John Calvin Commentary Luke 24:46

"and he said unto them, Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer, and rise again from the dead the third day;" — Luke 24:46 (ASV)

And he said to them, Thus it is written. The connection of these words refutes the slander of those who claim that outward teaching would be unnecessary if we did not naturally possess some ability to understand. “Why,” they ask, “would the Lord speak to the deaf?” But we see that when the Spirit of Christ, who is the inward Teacher, performs His work, the labor of the minister who speaks is not wasted. For Christ, after having given His followers the gift of understanding, instructs them from the Scriptures with genuine benefit. With the reprobate, indeed, though the outward word passes away as if it were dead, it still renders them inexcusable.

Regarding the words of Christ, they are founded on this principle: Whatever is written must be fulfilled, “for God declared nothing by His prophets that He will not undoubtedly accomplish.” By these words we are also taught what we should primarily learn from the Law and the Prophets; namely, that since Christ is the end and the soul of the law (Romans 10:4), whatever we learn without Him, and apart from Him, is useless and unprofitable. Whoever then desires to become very proficient in the Scriptures should always keep this goal in mind.

Now Christ here presents first His death and resurrection, and then the fruit which we derive from both. For from where do repentance and forgiveness of sins come, but because our old man is crucified with Christ (Romans 6:6), so that by His grace we may rise to newness of life; and because our sins have been expiated by the sacrifice of His death, our pollution has been washed away by His blood, and we have obtained righteousness through His resurrection?

He teaches, therefore, that in His death and resurrection we should seek the cause and basis of our salvation, because from this arise reconciliation to God and regeneration to a new and spiritual life. Thus it is clearly stated that neither forgiveness of sins nor repentance can be preached except in His name; for, on the one hand, we have no right to expect the imputation of righteousness, and, on the other hand, we do not obtain self-denial and newness of life, unless

He is made to us righteousness and sanctification,
(1 Corinthians 1:30).

But as we have elsewhere dealt thoroughly with this summary of the Gospel, it is better to refer my readers to those passages for what they may not remember, than to load them with repetitions.