The life and death of Jesus had been in the works for centuries.
Three days and Jesus rose from the grave. 40 days and he ascended into Heaven. (This moment is pivotal BTW. It’s not his death or even his resurrection that was unique to him, but the ascension that set him apart.) 50 days and his disciples received the Holy Spirit.
When Jesus was crucified, it occured during a time of year when three of the most holy feasts occurred back to back. Passover, The Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the Feast of Weeks (or the Pentecost meaning “fifty”).
Passover was in remembrance of the sacrificial lamb during the Exodus story when the Israelites were rescued from slavery.
The feast of Unleavened Bread immediately followed Passover. When the Israelites fled Egypt, they left in such a hurry, they grabbed their dough before the yeast could be added.
33 The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. “For otherwise,” they said, “we will all die!” 34 So the people took their dough before the yeast was added – Exodus 12:33-34
The Feast of Unleavened Bread reminded the Israelites that they had to rely on God to bring the wheat out of the ground . Yeast is used throughout scripture to symbolize sin, and the Jewish people demonstrated with their meals what it meant to live “sin-free” by eliminating yeast from their foods.
The Feast of Weeks is a “harvest feast” and takes place exactly 50 days after the Feast of Firstfruits where people thanked God for the harvest that is to come.
Then Jesus was born.
Jesus was crucified on Passover, as the final “Passover Lamb” to die for our sins. He rose from the grave 3 days later, during The Feast of Unleavened Bread, a reminder of God’s provision and invitation to live free from the root of sin. The Israelites were given sustenance in the desert, but through Jesus we are given eternal life.
Jesus spent the next 40 days showing his scars and teaching his disciples before ascending to Heaven (Acts 1) . 50 days after he rose from the dead, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit (as promised in John 14) to his disciples at the start of The Feast of Weeks (aka Pentecost) to live in them and through them.
Through the 3,000 people (and the generations that have followed) that received the Holy Spirit that day, God continues to reap a Harvest for his kingdom. The kingdom that was meant to reign here on earth before we went and tried to rule it ourselves.
The kingdom of God is here and it is coming.