Acts 25

The new governor, Porcius Festus, was a better man than his predecessor and took up his duties with the intention of doing what was right. However, he soon discovered that Jewish politics was not easy to handle, especially the two-year-old case of the apostle Paul, a prisoner with no official charges against him. Paul was a Jew whose countrymen wanted to kill him, and he was a Roman whose government did not know what to do with him.

What a dilemma! If Festus released Paul, the Jews would cause trouble, and that was something the new governor dared not risk. However, if he held Paul prisoner, Festus would have to explain why a Roman citizen was being held without definite official charges. Festus knew that it was smart for him to act quickly and take advantage of the fact that he was a newcomer on the scene. To delay would only make the problem worse, and it was bad enough already.

These two chapters present Festus in three different situations, each of which related to the apostle Paul.

Knowing how important it was for him to get along well with the Jewish leaders, Festus lost no time in visiting the Holy City and paying his respects, and the leaders lost no time in bringing up Paul’s case. The new high priest was Ishmael; he had replaced Jonathan, who had been killed by Felix. Ishmael wanted to resurrect the plot of two years before and remove Paul once and for all (Acts 23:12–15).

It is not likely that the new governor knew anything about the original plot or even suspected that the Jewish religious leaders were out for blood. Since a Roman court could meet in Jerusalem as well as in Caesarea, transferring Paul would be a normal procedure. Festus would probably not demand that a large retinue go with him, so an ambush would be easy. Finally, since it was a matter involving a Jewish prisoner and the Jewish law, the logical place to meet would be Jerusalem.

“Kill Paul!” had been the cry of the unbelieving Jews ever since Paul had arrived in Jerusalem (Acts 21:27–31; 22:22; 23:10–15; 25:3); however, Festus knew nothing of this. Paul had been warned of this danger, but he had also been assured that the Lord would protect him, use his witness, and then take him safely to Rome (Acts 23:11; 26:17). The situation was growing more serious, for now it was the council itself, and not a group of outsiders, that was plotting Paul’s death. You would think that their anger would have subsided after two years, but it had not. Satan the murderer was hard at work (John 8:44).

Festus was wise not to cooperate with their scheme, but he did invite the leaders to accompany him to Caesarea and face Paul once again. This would give Festus opportunity to review the case and get more facts. The Jews agreed, but the hearing brought out nothing new. The Jewish delegation (this time without their lawyer) only repeated the same unfounded and unproved accusations, hoping that the governor would agree with them and put Paul to death (Acts 25:15–16).

What did Paul do? He once again affirmed that he was innocent of any crime against the Jewish law, the temple, or the Roman government. Festus saw that no progress was being made, so he asked Paul if he would be willing to be tried in Jerusalem. He did this to please the Jews and probably did not realize that he was jeopardizing the life of his famous prisoner. But a Roman judge could not move a case to another court without the consent of the accused, and Paul refused to go! Instead, he claimed the right of every Roman citizen to appeal to Caesar.

What led Paul to make that wise decision? For one thing, he knew that his destination was Rome, not Jerusalem, and the fastest way to get there was to appeal to Caesar. Paul also knew that the Jews had not given up their hopes of killing him, so he was wise to stay under the protection of Rome. By appealing to Caesar, Paul forced the Romans to guard him and take him to Rome. Finally, Paul realized that he could never have a fair trial in Jerusalem anyway, so why go?

It must have infuriated the Jewish leaders when Paul, by one statement, took the case completely out of their hands. He made it clear that he was willing to die if he could be proved guilty of a capital crime, but first they had to find him guilty. Festus met with his official council, and they agreed to send Paul to Nero for trial. No doubt the new governor was somewhat embarrassed that he had handled one of his first cases so badly that the prisoner was forced to appeal to Caesar, and to Caesar he must go!

But the new governor’s problems were not over. He had managed not to offend the Jews, but he had not determined the legal charges against his prisoner. How could he send such a notable prisoner to the emperor and not have the man’s crimes listed against him?

About that time, Festus had a state visit from Herod Agrippa II and Herod’s sister, Bernice. This youthful king, the last of the Herodians to rule, was the greatgrandson of the Herod who killed the Bethlehem babes, and the son of the Herod who killed the apostle James (Acts 12). The fact that his sister lived with him created a great deal of suspicion on the part of the Jewish people, for their law clearly condemned incest (Lev. 18:1–18; 20:11–21). Rome had given Herod Agrippa II legal jurisdiction over the temple in Jerusalem, so it was logical that Festus share Paul’s case with him.

Festus was smart enough to understand that the Jewish case against Paul had nothing to do with civil law. It was purely a matter of “religious questions” (Acts 18:14–15; 23:29), which the Romans were unprepared to handle, especially the doctrine of the resurrection. Acts 25: proves that Paul was defending much more than the resurrection in general. He was declaring and defending the resurrection of Jesus Christ. As we have noted in our studies, this is the key emphasis of the witness of the church in the book of Acts.

Festus gave the impression that he wanted to move the trial to Jerusalem because the “Jewish questions” could be settled only by Jewish people in Jewish territory (Acts 25:20). It was a pure fabrication, of course, because his real reason was to please the Jewish leaders, most of whom King Herod knew. Festus needed something definite to send to the emperor Nero, and perhaps Agrippa could supply it. (“Augustus” in Acts 25:21, 25 is a title, “the august one,” and not a proper name.)

The king was an expert in Jewish matters (Acts 26:2–3) and certainly would be keenly interested in knowing more about this man who caused a riot in the temple. Perhaps Herod could assist Festus in finding out the real charges against Paul, and perhaps Festus could assist Herod in learning more about Jewish affairs in the Holy City.

It seems incredible that all of this pomp and ceremony was because of one little Jewish man who preached the gospel of Jesus Christ! But the Lord had promised Paul he would bear witness before “Gentiles and kings” (Acts 9:15), and that promise was being fulfilled again. Once Paul was finished with his witness, all his hearers would know how to be saved and would be without excuse.

They met in an “audience room” in the palace, and the key military men and officers of the Roman government were there. Paul’s case had probably been discussed by various official people many times over the past two years, so very few of those present were ignorant of the affair.

Festus was certainly exaggerating when he said that “all the multitude of the Jews” had pressed charges against Paul, but that kind of statement would make the Jews present feel much better. Acts 25: gives us the second of Luke’s “official statements” declaring Paul’s innocence (see Acts 23:29), and there will be others before his book is completed.

In his flowery speech before Agrippa, Festus indicated that he wanted the king to examine Paul (Acts 25:26), but there is no record that he did. In fact, before the session ended, Paul became the judge, and Festus, King Agrippa, and Bernice became the defendants! Paul was indeed defending himself (Acts 26: nkjv), but at the same time, he was presenting the truth of the gospel and witnessing to the difference Jesus Christ can make in a person’s life. This is the longest of Paul’s speeches found in Acts.

King Agrippa was in charge and told Paul that he was free to speak. In his brief introduction, Paul sincerely gave thanks that Agrippa was hearing his case, because he knew the king was an expert in Jewish religious matters. Paul did not mention it then, but he also knew that the king believed the Old Testament prophets (Acts 26:27). Paul also hinted that his speech might be a long one and that he would appreciate the king’s patience in hearing him out.

Five key statements summarize Paul’s defense.

“I lived a Pharisee” (vv. 4–11). Paul’s early life in Jerusalem was known to the Jews, so there was no need to go into great detail. He was a devout Pharisee (Phil. 3:5) and the son of a Pharisee (Acts 23:6), and his peers had likely realized he would accomplish great things as a rabbi (Gal. 1:13–14 niv). It was because of his convictions about the resurrection and “the hope of Israel” that he was now a prisoner (see Acts 23:6; 24:15). Once again, Paul appealed to Jewish orthodoxy and loyalty to the Hebrew tradition.

It is worth noting that Paul mentioned “our twelve tribes” (Acts 26:7). While it is true that the ten northern tribes (Israel) were conquered by Assyria in 722 BC and assimilated to some extent, it is not true that these ten tribes were “lost” or annihilated. Jesus spoke about all twelve tribes (Matt. 19:28), and so did James (James 1:1) and the apostle John (Rev. 7:4–8; 21:12). God knows where His chosen people are, and He will fulfill the promises He has made to them.

The pronoun you in Acts 26: is plural, so Paul must have looked around at the entire audience as he spoke. The Greeks and Romans, of course, would not believe in the doctrine of the resurrection (Acts 17:31–32), nor would the Sadducees who were present (Acts 23:8). To Paul, this was a crucial doctrine, for if there is no resurrection, then Jesus Christ was not raised and Paul had no gospel to preach. (For Paul’s argument about the resurrection and the gospel, see 1 Cor. 15).

Paul was not only a Pharisee, but he had also been a zealous persecutor of the church. He had punished the believers and tried to force them to deny Jesus Christ, and some of them he had helped send to their death. The phrase “gave my voice” (Acts 26:10) literally means “registered my vote.” This suggests that Paul had been an official member of the Sanhedrin, but surely if that were true, seemingly he would have mentioned it in one of his speeches. The phrase probably means nothing more than he “voted against them” as a special representative of the high priest (Acts 9:2, 14).

In the early days of the church, the Jewish believers continued to meet in the synagogues, and that was where Paul found them and punished them (Matt. 10:17; 23:34). What Paul in his early years looked on as “religious zeal” (Gal. 1:13–14), in his later years he considered to be “madness” (Acts 26:11). Like a wild animal, he had “made havoc of the church” (Acts 8:3), “breathing out threatenings and slaughter” (Acts 9:1).

“I saw a light” (vv. 12–13). Not content to limit his work to Jerusalem, Paul had asked for authority to visit the synagogues in distant cities. His zeal had driven out many of the believers and they had taken their message to Jews in other communities (Acts 8:4).

Paul considered himself an enlightened man, for, after all, he was a Jew (Rom. 9:4–5), a scholar (Acts 22:3), and a Pharisee. In reality, Paul had lived in gross spiritual darkness. He knew the law in his preconversion days, but he had not realized that the purpose of the law was to bring him to Christ (Gal. 3:24). He had been a self-righteous Pharisee who needed to discover that his good works and respectable character could never save him and take him to heaven (Phil. 3:1–11).

The light that Paul saw was supernatural, for it was the glory of God revealed from heaven (compare Acts 7:2, 55–56). It actually had blinded Paul for three days (Acts 9:8–9), but his spiritual eyes had been opened to behold the living Christ (2 Cor. 4:3–6). But seeing a light was not enough; he also had to hear the Word of God.

“I heard a voice” (vv. 14–18). Paul’s companions had seen the light, but not the Lord, and they had heard a sound, but they could not understand the words. They all fell to the earth, but only Paul remained there (Acts 9:7). Jesus Christ spoke to Paul in the familiar Aramaic tongue of the Jews, called him by name, and told him it was futile for him to continue fighting the Lord. In that moment, Paul had made two surprising discoveries: Jesus of Nazareth was alive, and He was so united to His people that their suffering was His suffering! Paul was persecuting not only the church, but also his own Messiah!

How encouraging it is to know that God in His grace speaks to those who are His enemies. God had been dealing with Paul, but Paul had been resisting Him, kicking against the “goads.” What were these “goads”? Certainly the testimony and death of Stephen (Acts 22:20), plus the faithful witness of the other saints who had suffered because of Paul. Perhaps Paul had also struggled with the emptiness and weakness of Judaism and his own inability to meet the demands of the law. Even though he could now say he was “blameless” in conduct and conscience (Acts 23:1; Phil. 3:6), yet within his own heart, he certainly knew how far short he came of meeting God’s holy standards (Rom. 7:7–16).

The word minister in Acts 26: means “an underrower” and refers to a lowly servant on a galley ship. Paul had been accustomed to being an honored leader, but after his conversion he became a subordinate worker, and Jesus Christ became his Master. The Lord had promised to be with Paul and protect him, and He also promised to reveal Himself to him. Paul saw the Lord on the Damascus road, and again three years later while in the temple (Acts 22:17–21). Later, the Lord appeared to him in Corinth (Acts 18:9) and in Jerusalem (Acts 23:11), and He would appear to him again.

No doubt it was a surprise to Paul after his conversion to hear that the Lord was sending him to the Gentiles. He had a great love for his own people and would gladly have lived and died to win them to Christ (Rom. 9:1–3), but that was not God’s plan. Paul would always be “the apostle to the Gentiles.”

Acts 26: describes both the spiritual condition of the lost and the gracious provision of Christ for those who will believe. You will find parallels in Isaiah 35:5; 42:6ff.; and 61:1. The lost sinner is like a blind prisoner in a dark dungeon, and only Christ can open his eyes and give him light and freedom (2 Cor. 4:3–6). But even after he is set free, what about his court record and his guilt? The Lord forgives his sins and wipes the record clean! He then takes him into His own family as His own child and shares His inheritance with him!

What must the sinner do? He must trust Jesus Christ (“faith that is in me”—Acts 26:18). Paul had to lose his religion to gain salvation! He discovered in a moment of time that all of his righteousnesses were but filthy rags in God’s sight, and that he needed the righteousness of Christ (Isa. 64:6).

“I was not disobedient” (vv. 19–21). When Paul had asked, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” (Acts 9:6) he meant it sincerely, and when the Lord told him, he obeyed orders immediately. He began right at Damascus and it almost cost him his life (Acts 9:20–25). Likewise, when he had witnessed to the Jews in Jerusalem, they attempted to kill him (Acts 9:29–30). In spite of repeated discouragements and dangers, Paul had remained obedient to the call and the vision that Jesus Christ gave him. Nothing moved him (Acts 20:24)!

In Acts 26:21, Paul clearly explained to Agrippa and Festus what had really happened in the temple and why it had happened. It was “on account of these things” that Paul had been attacked and almost killed: his declaration that Jesus of Nazareth was alive and was Israel’s Messiah, his ministry to the Gentiles, and his offer of God’s covenant blessings to both Jews and Gentiles on the same terms of repentance and faith (see Acts 20:21). The proud nationalistic Israelites would have nothing to do with a Jew who treated Gentiles like Jews!

“I continue unto this day” (vv. 22–32). It is one thing to have a great beginning, with visions and voices, but quite another thing to keep on going, especially when the going is tough. The fact that Paul continued was proof of his conversion and evidence of the faithfulness of God. He was saved by God’s grace and enabled to serve by God’s grace (1 Cor. 15:10).

The one word that best summarizes Paul’s life and ministry is “witnessing” (see Acts 26:16). He simply shared with others what he had learned and experienced as a follower of Jesus Christ. His message was not something he manufactured, for it was based solidly on the Old Testament Scriptures. We must remind ourselves that Paul and the other apostles did not have the New Testament, but used the Old Testament to lead sinners to Christ and to nurture the new believers.

Acts 26: is a summary of the gospel (1 Cor. 15:3–4), and each part can be backed up from the Old Testament. See, for example, Isaiah 52:13—53: and Psalm 16:8–11. Paul could even defend his call to the Gentiles from Isaiah 49: (see also Acts 13:47). Jesus was not the first person to be raised from the dead, but He was the first one to be raised and never die again. He is “the firstfruits of them that slept” (1 Cor. 15:20).

In his message in the temple, when Paul got to the word Gentiles, the crowd exploded (Acts 22:21–22). That is the word Paul spoke when Festus responded and loudly accused Paul of being mad. How strange that Festus did not think Paul was mad when he was persecuting the church (Acts 26:11)! Nobody called D. L. Moody crazy when he was energetically selling shoes and making money, but when he started winning souls, people gave him the nickname “Crazy Moody.” This was not the first time Paul had been called “crazy” (2 Cor. 5:13), and he was only following in the footsteps of his Master (Mark 3:20–21; John 10:20).

Paul had been addressing King Agrippa, but the emotional interruption of the governor forced him to reply. He reminded Festus that the facts about the ministry of Jesus Christ, including His death and resurrection, were public knowledge and “not done in a corner.” The Jewish Sanhedrin was involved and so was the Roman governor, Pilate. Jesus of Nazareth had been a famous public figure for at least three years, and huge crowds had followed Him. How then could the governor plead ignorance?

Festus had not interrupted because he really thought Paul was mad. Had that been the case, he would have treated Paul gently and ordered some of his guards to escort him to a place of rest and safety. Furthermore, what official would send a raving madman to be tried before the emperor? No, the governor was only giving evidence of conviction in his heart. Paul’s words had found their mark, and Festus was trying to escape.

But Paul did not forget King Agrippa, a Jew who was an expert in these matters. When Paul asked if Agrippa believed the prophets, he was forcing him to take a stand. Certainly the king would not repudiate what every Jew believed! But Agrippa knew that if he affirmed his faith in the prophets, he must then face the question, “Is Jesus of Nazareth the one about whom the prophets wrote?”

Festus avoided decision by accusing Paul of being mad. King Agrippa eluded Paul’s question (and the dilemma it presented) by adopting a superior attitude and belittling Paul’s witness. His reply in Acts 26: can be stated, “Do you think that in such a short time, with such few words, you can persuade me to become a Christian?” Perhaps he spoke with a smirk on his face and a sneer in his voice. But he certainly spoke his own death warrant (John 3:18–21, 36).

Paul was polite in his reply. “I would to God, that whether in a short or long time, not only you, but also all who hear me this day, might become such as I am, except for these chains” (Acts 26: nasb). Festus and Agrippa knew that their prisoner had a compassionate concern for them, and they could not easily escape his challenge. The best thing to do was to end the hearing, so the king stood up, and this told everybody that the audience was over.

Both Agrippa and Festus declared that Paul was innocent of any crime deserving of death. Luke continues to accumulate these official statements so that his readers will understand that Paul was an innocent man (see Acts 16:35–40; 18:12–17; 23:29; 25:25). In fact, Paul might have been set free, had he not appealed to Caesar. Was he foolish in making his appeal? No, he was not, for it was the appeal to Caesar that finally ended the repeated accusations of the Jewish leaders. They knew they could not successfully fight against Rome.

What Agrippa and Festus did not understand was that Paul had been the judge and they had been the prisoners on trial. They had been shown the light and the way to freedom, but they had deliberately closed their eyes and returned to their sins. Perhaps they felt relieved that Paul would go to Rome and trouble them no more. The trial was over, but their sentence was still to come; and come it would.

What a wonderful thing is the opportunity to trust Jesus Christ and be saved! What a terrible thing is wasting that opportunity and perhaps never having another.