54
c 28:31.
`Teaches' concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.
d 28:31.
With all confidence. No reference to O.T.
e 28:31.
Unhindered.
We draw attention to the way in which this last section of the Acts is a unity, and to the fact that if we detach its
last two verses, not only is the perfect correspondence of the structure ruined, but, more seriously still, the
intentional contrast between what took place among the Jews in Paul's lodging on one day, and what took place in
Paul's hired house during two years is lost, together with the double reference to the Jews' `departure' and their
`agreeing not' and `reasoning among themselves'.
Then we have the word of the `Holy Ghost' balanced by the salvation of `God', the one associated with the verb
`Go', the other with the verb `Send'; the one connected with `This people', i.e., the Jews, the other with `The
Gentiles'. The effect of the one was that, though the Jew `heard', he did not understand; the effect of the other, that
the salvation of God was `heard', and that believingly. And so the structure leads on step by step to the crisis, the
quotation of Isaiah 6:9,10, the Dispensational Landmark of the New Testament.
The citation of Isaiah 6:10 by the apostle marks a crisis, even as the citation of the same passage marked a crisis
in the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ while on earth.
The first quotation of this passage in the New Testament is in Matthew 13, and an examination of the context
and what leads up to its quotation by our Lord will throw light upon its use by Paul in this great climax of the Acts.
The Gospel according to Matthew is purposely limited in its scope. In face of the unambiguous words of Christ in
Matthew 10, no one who believes the inspiration of Scripture can deny this:
`Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: but go rather to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel' (Matt. 10:5,6).
This limitation was reaffirmed in Matthew 15 where the Lord said, in the hearing of the Syro-phoenician
woman:
`I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel' (Matt. 15:24).
That a woman of Samaria and another of Canaan were, nevertheless, blessed, does not alter the fact that neither
the apostles nor the Lord were, at that time, `sent' to any other than Israel. This restriction is endorsed by the apostle
Paul in Romans 15:8.
The Lord's public ministry was heralded by a great succession of miracles which were witnessed throughout the
Land from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem and Jud -a to beyond Jordan. The divine purpose of these miracles is
indicated in Matthew 11:20: `Then began He to upbraid the cities wherein most of His mighty works were done,
because they repented not'. It is obvious that the repentance of the people was the prime object before the Lord in
these miracles, but in this they failed. In Matthew 12 the shadow of rejection deepens: One `greater than the temple',
`greater than Jonah', `greater than Solomon' was in their midst, and they knew Him not (Matt. 12:6,41,42). Here we
see the growing rejection of Christ as Prophet (Jonah), Priest (Temple), and King (Solomon). Then comes parable,
mystery, and the quotation of Isaiah 6:9,10 in Matthew 13:14,15.
Upon hearing the parable of the Sower, the apostles asked the Lord the question: `Why speakest Thou unto them
in parables?' (Matt. 13:10). The Lord's answer (partly postponed until verse 35, when Matthew adds his own
inspired comment) introduces for the first time in the New Testament (1) The word Mystery; (2) Allusion to the
foundation of the world, and (3) The quotation of Isaiah 6:9,10. In answer to the question, the Lord explained:
`Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given ...
Therefore speak I to them in parables ... and in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias. which saith, By hearing
ye shall hear, and shall not understand; etc' (Matt. 13:11,13,14),
and in verses 34 and 35 the added explanation is given: