15:20 the firstfruits. At harvesttime the Israelites were required to bring an offering from the first part of the crop (Lev. 23:10). This offering was a token of the whole harvest, that all belonged to God. Jesus is called the “firstfruits” because His resurrection and the resurrection of believers are closely related events. Jesus was “the first to rise from the dead” (Acts 26:23), rising as our representative. His resurrection caused us to be raised spiritually (Rom. 6:4; Eph. 2:6), and at the same time guarantees that we will be raised bodily. Another use of the metaphor is found in Rom. 8:23 (cf. also 2 Cor. 1:22; 5:5; Eph. 1:14).