To Caesar You Will Go! - Acts 25

Paul’s Trial Before Festus

25 Three days after arriving in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem, 2 where the chief priests and the Jewish leaders appeared before him and presented the charges against Paul. 3 They requested Festus, as a favor to them, to have Paul transferred to Jerusalem, for they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way. 4 Festus answered, “Paul is being held at Caesarea, and I myself am going there soon. 5 Let some of your leaders come with me, and if the man has done anything wrong, they can press charges against him there.”6 After spending eight or ten days with them, Festus went down to Caesarea. The next day he convened the court and ordered that Paul be brought before him. 7 When Paul came in, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him. They brought many serious charges against him, but they could not prove them. 8 Then Paul made his defense: “I have done nothing wrong against the Jewish law or against the temple or against Caesar.” 9 Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?” 10 Paul answered: “I am now standing before Caesar’s court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. 11 If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!” 12 After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!”

The Lord told Paul in a vision that he had a plan and would take care of him as he was led by the Spirit to spread the gospel.  As we see the three ring circus surrounding Paul's trial before the Roman governors and Jewish priests, leaders and kings, we see God's providential hand in all of it.  

The Enduring Word commentary by David Guzik says this about Paul's 2 years in Caesarea, 

"We can see that Paul’s generous imprisonment in Caesarea was actually a providential provision of protective custody against the murderous intentions of the religious leaders. It was also a season of rest and replenishment after his years of hard missionary service, preparing him for the challenges in the years ahead."

Festus was a good man compared to compared to King Felix and wanted to give Paul a fair trial, but he too in the end hoped to appease the Jews and do them a favor. It was only when Paul demanded he be tried by Caesar did he save his own life.  Though Paul was wiling to die for Jesus, he knew he still had work to do!  He used his brain to figure what he needed to do.  After Festus conferred with his council, he realized it only made sense to send Paul to Rome to be tried by Caesar, who was the Emperor Nero.  Five years later Nero would persecute and kill Christians but he was not that way yet.  

What can we learn from Paul in this chapter? Paul completely trusted God to the point that he was willing to die for his faith.  Yet, God wasn't finished with him yet.  He still had a purpose for Paul's life in the early Christian church.  Do you see God working behind the scenes in your life to protect you and create opportunities to share the gospel?  God is always at work. The question is will we be available and faithful to join him?  In Luther's Small Catechism he writes this regarding the phrase, "Thy Kingdom Come".  "God's kingdom will come the only question is will we be a part of it."  Paul certainly was, let us be conduits to God's kingdom coming here on earth as it is in heaven!