John Calvin Commentary Romans 1:13

"And I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you (and was hindered hitherto), that I might have some fruit in you also, even as in the rest of the Gentiles." — Romans 1:13 (ASV)

I would not that you should be ignorant. What he has until now testified—that he continually requested of the Lord that he might visit them—might have seemed a vain thing and could not have gained credibility, had he neglected to seize the occasion when offered. He therefore says that the effort had not been lacking, but the opportunity; for he had been prevented from carrying out a purpose he had often formed.

From this we learn that the Lord frequently thwarts the plans of His saints to humble them, and by such humiliation, teaches them to acknowledge His providence so that they may rely on it; yet the saints, who plan nothing apart from the Lord’s will, cannot, strictly speaking, be said to be driven away from their purposes. Indeed, it is the presumption of impiety to overlook God and, without Him, to decide on future events as though they were in our own power; and this is what James sharply rebukes in James 4:13.

But he says that he was hindered. You must understand this to mean only that the Lord engaged him in more urgent concerns, which he could not have neglected without loss to the Church. Thus, the hindrances experienced by the godly and by the unbelieving differ: the latter perceive only that they are hindered when they are restrained by the strong hand of the Lord, so as not to be able to move; but the former are satisfied with a hindrance that arises from an approved reason, nor do they allow themselves to attempt anything beyond their duty or contrary to edification.

That I might obtain some fruit, etc. He undoubtedly speaks of that fruit for the gathering of which the Lord sent His Apostles:

I have chosen you, that you may go and bring forth fruit,
and that your fruit may remain. (John 15:16)

Although he did not gather it for himself but for the Lord, he still calls it his own; for the godly consider nothing more their own than the work of promoting the Lord’s glory, with which all their happiness is connected. And he recounts what had happened to him concerning other nations, so that the Romans might entertain the hope that his coming to them would not be unprofitable, as so many nations had found it to be attended with so much benefit.