TL;DR

"But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ... But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming."
1 Corinthians 15:20, 23

"For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches." Romans 11:16

The primary connection between Christ and this day are covered in the above verses. I will further explain what Firstfruits was for below, but the gist is that it is the very first harvested sheaf of the barley harvest. The priest would wave this sheaf before God and offer it, thus enabling the rest of the barley to be acceptable for harvest. Likewise, Christ is the firstfruits of the dead. He was raised from the dead, ascended to God, and was accepted. Therefore, since He was accepted, we (the rest of the harvest) are accepted as well.

For an overview of why the feasts are still important, see: The Feasts

What is Firstfruits?

The feast of Firstruits is actually the first of 3 festivals which are called "firstfruits". The second is Pentecost and the third is Tabernacles. The idea of the firstfruits is that the first part of a harvest is offered to God, which then sanctifies the rest of the harvest.

The feast of Firstfruits is the first day of the week after Passover (which can itself be any day of the week) and during the feast of Unleavened Bread. It is the firstfruits of the barley harvest. God's calendar is based on the cycle of the moon, but also agriculture. Therefore, it always occurs in the first month with Passover being on the 14th day of the month, then firstfruits on the following Sunday.

In the Old Testament (Tanakh) it seems to be a somewhat minor day on God’s yearly calendar.

• It’s not a Sabbath and there is no convocation required.
• It is completely overlooked in the detailed descriptions of the feasts in Numbers 28+29.
• There is only one lamb that is to be offered, which is less than the other feasts, which usually require at least a bull and 7 lambs.
• It is even less than the daily offerings that took place in the temple.
• It didn't even have a name like "Passover", "Feast of Weeks", "Feast of booths"...
  • We call it firstfruits, but Shavuot and Tabernacles is also a feast of firstfruits.
• Even though it falls within the week of Unleavened bread, it does not explicitly link to the Exodus from Egypt the way Passover and Unleavened bread do. It is possible that they crossed the sea on Firstfruits, but it's not stated.

However, the day is actually very important for the simple fact that until the Firstfruits is offered, no grain was to be eaten from the fields. As I mentioned before, the firstfruits offering makes the rest of the harvest acceptable/sanctified.

Rather than being directly connected to the Exodus (exiting), it is connected more with the entrance into the Promised land. In fact, they did not celebrate Firsfruits when they were wandering in the desert.

• This is because it’s a feast relating to the harvest.
• They did not have fields when they were in the desert.
• They ate manna only and perhaps whatever animals God happened to provide along the way.

If Passover represents deliverance from oppression. Firstfruits represents the blessing of being placed into an established territory. The grain that the people of Israel first ate when they entered the promised land was from fields that they had now plowed or sown (Joshua 24:13).

Protocol

So what happens on this day? Leviticus 23:9-14 tells us.

• A sheaf of grain was harvested and brought to the priest. The grain was most likely barley, which, in Israel, becomes ripe about the time of Passover.
• The priest would wave or “present” the sheaf before the Lord. At the same time there would be a burnt offering of a lamb along with a grain and a drink offering.
• The rest of the harvest could then be eaten.
• The following seven Sabbaths would be counted, followed by Pentecost.

“Now the children of Israel camped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight on the plains of Jericho. And they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover, unleavened bread and parched grain, on the very same day. Then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year.”
Joshua 5:10-12

Joshua, who was diligent to keep the commands of God would have known to offer the wave offering before they ate of the land in accordance with Leviticus 23.

Further connection to Christ

How is the resurrection of Christ similar to the Feast of Firstfruits?
The day itself came and went with relatively little fanfare outside of the circle of close disciples.

Think about that. Christ’s trial and crucifixion occurred publicly before all of Jerusalem. He was tried before a great crowd and was lifted up on a hill for all to see as he was executed.

What about his resurrection?

No one actually saw it happen. Who witnessed that he was risen? The band of soldiers in front of the tomb who then went and told the religious leaders. They were paid to lie and say they fell asleep.

The disciples didn’t find out until the women went to anoint the body. They doubted at first, then one by one they either went to the tomb, or Christ finally appeared to most of them late in the day. As it says in Luke as Jesus talked with the disciples on the road to Emmaus, they invited him to stay with them saying, “the day is far spent”. It was after this that Jesus appeared to the other disciples.

So this means that most of the day they were in shock and wonder, not even certain that he had actually been raised from the dead or not.

So, at the time, it did not seem to be a momentous day to most people. The crowds that hailed him as king during his entrance into Jerusalem the week before had no idea what had taken place.

But like Firstfruits, in actuality, the day had the utmost importance. “You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.”

Eating is pretty important.

Christ was risen from the dead. The sheaf was raised up to God by the Levitical priest.

Christ is a priest after the order of Melchizedek. He being both the high priest and the offering, he offered himself up as a sub offering to God, and so God gave him the power to take up his life again. The fact that he rose from the dead means that his life was an acceptable offering to God.

"Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”
John 10:17,18

Because he was raised from the dead, we that are in Him have the guarantee that we too will be raised from the dead and have eternal life with Him.

“But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.”
1 Corinthians 15:20-24

Now, it says "those who are Christ's"

There is a great harvest coming, where all souls will be reaped from the earth, but not everything reaped will be kept by God.

In that day there will be a separation between the wheat and the tares.

Do you remember the parable (Matthew 1324-30)? How do we know if we are a wheat or a tare?

Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”
Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
John 11:20-26

That is the question that all men must answer.

Will you put your hope in your own deeds to earn eternal life, never accepting the gift of God in Jesus Christ? Or will you put your hope and faith in him, who is the resurrection and the life?

Those are the only options. The answer of pride and self-sufficiency leading to despair, or the answer of brokenness and acknowledgement of your own need, leading to fellowship with the author of life itself.

This restored fellowship is based on this simple fact alone - that he gave his life as a pure and holy offering, and was accepted by God. This is signified by the fact that he had the power to rise again from the dead.

May we answer with Martha “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
John 17:1-3

As important it was for Yeshua to rise from the dead, Firstfruits begins the count to another day called Pentecost ("Shavuot," the Feast of Weeks).