Acts | Chapter 25

 

Acts Ch 25:1-27

“Continuing from grace to glory”

Vs. 1-12 A new judge, same justice

Vs. 13-22 A change in venue

Vs. 23-27 An entertaining court

Intro.

Have you ever been in a situation where the circumstances are such that they just seem to repeat themselves? I mean after a while you don’t care about the outcome you just want one? That is the case with Paul’s situation as we last saw him in Caesarea having successfully defended his case before Judge Felix. We are told that Felix wanted to do the Jews a favor so he left Paul under house arrest. Then he and his wife Drusilla would come and listen to Paul share about faith in Jesus but did not respond to the message. Thus we discover the greatest reason people do not become Christians, procrastination. “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.” Oh, people say the reason they don’t respond to the truth of the bible is because there is not enough evidence, or the pygmies in Africa, but the truth is those are just ways of procrastinating.

Here in this section we see another reason people don’t respond to the gospel, compromise! “God if you do this and that when I want you to then I will start following you!” People like to play “Lets make a deal” with God, “I’ll give a little if you give me what I want!” In so doing they never keep their end of the bargain. In contrast to Felix and Festus’ responses to God’s invitation you have the response of a Christian (Paul) to decisions. Far from procrastination and compromise Paul is seen in perseverance! 

Webster’s dictionary describes perseverance as, “a persistence in any thing undertaken”. In the New Testament the word is used 8 times, once where the word used means “persistence”, and seven times where the word used means “cheerful endurance”.  I love that description as it goes beyond just hanging in there to describe an attitude while you hang in there. If you will, it describes a “continuing in a state of grace while we wait for a state of glory”. Only a person who is resting in Jesus can be at home in uncertainty!

Vs. 1-12 A new judge, same justice

Vs. 1 Luke crams two years into two verses with the change of Governors from Felix to Festus but what he does not tell us is the reason why. Felix, according to historians, was  “vulgar and a ruffian who exercised the power of a king in the spirit of a slave.” This was nowhere more apparent than in the two actions that led to him being removed from office and replaced by Festus.

It seems during Paul’s two-year stay in Caesarea there was an outbreak between the Greeks and the Jews of Caesarea as to whom the most civil rights of the city belonged. The Jews claimed that most of the civil rights ought to belong to them because theirs was the greater numbers, wealth, and the rebuilding of the city had occurred because of their King Herod (even though he was not a Jew and they hated him.) The Greeks claimed that they ought to receive more special privileges because they had always supported the Roman military and that the city had always been planned as a Gentile city. Felix sided with the Greeks and used the Syrian troops to put down the Jews and many were killed and plundered.

Then there was the murder of the High Priest Jonathan (although the real power was still in Ananias) over Herod’s anger at the Jews building a higher wall to block his view of the temple. Both of these situations left Felix in hot water with Rome and he would have been executed had it not been for his brother’s influence. So Rome sent Festus, a 70-year-old who some believe was a part of Roman nobility and will die in office two years after becoming Governor.

Vs. 2-3 Festus is a smart politician as he is only three days in the country when he goes up to Jerusalem to meet the religious leaders of the country and the new High Priest Ishmael. Again he is only a puppet as Luke notes by saying that “the chief men of the Jews” were also there.

Picture this scene if you will. There is a new Governor who has come up to you to introduce himself and you have the opportunity to speak to him concerning anything that relates to your nation and people. You would think that they might take the opportunity to share about the needs of the people or the freedom to worship. What is the most important problem facing the nation as far as they are concerned? Well it’s old Paul. Festus had gone up to Jerusalem to make sure that he could strengthen peace within the nation. They come back and say, “Hey, you want to make peace with us, well I’ll tell you what you can do to get in good with us. 

You got a guy in prison in Caesarea that we want you (according to verse 15) to judge in our favor against.” So when that did not work Luke tells us that they had another plan, the same one they had two years earlier when Paul was in Jerusalem, ambush him and kill him on his way to be further tried even though he had already been acquitted. Now remember those 40 that had taken a vow not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul, they must be quite hungry and thirsty by now. Most likely they had gotten out of the vow they had made but were probably part of the group that still planned to kill him.

Folks this is just a sub-point, we have an enemy who is relentless, who will band together, who will forgo the necessities and is even willing to wait for our fall. With that being a fact what are we to do? How are we to survive? Well as Isa. 54: 17 says, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper”. During all of the enemies’ pursuit of Paul’s destruction, where is Paul? What is he doing? Well he is stuck in a castle resting in the Lord.

V.4-5 So the Lord works through Festus to protect Paul and what blows my mind is that Paul has no clue that he is in danger or that the Lord is working on his behalf to fulfill what He told him that he would bring him to Rome. No, don’t you think heaven is going to be fun? I mean the Bible says according to 1 Cor. 13:12 that we will “know just as we are known.” Is that cool or what? We are going to see clearly not only the times we question now about why things happen the way they do but we are going to see the multitude of times we are totally unaware of how the Lord intervened to keep us growing closer to Him! Luke is giving us what happened behind the scenes that was being used to protect Paul and further God’s purpose in his life.

Vs. 6-8 So Festus stays in Jerusalem for ten days and no doubt the religious leaders were still trying to change his mind and have him bring Paul up to them but he did not so they travel the 65 miles to again try Paul. Now remember as of yet Festus has not even met Paul nor familiarized himself with the case. They again make the same serious complaints as they did two years previously only this time without a slick lawyer. Again they offer no witness to substantiate their claims. So Paul answers for himself again to say where is the proof? 

The Roman trial had three stages to it:

• Charges were made by the prosecutor.

• Those charges were formally stated before the judge to the accused, kind of like a grand jury is today.

•  Finally the judge would hear the case.

Vs. 10-12 It is in this last stage that Festus falters, there was not enough evidence to hold Paul over for trial. So to compromise with the truth Festus offers Paul (a Roman citizen) the opportunity to go back to Jerusalem in order to do the Jews a favor. Paul knew that this was just a way to circumvent justice and would have none of it. Now here is what is interesting to me: Paul was ready to die for the Lord but not willing to pull the trigger! Or to say it another way, “He was ready to face the lions but he did not want to pry open their mouths and put his head in.” 

Paul was not going to try to get himself in trouble, the man who tries to be a martyr never is no matter how he dies! A martyr is a person who so dares to live for the Lord the world can’t keep him any longer. In other words it describes how a person lives not how they die!  I’ve heard that Yasser Arafat (one time Palestinian leader) once told the press that he would rather die a martyr for Islam than be deported. Well he can never be a martyr all he would be is a dead terrorist!

         So Paul just says, “Hey if I’m guilty of these crimes then go ahead and put me to death but if not then by law you can not deliver me to the Jews.” Every Roman citizen had the right to have their court case if justice was not being served before Cesar. Effectively taking the case out of the Jews and Festus hands. Paul refused to be a political pawn so he requested a change of venue so he could get a fair trial. He was never trying to avoid justice, instead he was demanding it! An appeal like this one could come after a verdict or in rare cases before one like this one. Paul was going to Rome to be Jesus’ witness, just as Jesus said two years earlier but he was no doubt taken a different way than the one in which he thought. Throughout all of this Paul has kept his eyes on the author and finisher of his faith. 

 Vs. 13-22 A change in venue

Vs. 13-18 Festus had another problem since he had not charged Paul with any crime and Paul had appealed to Cesar, he had to write up something as to the reason why Paul was being sent to him to hear the case. Festus was just not familiar with the Jewish religion to be able to give a reason for the change in venue. But it so happened that King Agrippa and his sister Bernice were coming to call on the new Governor.

         Now this is Herod Agrippa II the son of Herod Agrippa I who was the guy that killed the apostle James, had Peter arrested, and was eaten by worms for failing to give God glory. His uncle was Herod Antipas who had John the Baptists beheaded and tried Jesus. His great-grandfather was Herod the Great who was the one that had all of the children in Bethlehem put to death at the time of Jesus’ birth. This guy would be the last of the Herods to rule and he did not rule much.

He was only 17 when his father was eaten by worms, his sister was only a year younger than him. Now you will remember we spoke of Drusilla who was married to the former Governor Felix, well that is their sister. Now both these girls were known for their great beauty but they were both very perverse as was this whole clan of Herods. Bernice was not only his sister, they had an incestuous relationship, which was a scandal in Rome as well as Israel. Every now and then it would get to her and she would go and marry someone but each time she would run back into the arms of her brother.

         During these verses Festus informs Herod and his sister of Roman law and verses 18-19 he proclaims that the charges leveled against Paul were not valid in the Roman courts. Can you imagine how wild this must have been for Festus as Paul spoke clearly concerning Jesus and the resurrection? This old Roman statesman is hearing this case upon a dead man whom Paul was saying is alive. What? Festus had no way of sorting through all of that. Herod bails Festus out so that he can send Paul to Rome with an official charge. 

Vs. 23-27 An entertaining court

Vs. 23-27 Here is where we will end for now. The word “pomp” is the word fantasia in the Greek and this is the only place it appears in the New Testament Folks, get in your mind a scene like that of the Academy Awards with all the right people there. The king and his sister all decked out in their designer clothes. The military had the captains of a thousand men in their dress apparel. There were the wealthy “who’s who” of society and of course the political hierarchy. They all gathered at an auditorium there in Caesarea, which I’ve seen. 

It must have been at this time an incredible place as the seating faced the Mediterranean Sea with the stage opposite. Thus it had a great acoustical presence from stage to seating. Now we are told in church history that Paul was a short man of around five feet balding with a very large hooked nose and eyes that were constantly running. He would have been very simply dressed and he was brought in before the best of society, what a contrast. This was the man that was a terror to the world? This was the man who was turning the whole world upside down? No, it was not Paul that was doing this, it was the Lord Jesus in Paul.

         As he stood there in front of that packed auditorium listening to the situation as Festus addressed Herod he did not see what many would see instead he saw an opportunity to share the truths concerning Jesus. To Paul he was the blessed one and the best the world had to offer were the ones in need of saving. Oh how different you and I see things at times. You watch the lifestyles of the rich and famous and say, “Oh if I could just have what they have then all of my problems would be over.” But Paul looked out at that audience and said, “Oh if they could just have what I have all their problems would be over.” How about you, are you into procrastination and compromise, or perseverance that continues in a state of grace while we wait for a state of glory!