Read or listen The Acts of the Apostles Chapter 25-26 online (ESV, Bible Gateway)

The processing of Paul's case continues – Acts 25:1-8

In the last chapter, Governor Felix did not dare to decide Paul's case one way or the other, but kept Paul in prison. After being removed from office, Felix tried to appease his Jewish opponents by leaving Paul in prison.

The new governor, Porcius Festus, was a man of action. On the third day after his arrival, he was in Jerusalem meeting with the Jewish leaders. During those meetings, the matter of Paul also came up. This shows how important the Jews considered the condemnation of Paul.

The Jews demanded that Paul be brought to Jerusalem for questioning. They wanted to carry out the old assassination plot with greater success than the previous attempt. But Festus did not want to transfer the prisoner, but urged the Jews to go with him to Caesarea, where the matter would be investigated. With this the Jews had to be content, and so their leaders followed the governor to the Roman capital. The old accusations were repeated, and Paul again rejected them as unproven.

Paul appeals to Caesar - Acts 25:9-12

Festus understood how important Paul's case was to the Jews. He and the Roman government in general knew that it was not worth annoying the Jews unnecessarily. So he did not want to oppose the Jews in the first matter under discussion, but suggested that Paul travel to Jerusalem.

Paul knew the dangers of the journey. There would be assassins along the way, and if he survived, there would be a danger that his case in Jerusalem would be considered one that the Jews could decide among themselves. If Paul’s case were left to the Jews to decide, the outcome would be clear in advance.

Paul saw that Festus was also ready to play politics with his fate. The important thing was not to do justice, but to please the Jews. He had to get a fair trial. Paul decided to use the right of Roman citizens to appeal to Caesar.

We do not know exactly what an appeal to Caesar meant in practice. It was only possible for Roman citizens, and then the case was transferred to Rome for consideration. Apparently, an appeal to Caesar could be made to avoid torture and the death penalty. Festus consulted with his advisers and determined that Paul had the right to appeal to Caesar. In fact, the appeal was a relief to Festus: he would not have to decide a difficult case about which he did not understand much.

The fate of Jesus at the hands of Pilate and the trials of Paul under the pressure of the Roman governors and the Jews are examples of how from the beginning the Christian faith and the church have been caught up in political entanglements. The problems of church-state relations are not a product of our own time!

What is the accusation? – Acts 25:13-22

Paul’s appeal to Caesar solved Festus’s problem as a judge, but it also presented a new problem: what charge could be brought against Paul to Caesar? In fact, the governor knew that there were insufficient grounds for keeping Paul imprisoned, but he could not tell Caesar that he was keeping the man behind bars only to please the Jews. Some charge of violating Roman law had to be invented, but what?

Of course, the blame could have been placed on a disfavored predecessor, but that would not have explained why Festus had not released a prisoner he had found innocent. Festus received unexpected help when Herod Agrippa II and his sister Bernice arrived in Caesarea.

Herod Agrippa II was the son of Agrippa I. The death of Agrippa I is recorded in Acts 12:21-23. Agrippa II was only 17 years old when his father died, and the Romans were unwilling to give him all of his father's territory. He was given only a small area in northern Palestine, but Emperor Claudius gave him additional territory to rule on a few occasions. However, he remained a "puppet ruler" with no real power.

In one sense, Agrippa was a great asset to Festus: He had the right to appoint the high priest of the Jews, meaning he was in a sense the religious leader of the Jews and an expert in religious matters. Agrippa could therefore advise Festus on Paul’s case, which was clearly a religious dispute.

Agrippa's sister, Bernice, was one of the most famous women in Palestine at that time. She had aroused controversy by her marriages. At first, she had married her uncle when she was young (this was common in the Herodian family). After becoming a widow, she married the king of a small kingdom in Asia Minor, but soon Bernice left him and went to live with her brother.

Rumors claimed that Berenice and Agrippa lived like a married couple. This was common among the Pharaohs, as well as among the Greek Ptolemies who ruled Egypt after them. However, to the Jews, this was an abomination, a terrible thing (Leviticus 18:6-18).

When the Jews began a revolt in 66 AD, Titus Vespasian and his troops were ordered to suppress it. Berenike soon became acquainted with this general, and she would have become the empress of Rome if the fierce opposition of the Romans had not caused Titus to abandon his plan.

Paul before the rulers – Acts 25:23-26:23

The interrogation is largely a rehash of the old one. Paul refutes the charges against him and proves that this is a religious dispute that would be none of the business of the Roman authorities. At the same time, he takes the opportunity to tell his high-ranking listeners about his own background and then also about the gospel.

There are a few interesting details about Paul's speech that are worth examining more closely.

1. Paul already had the necessary knowledge as a Jew (26:4-11)

Paul explains to his listeners that there was nothing wrong with his knowledge when he persecuted Christians. Yes, he knew everything that was said in the Old Testament about the Messiah. His problem was not a lack of knowledge, but that he did not understand that Jesus of Nazareth was the promised Messiah. And he never learned to know that himself, but only God's teaching on the road to Damascus opened his eyes.

We may be troubled by the fact that so many know the basics of the Christian faith, but still live apart from Christ. It is important to see that faith is not just a matter of knowledge. Only God’s Holy Spirit can reveal Christ to a person. This can be distressing: why doesn’t God make all people Christians? But it can also be a liberating discovery: the salvation of my neighbor does not depend on me and my abilities to tell about the Lord!

2. A Christian cannot blaspheme Christ (26:11)

As a persecutor, Paul had a good way of investigating who was a Christian and who was not. He knew that no Christian could blaspheme Christ. The same method was used in past centuries in Japan. There, in the 1630s, trampling on an image of a crucifix or Mary (Japanese Christians were Catholics) was introduced. A suspected Christian had to trample on the image on the ground to show that he was not a Christian.

Later, it became a custom that every Japanese person had to step on the image on New Year's Day. Each village was responsible for ensuring that the entire village was "tested." If this was not done, the entire village was punished. This was thought to eradicate the Christian faith from Japan.

But one “escape route” remained. If the entire village was Christian, its inhabitants would not betray one another. Thus, after a 250-year period of closure, there were still Christians left when Japan reopened to Christian missionary work at the end of the 19th century.

Where do I face the temptation to blaspheme Christ?

3. Everything essential is in the Old Testament (26:22)

Paul testifies that all the necessary information about God's plan of salvation is in the Old Testament. Luther has said that everything essential is already in Genesis, the rest of the Bible is only an explanation of it. It is worth reminding ourselves that the Bible of the first Christians was the Old Testament. There they found Christ and that is what they read in their worship services. There is a connection between the Old and New Testaments. Therefore, a Christian should also read the Old Testament.

4. Resurrection is the key to everything (26:23)

Paul concludes his speech by stating that he is being accused only because he believes in the resurrection. It was strange that the Jews from whom he had learned the resurrection belief were now accusing him and demanding that he be condemned. But there is another side to the matter: Paul cannot renounce his resurrection belief, because that would mean that Christ had not risen from the dead either. That would mean denying the entire core of the Christian faith (compare also 1 Cor 15:19-23).

Key Question – Acts 26:24-29

Festus does not understand Paul, and he does not know enough about Judaism. He thought that Paul had studied too much philosophy and said: “The learning of the books has confused your head!” Paul denies this and poses a difficult question to Agrippa. Paul knew that Agrippa believed in the resurrection. So if Agrippa believes in the resurrection, there is nothing to prevent him from also believing in the resurrection of Jesus.

Agrippa realizes that he cannot answer Paul’s question with a yes or no. If he answered that he believed in the resurrection, he would be suspected of being a Christian. If he denied that he believed, he would be attacked by the Jews. So he dodges the question.

But can a person avoid the question of Jesus' resurrection? If you don't take a stand on it, isn't that taking a stand against Jesus?

The strange Way – Acts 26:30-32

The outcome of the interrogation does not surprise Paul. He is innocent and could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar. Now the matter was no longer for Festus to decide, but Paul had to go before Caesar. What accusation Festus sent Paul with remains a mystery.

Was Paul wrong to appeal to Caesar? If he had not appealed, he would likely not have been alive at that point, but would have been killed either on the way to Jerusalem or upon arrival. In any case, Paul gets to where he has wanted to go for years: Rome (Romans 15:22-24). God’s ways are not always the same as ours, but it is good to know that God’s will is always better than ours.

How do I pray the Lord's Prayer, "Thy will be done"? Do I really want God's will to happen, or do I just want God to bless my own plans?