On a set day the Jews came in even larger numbers (compare 13:44) to Paul's rented lodgings (vv. 16, 30). So intent was he to win them that he discoursed from morning till evening (compare Western reading of 19:9; 20:7, 11; Ex 18:13). Time should never be a factor in witnessing to the truth that leads to eternal life. As long as the audience has the time, the Christian witness should have the inclination (compare Jn 4:31-35).

As the Jewish leaders requested, Paul explained the Christian faith to them. But it was not his views about a sect that he expounded. Rather, he declared, even "warned," (diamartyromenos) about the kingdom of God (Acts 10:42; 23:11). More that just a shorthand way of referring to the gospel message (1:3; 8:12; 19:8; 20:25; 28:31), the kingdom of God was the eschatological highway into the heart of the pious Jew (Lk 13:28, 29; 14:15; 19:11; 23:42, 51; Acts 1:6). And the good news was that God's reign was in their midst in the victorious life, death and resurrection-exaltation of Messiah Jesus and his salvation blessings.

Today utopias of the left and the right are in shambles. People are uncertain, even apprehensive, whether the kingdoms of this world can manage the present, let alone the future. They are ready for the good news about the kingdom of God.

The Jewish leaders' acceptance of this good news hinged on the answer to several important questions: Had the Messiah already come? If so, who was he? So Paul in his exposition also entered into reasoned discourse, "persuading" (NIV tried to convince, not necessarily a conative imperfect) them from the Scriptures, from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets, about Jesus (see comment at 17:4; compare 13:23-29; 17:3-4; 26:22, 27-28; Lk 24:25-27, 44-48). He is indeed the Messiah whose earthly mission and resurrection-exaltation had brought in the kingdom of God and made it visible to the eyes of faith. Any witness for Christ will involve not only bold declaration but also clear reasoning, lucid give-and-take.

The response to the message was mixed: some were convinced, . . . but others would not believe (13:44-45; 14:1-2; 17:4-5). This division among the Jews could leave the impression that Paul's teaching was just that of a Jewish sect, attracting some Jews but not others. It certainly could not be the good news of the kingdom of God; otherwise all Jews would embrace it. So to interpret this mixed response in a true biblical light, Paul quotes from the Old Testament (28:26-27/Is 6:9-10).

As Luke sets up the quote, he tells the Jews' reaction to it. They began to leave, "disagreeing among themselves" (NIV's they disagreed among themselves and began to leave creates finite verbs in sequence out of a main verb, "to leave," and a present participle that gives the manner in which they left). They could not come to consensus on whether their ancestors' resistance to God's message was paralleled by the present Jewish rejection of the Christian gospel. Nor could they agree that God's salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen! Paul's final statement (rhema hen) was a dynamic utterance that bound together Old Testament promise and New Testament fulfillment (2:14; 5:20; 13:42; 26:25; Bovon 1984:229-30).

The quotation's introductory formula stresses the divine origin of Scripture as well as the immediacy of its address to its original audience, your forefathers, and by necessary implication to Paul's present audience, the "sons" (7:51). Here we have a "typology of judgment" in which the pattern among the ancestors in the time of promise is repeated and brought to a climax in the time of fulfillment.

The prophet speaks of what happens when people perceive saving truth without appropriating it: You will be ever hearing but never understanding (compare Lk 8:10/Is 6:9). Then in chiastic order, dealing with heart, ear and eyes, the prophet lays bare the cause of this mysterious condition and shows the proper pattern of receptivity to the gospel. There is nothing defective in the message. The defect is in the audience's sinfulness. If they would but see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, God would heal them (note the Targum and Mk 4:12 speak of God's forgiveness). For Jew and Gentile alike, unless outward perception is matched by inner spiritual insight, hearing and seeing will be in vain (Sand 1991:250; Lk 2:50; 8:8, 12, 15; 18:34; 24:25, 45; Acts 2:37; 7:54; 15:7-9; 16:14).

With therefore Paul draws an inference from the quote, showing that God will not be thwarted—his gospel will still bring salvation (Dupont 1979a:403). Although this is the third and final time Paul speaks of Jewish rejection and Gentile reception (13:46; 18:6), it is carefully nuanced. We must not jump to the conclusion that Luke is saying that the Jews' rejection is final or that the mission to the Jews is over. Notice that of the three statements, this is the only one in which Paul does not explicitly say he is turning from the Jews to the Gentiles. Further, his statement about salvation being sent to the Gentiles is in the past tense, a parallel activity of God. What is contrasted is not the missions but the different audiences' responses to the one mission.

Indeed Paul welcomed all who came to see him, presumably both Jew and Gentile, as the Western text makes explicit. God's salvation has been sent to the Gentiles. And it is part of the momentum of salvation history for them to embrace it. They will listen! It's as if Luke were saying to his audience, "What's stopping you from making these salvation blessings your own?"