In Judaism the holiday of Shavuot began as a pilgrimage and first-fruits ceremony in the context of the Temple of Jerusalem. Bread baked with new wheat was offered to priests of the Temple, and the offerings symbolized the sanctity of the Holy Land. After the destruction of the Second Temple, the holiday became associated with the reception of the Torah but still retained agricultural themes in practice. Although there are harvest festivals in some Christian contexts, the idea of first fruits is significant metaphorically in New Testament writings as a description of redemption and salvation. St. Paul the Apostle, in particular, uses first-fruits imagery to describe Jesus and his followers.
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