First Fruits

Resurrection Day!

The Resurrection Story: Luke 241 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing; 5 and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living One among the dead? 6 "He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, 7 saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again." 8 And they remembered His words, 9 and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.

The Resurrection

• Found in TANAKH: Daniel 12:2,3 - • “Many of those sleeping in the dust of the

earth will awake, some to everlasting life and some to everlasting shame and abhorrence. But those who can discern will shine like the brightness of heaven’s dome, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.”

By the time of Yeshua, Not all Jews believed in a Resurrection

• The Sadducees, who only believed in the first FIVE books of the Bible (Torah), did NOT believe in the Resurrection.

Matthew 22:23-28

Acts 23:8

Yeshua’s Response: “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob”• God is the God of the Living, not the dead!

• Matthew 22:29-32

Yeshua’s Resurrection

• Essential to our own: He is the Firstfruits from the dead.– But each in his own order: “Christ the first

fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming” (1 Corinthians 15:23)

In short, if Yeshua did not Resurrect

• We will not either!

His Resurrection is the Sign of His Being the Messiah

• Look at Dynamic in Matthew 12:22-23

• Healing of the blind/mute man… All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, "This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?"

Matthew 12

• 24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons."

• 25 And knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them…

Same Incident…Not a New One

• 38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You."

It wasn’t as if He already didn’t give them a sign! He

healed the blind/mute man!

Sign – 3 Days AND 3 Nights

• 39 But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; 40 for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Sign – Greek - Semeion• Strong's Number:  4592  (say-mi'-on)• Parts of Speech - Noun •  Definition • a sign, mark, token

– that by which a person or a thing is distinguished from others and is known

– a sign, prodigy, portent, i.e. an unusual occurrence, transcending the common course of nature

• of signs portending remarkable events soon to happen • of miracles and wonders by which God authenticates the

men sent by him, or by which men prove that the cause they are pleading is God's.

THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS

• The Greek word for AND is Kai (ka-hee) Strong's Number:  2532 and it means:

AND

Not OR

More about that…

• Next Shabbat!

• In short, the “Good Friday” explanation of the crucifixion is not able to fit the “AND” criteria and the “AND” criteria is vital for the fulfillment of the sign.

The Pharisees Understood Clearly What He was saying!

• Matthew 27:• 62 Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the

chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, 63 and said, "Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, `After three days I am to rise again.' 64 "Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, `He has risen from the dead,' and the last deception will be worse than the first." 65 Pilate said to them, "You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how." 66 And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone.

Importance of His Resurrection

• His Resurrection is essential - Or our faith in Him is in vain.

His Resurrection is Critical to our Faith

• If Yeshua did not Rise: We are all lost in our sins.

• We might as well “eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die…”

• Why live a holy, moral life if we all end up the same and there is no resurrection!

Our Faith Rests Upon His Resurrection! 1 Corinthians 15

• 12 Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. 15 Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; 17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

Resurrected Messiah Seen by Many!

• To Mary Magdalene – John 20:14• To the women returning from the tomb –

Matthew 28:9,10• To Peter later in the day – Luke 24:34• To the Emmaus disciples – Luke 24:13-33• To the Apostles (Thomas absent) – Luke

24:36-43• To the Apostles (Thomas present) – John

20:26-29

Resurrected Messiah Seen by Many!

• To the seven by the Lake of Tiberias – John 21:1-3

• Was with them for 40 days! Acts 1:1-3

• At the Ascension – Acts 1:4-11

Shaul - 1 Corinthians 15

1 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; 7 then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; 8 and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

Witnesses Unto Death

• ALL of the original Disciples of the Messiah (except Judas and John) were martyred for their faith.

• NONE of them renounced the fact that they saw the risen Messiah!

Martyrdom of Apostles• Andrew: Martyrdom by crucifixion (bound, not nailed, to a cross).• Bartholomew (Often identified with Nathaniel in the New

Testament): Martyrdom by being either 1. Beheaded, or 2. Flayed alive and crucified, head downward.

• James the Greater: Martyrdom by being beheaded or stabbed with a sword.

• James the Lesser: Martyrdom by being thrown from a pinnacle of the Temple at Jerusalem , then stoned and beaten with clubs.

• Jude (Often identified with Thaddeus in the New Testament): Martyrdom by being beaten to death with a club.

• Matthew: Martyrdom by being burned, stoned, or beheaded.• Peter: Martyrdom by crucifixion at Rome with his head downwards.• Philip: Martyrdom.• Simon: Martyrdom by crucifixion or being sawn in half.• Thomas: Martyrdom by being stabbed with a spear.

In other words…

• …They all expected to see Him again in the resurrection! They all believed His words!

“I am the Resurrection”

• 17 So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off; 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother. 20 Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house. 21 Martha then said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 "Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You." 23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." 24 Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." 25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?" 27 She said to Him, "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.“ (John 11)

If Yeshua did not Rise, His claim is not True:

• …And He is not who He claimed to be!

Fulfillment of the Scriptures – Luke 24

44 Now He said to them, "These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." 45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and He said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

Yeshua’s Fulfillment of Another Holy Day

• He had just fulfilled Passover and Unleavened Bread on the cross, now He is to fulfill another Moed (appointed time).

• We don’t need a “new” holy day (such as Easter) to honor the Resurrection! God already built in that day in His Moedim!

The Resurrection Fulfilled First Fruits – NOT Easter!

• 20 “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.”

1 Corinthians 15

First Fruits! Leviticus 23

9 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 10 "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, `When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. 11 `He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.

Day after the Shabbat

• 15 `You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath…

He Rose on 1st Day of Week – After the Weekly Shabbat (7th Day)

• “Now after the Sabbath (7th Day), as it began to dawn toward the first {day} of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.”

Matthew 28:1

Conclusion: We Don’t Celebrate the Resurrection…

• With eggs, or rabbits, or other fertility symbols...

• With Sunrise services or baskets or candy or “hot crossed buns”…

And, in Fact, We don’t Celebrate…

• …The Feast as they did in the Temple Days, because there is NO Temple.

• Many Messianic Congregations don’t celebrate it at ALL! Since it was expressed in the Temple Service as a wave offering as we read in our parsha.

• But, we really need to honor this day!

We need to remember this Moed because our faith rests upon the

Messiah fulfilling it!

• So, Let us honor this Moed with joy, for our Messiah rose on this day!

• A promise toward our own Resurrection!

Because When a Believer Dies, it is different than when a Non-Believer

Dies!1 Thessalonians 4: 13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.