The firstfruits of the harvest

Letting Jesus inform Paul's use of "firstfruits" (aparchē)

Sep 30, 2023

“We live between Advent and Advent; the first great Advent, the coming of the Son into the world, and a second Advent, when he shall come again in power and glory to judge the living and the dead. That's why Advent is sometimes quite confusing, preparing for the birth of Jesus and at the same time preparing for the time when God makes all things new, when the whole cosmos has its exodus from slavery. That apparent confusion, that overlap of the first and second advents, is actually what Christianity is all about: celebrating the decisive victory of God, in Jesus Christ, over Pharaoh and the Red Sea, over sin and death—and looking for, and working for, and longing for, and praying for, the full implementation of that decisive victory. Every Eucharist catches exactly this tension. ‘As often as you break the bread and drink the cup, you proclaim, you announce, the death of the Lord—until He comes’ (1 Corinthians 11:26).” — N.T. Wright

1In a previous post, I alluded to the way Jesus’ use of “fruit” (karpos) in John is useful in informing our understanding of the fruit of the Spirit in Gal 5:22-25 and potentially enlightens our reading of other passages as well. Now, it’s time to put that theory to the test—let’s take Jesus’ words from John and try to use it to help understand Paul’s use of “firstfruits” (aparchē). Before we reopen John, however, we need to do a brief overview of aparchē (and a related word, archē) in the Old Testament.

Aparchē in the Old Testament

Excluding non-canonical books, aparchē shows up 57 times in the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament, quoted by the New Testament authors). Aparchē and archē, depending on context, were both go-to choices to translate the Hebrew word reshith by the Septuagint translators.

Although aparchē in its most ancient contexts seemed to refer primarily to the gift of produce or currency in an offering of thanksgiving (to an individual or at a temple), it evolved into a more generic word for any offering.2 For example, it is used in Leviticus for the grain offering:

You will not make any sacrifice that you present to the Lord with leaven, for you will not offer any leaven or any honey from it as a burnt sacrifice to the Lord. You will offer them to the Lord as a gift of firstfruits, but they will not be presented on the altar as a sweet-smelling odor to the Lord.
Lev 2:11-12 (LES3), emphasis added

Aparchē was associated with Pentecost (Festival of Weeks) in particular. After Passover and entering the Promised Land, they were to offer the firstfruits of their harvest to the priest along with an unblemished lamb:

Whenever you enter into the land, which I myself am giving to you, and reap its produce, then you will bring a sheaf, the firstfruits of your harvest, to the priest. And he will offer up the sheaf in the presence of the Lord, acceptable on your behalf. On the next day after the first, the priest will offer it up. And on the day in which you offer up the sheaf, you will offer an unblemished sheep of a year old for a whole burnt offering to the Lord.
Lev 23:10-13 (LES), emphasis added

Aparchē was also connected to the idea of consecrated firstborn sons:

You shall not fall short regarding the firstfruits from the threshing floor and your winepress; you shall give me the firstborn of your sons.
Exod 22:29 (LES), emphasis added

As I mentioned above, Hebrew reshith is not always translated with aparchē; sometimes archē is used instead (e.g. Gen 1:1). One relevant example would be this description of Pentecost:

And you shall observe the Festival of Weeks for me, the firstfruits of the wheat harvest and beginning of gathering in the middle of the year.
Exod 34:22 (LES), emphasis added

We could keep going, but I think you get the point. Before we jump into the New Testament, let’s resituate ourselves with some puzzle pieces covered last week in John:

Jesus gives himself for us as an offering
This offering of Jesus enables us to produce fruit, so long as Jesus remains in us
Jesus is the bread of life (like a grain offering, except granting us eternal life)
Jesus is a grain of wheat that had to die to produce fruit
We are asked to die as well, if we want to produce fruit

Aparchē in the New Testament

The word only shows up 8 times (usually all translated as something like “firstfruits”) in the New Testament, mostly by Paul (Rom 8:23, 11:16, 16:5; 1 Cor 15:20, 15:23, 16:15). James also uses it once (James 1:18), as does John in Revelation (Rev 14:4). We will focus on Paul’s use of aparchē for time’s sake.

Paul uses aparchē in a few ways. Converts to Christianity are referred to as “firstfruits,” but only in letters where the word had been used earlier in interesting ways (Rom 16:5; 1 Cor 16:15). In Romans, aparchē is first used to refer to the gift of the Holy Spirit, which is intentionally conflated with Christ Himself in the same passage (Rom 8:1-11), and it’s associated with the rebirth of creation and believers:

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. (Rom 8:22-23)4

The aparchē of the Spirit promises rebirth, resurrection (cf. John 3:3, 6:40). Of course, resurrection is only possible if we die (cf. John 12:24-26, 15:12-16).

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Later in Romans, aparchē is used again in an enigmatic way as Paul reminds his audience that Jews and Gentiles are equal members of the body of believers, which is represented by an olive tree. His point, I think, is Jesus has made all branches of the tree holy:

If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches. (Rom 11:16)

The dough is analogous to a grain offering; both the dough and root are probably references to Jesus. Remind you of John 6 and John 15 much?

If we abide in Christ and He in us, then we are the branches of the olive tree He sustains. We are united with Christ in more ways than one; this is why Paul can call Christian converts “firstfruits” (Rom 16:5, 1 Cor 16:15). We bear the image of Jesus in being like grain offerings, in being like the kernel of wheat that dies in order to bear fruit. We present our “bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” and are thus transformed (Rom 12:1-2).

In 1 Corinthians, it is Jesus who is explicitly called the firstfruits (1 Cor 15:20-23), which makes sense given that the Spirit is also called the firstfruits and lines between Christ and the Spirit are always blurry. If we remember Jesus was the kernel of wheat that had to die to be resurrected and produce fruit (John 12:23-24) and truly be the bread of life we eat to get eternal life, calling Jesus the aparchē makes even more sense.

Of course, we can’t forget the “Spirit of Christ” (Rom 8:9) was first poured out on believers at Pentecost—the Festival of Weeks (Acts 2). As Paul makes abundantly clear in Romans, we are united with Christ through baptism. Having died with Him, we are resurrected with Him, bearing fruit and becoming transformed into a sort of firstfruits ourselves alongside Jesus. This is why Paul can refer to converts to Christianity as firstfruits.

Christ is the aparchē, the wheat that was given as an offering for us. “Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor 15:20). Paul understood this was associated with our resurrection, our being made like Christ, and that death was necessary, saying, “I die every day!” (1 Cor 15:31).

“One must pay dearly for immortality: one has to die several times while still alive.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

5We can be more than mere sinful mortals—yet not by our own power but by the power of the Spirit within us.

What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain…Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. (1 Cor 15:36-49)6

Is it mere coincidence that Paul chose to use wheat as his example? I doubt it.

When Jesus gave Himself as an offering of firstfruits for us, He reversed our situation. Instead of giving a grain offering to God above, He became one for us, telling us to eat of Him and share everlasting life. Lastly, some words from James:

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. (James 1:17-18)

The Layman

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