“After the reading of the Law and the Prophets the synagogue officials sent to them, saying, ‘Brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it.’ Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, ‘Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen…. And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, “YOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU”‘” (Acts 13:15-16, 32-33).
“When they had set a day for Paul, they came to him at his lodging in large numbers; and he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until evening” (Acts 28:23).
In Paul’s very first recorded sermon in Acts, he is invited to preach the good news in a synagogue after the reading of the Law and the Prophets. In his very last recorded sermon in Acts, Paul is also preaching the faith from the Law of Moses and the Prophets. This literary framework (Inclusio) marking the beginning and end of Paul’s preaching career (in Acts) is Luke’s way of emphasizing that Paul’s gospel was thoroughly and completely “according to the Scriptures.” Since Paul was preaching from the Law and the Prophets at the beginning and the end of Acts, we can safely assume this is exactly how he was preaching all the way through the middle as well!
It is Luke’s way of emphasizing that Paul’s gospel was thoroughly and completely “according to the Scriptures.”
But there’s more to these parallels than meets the eye. Consider how strikingly similar Paul’s first and last sermons in Acts are to Jesus’ first and last sermons in the Gospel of Luke. In Jesus’ very first recorded sermon in Luke, he preaches the good news after the reading from the Prophets (Isaiah; Luke 4:16-19). In Yeshua’s very last recorded sermon in Luke, he is preaching from the Law of Moses and the Prophets (Luke 24:44). Surely these parallels between Paul and Jesus are not coincidental, particularly when we consider where they appear in their respective locations in the literary structures of Luke-Acts.
Does it Really Matter?
So what? Why should these parallels matter to us? They should since Paul’s letters make up about two-thirds of the New Testament. These letters are obviously crucial for a biblical understanding of our faith. Yet as Peter acknowledges, his letters are easily misunderstood and taken completely out of context (2 Pet 3:15-16). Seminaries should teach aspiring pastors to become experts in Greek, but if they are not teaching them to be thoroughly immersed in the Law and the Prophets, the message and meaning of Paul’s letters will remain elusive. cidn’t just learn his gospel from Yeshua. He also learned it by immersing himself in Moses and the Prophets. And until we are able to understand the ways Paul cites the Law and the Prophets (i.e., the OT) in his epistles, they will continue to be, for the most part, a closed book. This pronounced Lukan emphasis on preaching Yeshua from the Law and the Prophets means it’s about time to dispose of the false idea it’s possible to be a “New Testament church” if we forget the historical fact that the New Testament church (i.e., the church in the book of Acts) and Yeshua himself were preaching the gospel long before there was a book called the New Testament!
“‘But this I admit to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect I do serve the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets.’ … ‘So, having obtained help from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, stating nothing but what the Prophets and Moses said was going to take place'” (Acts 24:14; 26:22).
