Acts 13:26-31 – “Fellow children of Abraham and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent. 27 The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. 28 Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed. 29 When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb.
“Fellow children of Abraham and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent.” Paul wrote Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.” It is right and proper that God sent Jesus first to the Jews. Though the promise of salvation is to all, and though Jesus died for all, it was the Jews whom God used to reveal Himself to the World and to be the keeper of the Holy Scriptures. They, with holy dedication kept and protected the Word. So Paul gives the Jews due deference. In this acknowledgement to the Hebrews, the Gentiles are not slighted. It is best to focus on the fact that all Gentiles are included in the offer.
“The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath.” Besides the scriptures that foretold the coming of the Messiah, there were also scriptures that foretold the rejecting of Him. Psalm 118:22 “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;” Isaiah 53:3 “He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces He was despised, and we held Him in low esteem.” It is no surprise that He was rejected. As always, God who knows the hearts and minds of men and can use them to bring about His will for our benefit. He used the hard hearts of the Jews. Let us remember that then, as now, not all Jewish hearts were against Jesus. Many then, and now, love and follow Him. Praise God! So beautiful! Praise God!
“Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed.” Isaiah 53:7-8 “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open his mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away. Yet who of His generation protested? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people He was punished.” God, being omniscient, is never surprised. As previously stated, He used the sin in their hearts to accomplish His will. He did not make them do it, but He knew what they would do. Jesus gave a parable about how a vineyard owner kept trying to get the rent from a his tenants. Instead they beat and killed all sent messengers, and even killed his son. This was a parable about how the Jews would rebel against all messengers that God sent to them and it would culminate with them rejecting and killing His Son. We should have no doubt that Jesus was talking about the Jews and what they would do to Him. The Jews didn’t (Mark 12:1-12).
“When they had carried out all that was written about Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb.” We see that Jesus, after His death on the cross (for our sins) was laid in a tomb (John 19:38-42, Matthew 27:57-60). The fact that Jesus lived and was crucified is also verified by non-Christian documentation. An ancient Greek historian named Thallus wrote (about 52 AD) of Jesus that He lived, that He was crucified and that just before He died, from noon till 3:00, darkness came over all the land (Matthew 27:45-50). Thallus confirmed the life of Jesus, the darkness and his death. Later, about 221 AD, early church historian Julius Africanus quotes Thallus. To see more non-Christian references of some biblical truths please see an article by J. Warner Wallace: https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/is-there-any-evidence-for-jesus-outside-the-bible/
Our All-Knowing God, who knows the hearts and thoughts of every person, uses even the acts of the evil to bring about good for man and praise to Him, just as Joseph said (Genesis 50:20). They become unwitting participants. The Jews, even though they knew the scriptures, were hard of heart and the Lord used that to bring about His will. God never permits evil, but He knows everything and so He can use anything for His purpose. Paul is showing, from the history of the Hebrews and from the written Word that Jesus was the Messiah. All the evidence is still available to all. There is no better evidence to any person than the Word of God revealed to us by His Holy Spirit. Praise God who had and has everything planned out and also praise God that it will work out exactly as He said. Exactly. Jesus will come back for His own. Doers of evil will find their home in the eternal Lake of Fire. Lovers of Jesus, will find eternal comfort, peace and love with God Almighty. What a wonderful future we have. What a wonderful present, in Jesus, we have. Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.