First Fruits Transformed

In the Jewish custom, the first fruits of the harvest were set aside as a religious offering. While a spiritual offering of thanks, the first fruits, or bikkurim, also served as a means of maintaining the temple, much like a tithe. Jews would offer the first fruits of the wheat, barley, wine, figs, pomegranates, olive oil, and dates.

Our harvest festivals have become fall festivals, seasonal and secular, as most of us are detached from the growing and harvesting of our food. But even if we don’t produce food ourselves, I think it would be beneficial to stay mindful of the rhythm and long work that goes into our food. And, joining generations, as food is harvested, people will want to celebrate their bounty and give thanks to God. For feast days that fall during autumn, or feast days which lend themselves to celebration of harvest, they become a way to join the material and spiritual—the food we need to sustain us and the Lord who provided.

For the Jews, harvest fell between their holidays of Shavuot and Sukkot. Shavout marks when Moses received the Torah at Mount Sinai. The word shavuot means “seven weeks” as it also marks the days of the grain harvest from the barley harvest (around Passover) to the wheat harvest. The counting of the time as the wheat grows also represents the anticipation of the people of Israel between being freed from Egypt and receiving the Torah.

Sukkot, or the Festival of Booths, commemorates Israel’s time of wandering in the desert. It also marks end the end of the harvest season. Sukkah means booth or tabernacle and is a temporary structure in which farmers would live during the harvest. It calls to mind the temporary and transitory dwellings during the exodus.

In the book of Exodus, there are three feasts requiring pilgrimage and offerings: Passover, “feast of the grain harvest with the first fruits of the crop that you sow in the field; and finally, the feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you collect your produce from the fields” (Exodus 23:16).

Roughly, the Christian calendar celebrates Easter the same time as Passover and Pentecost (named for counting the 50 days) the same time as Shavuot. The Feast of the Archangels is celebrated roughly the same time as Sukkot. Yet it is the Feast of the Transfiguration, celebrated about a month sooner, that ties more into Sukkot.

Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up Mount Tabor. He reveals his divinity and appears with Moses and Elijah. Peter’s response is to build three booths for them—not because it was Sukkot (they would have been in Jerusalem if it had been) but because he wanted them to stay. Peter wanted the moment to last long enough to need shelter, for them to hand down a message, like Moses receiving the Torah, or for them to fulfill a messianic mission. Peter was ready for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah to do work on earth—to harvest souls.

Of course, the transfiguration was not that moment. It was only a quick glimpse into the divine. But the Feast of the Transfiguration acknowledges that just a glimpse can be enough to change everything. Peter, James, and John had seen Jesus’ divinity. His ministry was indeed more than that or a moral teacher or even a prophet. It was more than they even knew; it was a bounty.

In Christian Europe, harvest offerings of fruits, herbs, and wine were often done on the Transfiguration. In the Byzantine Empire there was tradition to bless harvested grapes at the Feast of the Transfiguration. In Slavic tradition, the Transfiguration is called the Apple Feast of the Savior. It is one of three feasts in August when food items are blessed in the church—the others are the Honey Feast (Aug. 14) and the Nut Feast (Aug. 29). The land is bounteous during this season, offering up what we need to sustain us through the trails of winter.

Christians are not religiously required to offer their harvest or first fruits, yet harvest is still marked with blessings and thanksgivings. And although most of us are detached from the agricultural seasons, we should mark times of thanks for our prosperity. If we did, not only would we be more grateful, but we would be more mindful of the offering of wheat and grapes on the altar and kept safe in the tabernacle (sukkah): Christ in the Eucharist.

"But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.” – Corinthians 15:20.