On the feast of firstfruits
Leviticus 23:14 - "You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God..."
Timing of this feast is unclear to me, but it was to be on Sunday (vs 11). Many say it was the day after the feast of Unleavened Bread, which started the day after Passover. In the year Jesus died, this makes a very clear pattern: Passover on Thursday night/Friday, when Jesus died as our lamb, Unleavened Bread on Friday night/Saturday when the sinless seed was planted in the ground (entombed), Firstfruits on Sunday when Jesus came up out of the ground the first crop, resurrection alive to God. He is our firstfruits, 1 Corinthians 15:20 tells us.
But what I missed before was verse 14, above. Israel was not to eat bread until they offered the firstfruits sacrifice. When they were to begin refraining from bread isn't clear, but I see now why some Christian traditions fast from Good Friday until Easter Sunday morning.
After all, we are all one loaf, one body (1 Cor 10:17), and when one part of the body suffers, we all suffer.
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