Acts 17:1-3
‘They came to Thessalonica where was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered and risen again from the dead…. “This Jesus Whom I preach to you, is Christ!” And some of them believed.’ Acts 17:1-3.
Calvin comments: “It is evident from…(Paul’s) preaching Christ at Thessalonica, after having been beaten and hardly escaping from great danger at Philippi, how unbroken he was in his determination to hold to the course of his calling…. Paul did not labour in human fashion…. He was equipped with the heavenly power of the Spirit….
“Notwithstanding the fact that he had so often experienced the ungovernable obstinacy of the Jews, he did go in among them and continued to be concerned about their salvation…. He commits the outcome of his labour to the Lord…. Straightaway on that first sabbath, there were already some who refused the sound doctrine — but their perverseness did not prevent him from coming back on
other sabbaths!…
“Jesus the Son of Mary is the Christ promised in time past in the Law and the Prophets, Who made atonement for the sins of the world by the sacrifice of His death and brought righteousness and life by His resurrection!… Luke says that he (Paul) argued from the Scriptures….
“Assent must be given to God alone…. Scripture originated from God. The rule of either teaching or learning, was bound to be derived from no other source….
“The Jews admit Paul, and bear with him as he argues from the Scripture…. Today, more light appears in the Scriptures. And the truth of God shines out more clearly in them, than in the Law and the Prophets (alone). For in the Gospel, Christ the Sun of Righteousness shines upon us with full splendour…. Faith can be founded nowhere else than in the Word of the Lord, so in all controversies we must take our stand only on its evidence….
“He (Paul) describes…the subject…, and posits two statements about the Christ — that it was necessary for Him to die and rise again; and that He is the son of Mary Who had been crucified. When there is a dispute about the Christ, three questions arise — whether He does exist; Who He is; and what is His nature….
“There was no doubt…among Jews…(that) a Mediator had been promised…. Because there was nothing more difficult than for Jews to acknowledge the crucified Jesus as Redeemer — Paul therefore begins from this aspect…. There were obvious reasons why Christ had to suffer and rise again…. (Paul) spoke publicly about the ruin of the human race, about sin and its punishment…. Scripture also recalls us to these things, when it foretells the death…and resurrection of Christ….
“‘Some of them believed!’… Paul…proved…to all that Jesus is the Christ Who reconciled the Father…by His death…, Whose resurrection is the life of the world!” Paul proved this! For you?
