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Revised Version, "And straightway in the synagogues he proclaimed Jesus, that he is the Son of God." "The point to which all the effort of the apostle was first directed was naturally the Messiahship of Jesus, and that in the higher view in which Christianity exhibits the Messiah, namely, as the Son of God" (Olshausen). Very different ideas are entertained as to the advisability of encouraging young converts to begin preaching at once. The difficulty arose in the China mission field, and the new convert earnestly pleaded to be allowed to tell the little he did know, and so grow to know more. This principle Saul followed, beginning at once to "preach the faith which once he destroyed," and he made the opportunities just where he was, going into the synagogues, and using his privilege as a rabbi to read and expound the Scriptures. The text briefly indicates what truth Saul had gripped, and, taken with ver. 22, it shows how large his grip was, and that it concerned the very basis-truth of Christianity. He saw that -

I. THE CHRIST HAD COME. Explain that "Christ is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Messiah," and would often be wisely changed for the Hebrew term. Deal with

(1) the foregoing prophecies of Messiah, showing how they had given tone to the national and religious sentiment;

(2) the actual expectation of the coming of Messiah about that time, which seems to have possessed both the Jews and the Gentiles. The practical question dividing public opinion at the time was the question which divides the Jew anti the Gentile up to this present hour; it was this - Had Messiah come, or had he not come? Saul was now able to deal with this question, and he proclaimed openly that Messiah had come. Show the importance of this step, and how it narrowed the field of inquiry for all those pious souls who "looked for redemption in Israel."

II. THE CHRIST CAME IN THE PERSON OF JESUS OF NAZARETH. The better manuscripts give the reading, "preached Jesus." If Messiah had conic, had he been recognized, and acknowledged? Saul firmly answered," Yes; Messiah was Jesus of Nazareth, the Prophet, Teacher, Healer, holy Man, who was crucified, had risen from the dead, and was exalted to heaven." Surely this was a great theme for his preaching, one demanding explanation, argument, evidence, and the "accent of his own conviction." But Saul had seen more than even this, and so further proclaimed that -

III. JESUS THE CHRIST WAS THE SON OF GOD. Explain that term as

(1) compared with "Son of man;" and

(2) as gaining to the apostles its deeper and fuller meaning. To Saul had evidently come an insight into the glorious mystery of the Incarnation. He realized

(1) that Jesus was the Christ in a high spiritual sense;

(2) that Jesus was entrusted with a present power to save and to sanctify;

(3) that Jesus had Divine rights, and made Divine claims to the immediate surrender to him of the heart and will and lives of men. So it is evident that Saul grasped at once the very essence of the gospel, and the very center of that doctrinal system which, urged by the necessities of the Churches, his genius developed. There is still no more searching test of our religious condition than can be found in the question, "What think ye of Christ? Whose Son is he?" If we feel that we must say, "He is the Son of God," then we are bound to bow our souls before him, seek his grace, accept his salvation, acknowledge his authority, and bind on our whole lives the livery of his service. - R.T.

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KJV: And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.

WEB: Immediately in the synagogues he proclaimed the Christ, that he is the Son of God.