father in heaven as the first fruit of those who will rise from the dead after him on that same day.
This is why the just risen Jesus told Mary Magdalene, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father.” (John 20:17) After she left, he appeared in heaven to God his Father as the first fruit! Jesus perfectly fulfilled the law concerning the spring feasts, including the Feast of First Fruits.
