Have you ever grown a vegetable garden? Every year my family puts in tomatoes, and sometimes Vietnamese vegetables like bitter melon and weird-looking squash. I don’t care for the way the squash tastes—we usually give it away—but I look forward to those first tomatoes. I eat them right there in the tomato patch, after wiping them clean on my shirt. Nothing ever tasted so good.
Those first tomatoes taste all the sweeter because I know what they mean—that many, many more are on the way, in just a week or two, when the kitchen will be overflowing, and people will be bringing boxes full to church. Those first tomatoes are the firstfruits—the warm, sweet guarantee of the rest of the crop. They are a sign of hope rewarded—the high point in the cycle from early spring faith to mid-summer reality.
This is why Jesus is called the firstfruits from the dead. He is the very first Person ever to rise from the dead, never to die again—living forever with the indestructible, joyful life of God’s children. He is the first—but He will not be the last. There is a huge crop coming—all the people of God who belong to Jesus. Everyone Jesus died and rose for, everyone who trusts in Him, will be part of that crop. We, too, will rise on the Last Day—complete again, body and soul. And we will rejoice.
Right now, to be sure, it’s still the planting season. And sometimes it is hard for us to imagine that far-off harvest, when all God’s people are alive again—when the cemeteries are empty and the universe rings with rejoicing. But it will happen. We have our firstfruits already to guarantee it—Jesus, our Savior.
THE PRAYER: Lord, especially when I’m grieving or afraid, help me to find hope and strength in Your resurrection. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Reflection Questions:
1. What “firstfruits” do you look forward to the most, either from your garden or in the market?
2. Do you often think about your future resurrection, or that of the people you love? Why or why not?
3. Does it help you to know that Jesus has already gone ahead of us through death and resurrection? Why or why not?