John Calvin Commentary Acts 13:27

"For they that dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath, fulfilled [them] by condemning [him]." — Acts 13:27 (ASV)

He wisely, and in due time, prevents an offense which might have been a great hindrance to their faith. For Jerusalem was God’s sanctuary, the king’s seat, the fountain of truth, and the light of the whole world; but Christ was put to death there.

Furthermore, nothing could seem more absurd to consider than to receive him who was cast out of the temple of God, and to seek the doctrine of salvation anywhere else than from where God himself had testified it was to come.

Moreover, by believing in Christ, they seemed to make a departure from the Church. Therefore, this one objection was strong enough to refute all Paul’s sermon: Why do you force upon us, under the guise of God’s covenant, a man whom the principal part of the holy people condemned?

Paul answers this objection, lest it hinder the course of the gospel; and not only that, but he also turns it to the contrary. For since the author of life was despised and rejected at Jerusalem, Paul exhorts the men of Antioch, at least those among them who feared God, to receive him all the more joyfully.

For the causal word declares this, as if he had said: Since Jerusalem did not know her good, it behooves you to be all the more awakened and inflamed, lest the same unthankfulness and obstinacy be found in you.

But he uses another reason to remove the offense, namely, that their ungodliness was so far from diminishing in any way Christ’s divine excellency, that it should rather serve to prove and establish it.

For how is Christ better revealed than by the fact that everything foretold in the Law and Prophets was fulfilled in him? (Luke 24:25–26).

Furthermore, what did the enemies of Christ achieve, except that in him shone the plain truth of the Scripture? Christ had to be rejected by the leaders, for it was so foretold:

The stone which the builders refused hath
God made the head of the corner, (Psalms 118:22).

It was necessary for Christ to be condemned among the wicked, so that he might acquit us before God. It was fitting that sins should be laid upon him, so that he might make satisfaction for them; that he should be offered upon the cross, so that the shadowy sacrifices of the law might cease. For even the Scripture contained these things (Isaiah 53:4–5; Daniel 9:26).

Therefore, the more violently the leaders of the people sought to extinguish Christ, they did indeed prove him to be Christ, and the Lord wonderfully frustrated them, so that their obstinate impiety edifies the faith of the godly more than it destroys it.

Almost all offenses that lead weak and unstable souls away from Christ are of the same sort; for if they would thoroughly ponder the whole process of God’s work, they would find grounds for confirmation where they now lose heart.

Therefore, it happens for the most part that we are troubled with offenses and stumbling blocks because, while we behold those things which belong to Christ with dim-sighted eyes, we imagine that to be black which is white.

And we see how far Paul is from dissimulation, and how freely he professes the truth of the matter: that Christ was hated not only by the common people but also by the chief leaders, and that he was not hissed at by a few but oppressed by the wicked conspiracy of the whole people.

That was hard and hateful in the initial struggle; but Paul counters with a more powerful argument: that God used them against their wills as a touchstone by which he might test his Son.

Since the gospel stands in the same state today, let us, with Paul, not be ashamed to confess that the proud princes of the world, and those who hold the greatest influence in the Church, are the deadly enemies of Christ, seeing that this turns more to Christ’s praise than to His reproach; for in this way the Scripture is fulfilled.

Seeing they knew him not. Though deliberate malice compelled the rulers to oppress Christ, yet Paul truly imputes it to ignorance, because otherwise they would never have crucified the Lord of glory (1 Corinthians 2:8). For the malice of the wicked is like a raging madness, and in seeing, it does not see.

Undoubtedly, we need not doubt that they were deprived of a sound mind and the light of the Spirit, those who were not afraid to fight against God to their own destruction.

Again, he confronts them sharply with ignorance of the Scripture. Lest anyone should object that he speaks of some obscure and unknown manner, he also adds that he speaks of no other prophecies than those which are read every Sabbath day.

It is as if to say that the oracles of Scripture are very plain and known even to the most ignorant, and yet they did not know them.

Thus Paul teaches how monstrous their unbelief was, so that he may make the hearers loathe it. By this example we are taught that although the Lord appears to us through the Scripture, yet not all people have eyes.

After that, the dullness of the nation also grew more pronounced, as Paul says elsewhere, that there is a veil put before their face, that they cannot see Moses when he is present (2 Corinthians 3:15).

Meanwhile, we must note that we are called back to the Scripture, lest the authority of great men deceive us. Nor is there any reason why anyone, forming a prejudice for himself based on the wicked intentions of others, should think he is acquitted.

For Paul exhorts the men of Antioch to judge from the Scripture against the masked governors of the Church. For this reason it is given, so that it may be read; and reading is not appointed in vain by the Lord, but so that all godly people may profit from it and judge what is right.

This they fulfilled. So we see that not only creatures lacking understanding, but even the devil himself, and also the wicked, are subject to the power of God, so that He may execute through them what He has decreed with Himself.

We had the same in the third and fourth chapters (Acts 3:23; Acts 4:28): that when the enemies of Christ raged most fiercely to destroy him, they still could not achieve their purpose. Instead, they brought about with their own hands what God had determined in His counsel.

This contributes significantly to the commendation of God’s truth, because He not only has sufficient power to perform those things which He has promised, but also those who try to bring His counsels to nothing actually serve to establish them, even if it is against their will.

For how should God’s truth not stand, when its greatest enemies are forced to fulfill it? Yet wisdom is necessary here, so that we do not join God and Satan together.

Therefore, the Jews are not excusable because they fulfilled the Scriptures. We must consider their wicked will, and not the outcome, which they did not expect—indeed, which ought to be considered a miracle.

If we look at their work by itself, it is entirely contrary to God. But just as God, in the sun and other planets, by wonderful skill, moderates contrary motions and those that strive among themselves, so He directs the perverse endeavors of the wicked, by His secret power, to a different end than they intended or desired, so that they do nothing but what He wills.

They, indeed, as far as they themselves are concerned, act contrary to His will; but it turns out according to the will of God in an incomprehensible manner.

Since this course is contrary to nature, it is no wonder if the wisdom of the flesh does not see it. Therefore, it must be discerned with the eye of faith, or rather it must be revered; and those dogs who bark against it must be despised along with their insolence.