Fifty Days
Forward (Easter to Pentecost)
“He
rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures and ascended into
heaven.” This saying from the Nicene
Creed reflects 1 Corinthians 15:4. In
Genesis, God brought forth vegetation from the earth on day three (Gen 1:11-13). Christ himself is the firstfruits that arose from
the earth on the third day (1 Cor 15:20), yet this hope is also for a restored
Israel who turns to God in the last days (Hos 6:2). In Second Temple Judaism, the fifty days
between the Jewish Feast of Passover and the Feast of Shavuot (Weeks) came to
be known as Feast of Pentecost. In Early
Christianity, the time between Easter and Pentecost Sunday was also fifty
days. Pentecost was not an isolated feast day. The fifty days from the resurrection of
Christ, the firstfruits, to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the firstfruits (Rom
8:23) is Pentecost.
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| On the 16th of Nisan, a lamb was offered along with the sheaf of the firstfruits of the harvest, which was taken from the land of Israel (Lev 23:9-14). After counting 50 days, an offering of firstfruits (two loaves) was presented to the Lord on the Feast of Shavuot, Weeks, Pentecost (vv. 15-22). |
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