Acts 25 - Paul Gets An Audience Before Kings and Queens!

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.”

The Jewish leaders were trying to trick Festus into asking Paul to come from Caesarea, so they could ambush him. But in God's sovereignty, Festus instead decided to visit him in Caesarea. He invited other Jewish leaders to come and see if he was guilty of anything. 

We don’t know if Festus knew the intentions of the Jewish leaders or not. Either way, he refused to grant their request for a change of venue, and this was another way that God protected Paul. - Guzik

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!”

Like Felix, Festus probably wanted to get rid of Paul and send him back to his own people to decide this matter in Jerusalem. But Paul was having none of it. First of all, no charges had been substantiated, so there was no reason to be sent there. Paul was willing to die if the charges against him were true. Yet, in the meantime, since he was a Roman citizen, he had to right to appeal his case to Caesar.  Festus conferred with his officials and according to the law, Roman citizens had the right to appeal their cases to Caesar.

Once again God protected Paul. Interestingly he did so through the Roman authorities. Paul also used his intelligence to outwit the Jewish leaders. 

This reminds us of what Jesus said, 

"Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves." (Matthew 10:16)

It was the right of every Roman citizen to have his case heard by Caesar himself, after initial trials and appeals failed to reach a satisfactory decision. This was in effect an appeal to the supreme court of the Roman Empire. (Guzik)

“God, who has appointed courts of law, also gives his people liberty to use them lawfully.” (Calvin, cited in Hughes)

Festus Consults King Agrippa

13 A few days later King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to pay their respects to Festus. 14 Since they were spending many days there, Festus discussed Paul’s case with the king. He said: “There is a man here whom Felix left as a prisoner. 15 When I went to Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews brought charges against him and asked that he be condemned. 16 “I told them that it is not the Roman custom to hand over anyone before they have faced their accusers and have had an opportunity to defend themselves against the charges. 17 When they came here with me, I did not delay the case, but convened the court the next day and ordered the man to be brought in. 18 When his accusers got up to speak, they did not charge him with any of the crimes I had expected. 19 Instead, they had some points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a dead man named Jesus who Paul claimed was alive. 20 I was at a loss how to investigate such matters; so I asked if he would be willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial there on these charges. 21 But when Paul made his appeal to be held over for the Emperor’s decision, I ordered him held until I could send him to Caesar.” 22 Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear this man myself.” He replied, “Tomorrow you will hear him.”

Festus briefed King Agrippa on Paul's case. He surmised, like Felix, that the charges the Jews were making toward Paul were all about religious matters pertaining to their laws. Interestingly, Festus says they had disputes, "about a dead man Jesus who Paul claimed was alive." 

Once again, we see the physical and bodily resurrection of Jesus is the "linchpin" of the Christian faith. On it, the Christian faith stands or falls. If Jesus rose from the dead, everything else he said about himself is true. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, he was either delusional, or an imposter. You can't have it both ways. Either he is the only Son of God, or not! But let's not listen to this nonsense that Jesus was a nice man and a good moral teacher. He never left this option for us. 

Festus' recount of his interaction with Paul made Agrippa curious, and he asked if he could hear Paul himself, which Festus arranged for the next day. Once again Paul would get a chance to share the story of Jesus with another high ranking authority. 

Of this King Agrippa, his great-grandfather had tried to kill Jesus as a baby; his grandfather had John the Baptist beheaded; his father had martyred the first apostle, James. Now Paul stood before the next in line of the Herods, Herod Agrippa. - Guzik

Agrippa’s curiosity meant that Paul would have another opportunity to speak God’s truth to a Gentile ruler. This would be the third such opportunity for Paul in Acts 24-26 (Felix, Festus, and now Agrippa).

The words “a certain Jesus” show that Festus didn’t know much about Jesus. It is good to remember that the great and important people of Paul’s day didn’t know much about Jesus, and they had to be told. “Brethren, this is why we must keep on preaching Jesus Christ, because he is still so little known. The masses of this city are as ignorant of Jesus as Festus was.” (Spurgeon)

Paul Before Agrippa

23 The next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and entered the audience room with the high-ranking military officers and the prominent men of the city. At the command of Festus, Paul was brought in. 24 Festus said: “King Agrippa, and all who are present with us, you see this man! The whole Jewish community has petitioned me about him in Jerusalem and here in Caesarea, shouting that he ought not to live any longer. 25 I found he had done nothing deserving of death, but because he made his appeal to the Emperor I decided to send him to Rome. 26 But I have nothing definite to write to His Majesty about him. Therefore I have brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that as a result of this investigation I may have something to write. 27 For I think it is unreasonable to send a prisoner on to Rome without specifying the charges against him.”

Paul worked his way up the ladder with each successive leader being more powerful than the previous one. These were some of the most powerful men in the world at this time. Festus recounted what had happened so far. The whole Jewish community had brought Paul to him demanding his death. Note it was not just the leaders that wanted to kill Paul, but the whole community. This is similar to the demand for Jesus' life by all people when they yelled together, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!"

Festus found nothing to charge Paul with, but because Paul demanded to be sent to Caesar, Festus had no other choice but to do so. But Festus had nothing of substance to pass on to the Holy Emperor because he had found him guilty of nothing. Festus hoped that maybe King Agrippa could help adjudicate the matter. 

“All these very important people would have been greatly surprised, and not a little scandalized, could they have foreseen the relative estimates that later generations would form of them and of the prisoner who now stood before them to state his case.” (Bruce)

Festus simply could not send Paul to Caesar with a letter that said, “I really don’t know what this man is accused of and he is probably innocent of any wrongdoing, but I thought I should send him to you anyway.” That was no way to be popular with Caesar. (Guzik)