Acts 25-26

¹ Now three days after Festus had arrived in the province, he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea. ² And the chief priests and the principal men of the Jews laid out their case against Paul, and they urged him, 3 asking as a favor against Paul that he summon him to Jerusalem—because they were planning an ambush to kill him on the way. ⁴ Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea and that he himself intended to go there shortly. ⁵ “So,” said he, “let the men of authority among you go down with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them bring charges against him.” ⁶ After he stayed among them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea. And the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought. ⁷ When he had arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and serious charges against him that they could not prove. ⁸ Paul argued in his defense, “Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I committed any offense.” ⁹ But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and there be tried on these charges before me?” ¹⁰ But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you yourself know very well. ¹¹ If then I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death. But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar.” ¹² Then Festus, when he had conferred with his council, answered, “To Caesar you have appealed; to Caesar you shall go.” ¹³ Now when some days had passed, Agrippa the king and Bernice arrived at Caesarea and greeted Festus. ¹⁴ And as they stayed there many days, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king, saying, “There is a man left prisoner by Felix, ¹⁵ and when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews laid out their case against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him. ¹⁶ I answered them that it was not the custom of the Romans to give up anyone before the accused met the accusers face to face and had opportunity to make his defense concerning the charge laid against him. ¹⁷ So when they came together here, I made no delay, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought. ¹⁸ When the accusers stood up, they brought no charge in his case of such evils as I supposed. ¹⁹ Rather they had certain points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, who was dead, but whom Paul asserted to be alive. ²⁰ Being at a loss how to investigate these questions, I asked whether he wanted to go to Jerusalem and be tried there regarding them. ²¹ But when Paul had appealed to be kept in custody for the decision of the emperor, I ordered him to be held until I could send him to Caesar.” ²² Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow,” said he, “you will hear him.” ²³ So on the next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp, and they entered the audience hall with the military tribunes and the prominent men of the city. Then, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in. ²⁴ And Festus said, “King Agrippa and all who are present with us, you see this man about whom the whole Jewish people petitioned me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer. ²⁵ But I found that he had done nothing deserving death. And as he himself appealed to the emperor, I decided to go ahead and send him. ²⁶ But I have nothing definite to write to my lord about him. Therefore I have brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that, after we have examined him, I may have something to write. ²⁷ For it seems to me unreasonable, in sending a prisoner, not to indicate the charges against him.”

¹ So Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense: ² “I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews, ³ especially because you are familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently. ⁴ “My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. ⁵ They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee. ⁶ And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers, ⁷ to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope I am accused by Jews, O king! ⁸ Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead? ⁹ “I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. ¹⁰ And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. ¹¹ And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities. ¹² “In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. ¹³ At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. ¹⁴ And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ ¹⁵ And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. ¹⁶ But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, ¹⁷ delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you ¹⁸ to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me. ¹⁹ “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, ²⁰ but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. ²¹ For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. ²² To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: ²³ that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.” ²⁴ And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.” ²⁵ But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words. ²⁶ For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. ²⁷ King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” ²⁸ And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?” ²⁹ And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains.” ³⁰ Then the king rose, and the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them. ³¹ And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, “This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.” ³² And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”

Kent Hughes tells the amazing story of Steve Linscott.

            In the early morning hours of October 4, 1980, a young nursing student was brutally murdered in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park. Following the advice of well-meaning friends, Steve Linscott, a student at Emmaus Bible College, told police about a dream he’d had the night of the crime. Oak Park police later arrested him, interpreting his dream account as the roundabout confession of a psychopathic killer. Later a jury found Linscott guilty, and he was sentenced to forty years in prison. There was just one problem – Linscott was innocent! Only after time in prison and numerous legal appeals – a process that lasted twelve years – was Linscott free and vindicated.

            Those years undoubtedly brought the most difficult challenges Linscott will ever face – separated from his wife and children for three and a half years except for brief visits, wondering if he had somehow brought all this on himself and why God had allowed it to happen, surviving prison violence. Those were tough years, and yet years of growth and a growing awareness of the goodness of God. In Linscott’s words:

I have come to realize that we cannot judge God’s purposes, nor where He places us, nor why He chooses one path for our lives as opposed to another.

            The Bible itself is replete with accounts of divine action (or inaction) that does not seem fair, that does not make sense except when viewed in light of God’s perfect plan. Thousands of Egyptian children were massacred while a baby named Moses was spared. Jacob was a liar and a thief, and yet it was he, not his faithful brother Esau, who received the blessing of their father Isaac and of God. On one level it makes no sense that God would allow His Son to die for the sins of humankind. But God has a plan – a perfect plan.[1]

What a difficult but powerful learning experience that was for Steve Linscott! Paul would have understood. The last chapters of Acts are simply a chronicle of Paul having to give a defense against trumped up and false charges intended to destroy him. Like Steve Linscott, however, Paul saw these challenges with the right eyes. In fact, Paul used these unjust circumstances as amazing opportunities for bearing witness to Christ.

We are going to work through chapters 25 and 26, for much of these chapters are simply the narrative unfolding of this fascinating political and legal drama. In the midst of each chapter, however, we see further evidence of the Paul’s resolve to die to self and live to Christ.

Having been turned over to Porcius Festus by his predecessor Felix, Paul continued to deny the fallacious allegations of the Jews. When Festus asked Paul if he would prefer to be tried in Jerusalem (which would certainly have given the conspirators occasion to murder Paul), Paul appealed to Caesar. As a Roman citizen, it was within his writes to do so. Craig Keener explains:

Roman citizens had the right to appeal to Caesar’s tribunal (provocation ad Caesarem)…A citizen could appeal a capital sentence (appelatio), but appealing before a case had been heard (provocatio), as Paul does here, was less common, because it was not necessarily advantageous.[2]

Paul made use of this provocatio and thereby found himself in the presence of King Agrippa. King Agrippa, in our text, is King Agrippa II, whom Clinton Arnold calls a “client-king from the northern territories (which includes a portion of the area of modern Lebanon).” Furthermore, Agrippa was “the grandson of Herod the Great, a valued friend of Rome, knowledgeable about the affairs of the Jews, curator of the temple, and someone in charge of appointing high priests in Jerusalem. If anyone could legally lay claim to the title ‘king of the Jews,’ it is Agrippa.”[3]

Thus, Paul found himself before the powers. His behavior in this situation is most telling and, indeed, convicting for us all!

Paul’s life was above reproach and baseless accusations of misconduct would not stick to him.

Before we consider the key doctrine that fueled Paul’s boldness, let us note that Paul’s life was above reproach and the baseless accusations of misconduct leveled him would not stick. His integrity was such that his opponents simply could not lie and destroy him. We will begin with Paul before Festus.

⁷ When he had arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and serious charges against him that they could not prove. ⁸ Paul argued in his defense, “Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I committed any offense.”

Paul stubbornly, doggedly, and clearly offered a simple refutation of the baseless charge of sedition: “They’re wrong!” And, indeed, Paul spoke as if his innocence was self-evident to any fair-minded person observing the proceedings. When Festus asks if Paul wished to be sent to Jerusalem, Paul responds in this way:

¹⁰ But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you yourself know very well. ¹¹ If then I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death. But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar.”

And, indeed, Festus did “know very well,” for he himself said this to King Agrippa about Paul:

¹⁸ When the accusers stood up, they brought no charge in his case of such evils as I supposed.

Whatever else Festus meant by this, he certainly meant that Paul was no enemy of the state, no rank anarchist or usurper or insurrectionist. On the contrary, Festus saw the Jews’ accusations as being rather intramural and theological whereas they no doubt wanted him to see them as much more serious, thereby prompting state action against Paul.

There can be no doubt that the Jews were profoundly irritated by the inability of their wilder accusations to stick to Paul. This is because Paul was a man of integrity! He did not apologize for preaching Christ and Him crucified, but he would not allow himself to be wrongly impugned as an ignoble wretch and troublemaker.

Paul was, so to speak, keeping his accusers, and his judges, honest. He was willing to die for Christ, but he was not willing to be wrongly accused of hypocrisy and wickedness. He was a follower of Jesus, and wished to be recognized as such.

Church, live your life in such a way that no man or no woman or no group can impugn your character!

Paul was willing to suffer for the historical reality of the bodily resurrection of Jesus.

No, Paul refused to suffer for baseless charges, but he was more than willing to suffer, if need be, for a particular reality that had forever altered the course of his own life: the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We can see this in Festus’ explanation of the situation to Agrippa as well as in Paul’s on words before the king.

¹⁷ So when they came together here, I made no delay, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought. ¹⁸ When the accusers stood up, they brought no charge in his case of such evils as I supposed. ¹⁹ Rather they had certain points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, who was dead, but whom Paul asserted to be alive.

This is almost charming in its simplicity. “Here’s what this whole brouhaha seems to be about,” Festus said. “There’s a man named Jesus. He’s dead but Paul says He’s alive.”

I love it! That is indeed what the whole brouhaha was about! Paul, speaking to Agrippa, said this:

⁴ “My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. ⁵ They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee. ⁶ And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers, ⁷ to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope I am accused by Jews, O king! ⁸ Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?

Paul was, once again, being provocative. It was provocative because, yes, he was being accused on the basis of his belief in the resurrection of the dead (a belief, Paul seems to relish in pointing out, that the Pharisees who are accusing him also hold to), but Paul and the Jews all knew that it was his particular take on the resurrection that had landed him in hot water. After all, Paul was not merely arguing for a general resurrection. He was arguing that God raised Jesus from the dead!

In a moment, Paul boldly challenges Agrippa with the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but here he simply owned up to the fact that the only real point in question was a conviction he had concerning the resurrection. Let us notice that Paul denied the baseless charges of wickedness only to bring forward the primary issue: resurrection.

Paul was willing to suffer for the historical reality of the bodily resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus mattered profoundly to Paul. He refused to deny this, even as he playfully goaded the Pharisees over their own belief in resurrection, as if to say to them, “If you have no problem believing that God can raise the dead, why do you have such a problem with the idea of God raising Jesus from the dead?”

One wonders if our modern church culture can make sense of this kind of radical commitment to theological truths? One wonders if our lowest-common-denominator age even knows how to understand a man who is willing to die for a conviction?

Roger Olson is a Baptist theologian at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Recently, Dr. Olson wrote about an experience he had in a more left-leaning Baptist church.

I will never forget one Sunday morning “worship service” at this Baptist (so-called) church. The pastor was sitting with his new wife. His ex-wife and children were sitting in another part of the sanctuary. Some people in the church were proud that they were “handling this matter well.” The “sermon” was a dialogue between two women leaders of the congregation and the discussion between them was about doctrinal diversity within the congregation. One had been uncomfortable with the total lack of doctrinal norms or standards and the other one felt that, at times, the church had over emphasized beliefs. They eventually agreed that the “wonderful thing” about this church was that people could belong without believing anything in particular.[4]

What would Paul have made of this conversation? He no doubt would have been stunned. For Paul, for the early Church, and, most of all, for the Lord Jesus Himself, the great truths of the Kingdom of God were not filler for an otherwise bored Church, they were essential truths, the truths of the gospel.

The resurrection has never been a mere idea for the Church. The resurrection is a fact that has changed the way we view the world and everything in it. The resurrection of Jesus on that first Easter morning is the reason we have hope, the reason we gather weekly to worship, the reason we are emboldened to bare witness for Christ. Will Willimon put it like this:

Certain facts should be known, for the Christian faith is not about feelings, even very deep feelings, but about something which has happened, something which has happened to us: the fact of the risen Christ.[5]

To that, Paul would say, “Amen!”

Paul was emboldened by the living Christ to use his trial as an occasion for calling a king to accept Christ.

So powerful was the reality of the resurrection that it compelled Paul to call upon King Agrippa himself to accept Christ. Watch.

²² To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: ²³ that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.” ²⁴ And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.” ²⁵ But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words. ²⁶ For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. ²⁷ King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” ²⁸ And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?” ²⁹ And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains.”

Festus was initially shocked by Paul’s boldness before Agrippa. “Paul,” he exclaims, “you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.” Why did he say this? The key is found in Paul’s rather jarring words in verse 22 that he stood “testifying both to small and great.” And here was his testimony: “that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

Do you see what has happened here? In saying this, Paul was revealing that he was not merely giving an account of what had happened to him, he was indeed bearing witness to the King himself (“testifying both to small and great”), that is, calling the King to consider these truths for himself!

Well! This a bold move indeed. Even in our own judicial system we cannot imagine a man on the witness stand calling upon a judge to consider the implications of his words for his own (i.e., the judge’s) heart! Paul goes even further and turned the table on Agrippa, questioning him outright: “King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.”

The King saw the astonishing turn of events for what they were: Paul was attempting to win the King to Christ!

He asked Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?”

Paul answered, “Yes!” “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains.”

Ah! “I wish that you knew Christ as I know Christ, Agrippa!”

Will Willimon observes that “there can be no doubt that Luke believes that a personal experience of the risen Christ is the bedrock upon which faithful witness is built.”[6] To be sure, that is the case! We might also say that a personal experience of the risen Christ is the bedrock upon which bold, audacious, shocking, unsettling, unexpected, unquenchable, undiluted, passionate, exuberant, no-holds-barred, unconquerable witness is built!

Do you see what the risen Christ can do with a person wholly yielded to Him? He makes of him or her a champion, a leader, a proclaimer of gospel truth! He uses a man or woman like this in mighty ways!

Church, your King was slain, yet now He lives! Go…tell…everybody…and never stop!

 

[1] R. Kent Hughes, Acts. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1996), p.317-318.

[2] Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. (Downers Grove, IL: 1993), p.396.

[3] Clinton E. Arnold, “Acts.” Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary. Vol.2. Clinton E. Arnold, gen. ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), p.355.

[4] https://www.patheos.com/blogs/rogereolson/2015/02/another-great-moderate-baptist-leader-on-the-necessity-of-doctrines/#ixzz3TB2sYM3U

[5] William H. Willimon, Acts. Interpretation. (Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 1988), p.181.

[6] Willimon, p.180.