Acts 25:1-26:32 “The Appeal to Caesar” January 27, 2008
Today we come to the end of Paul’s sojourn in Judea.
We have spent six chapters here,
as Luke explains to us the implications of the gospel for the Jews.
No longer does the Sanhedrin speak for God.
Indeed, Roman courts are more trustworthy than Jewish courts.
And Paul, the servant of our Lord Jesus Christ,
is indeed like his master.
He suffered in Jerusalem and now must go on to Rome.
Introduction:
“Bring Charges Against Him” 25:1-5
Paul has spent the last two years in prison.
But it takes the Jewish authorities all of three days to lay out their case to Festus.
They waste no time!
One of their highest priorities is the death of Paul,
and they no longer believe that the Roman authorities will hand Paul over to them,
so they resort to subterfuge –
they ask Festus to send Paul to Jerusalem
because they were planning an ambush to kill him on the way.
So Festus invited them to come to Caesarea and present their case.
As we look at chapters 25-26 today,
as Paul presents his case before Festus and Agrippa,
we need to keep in mind two key verses that are driving this whole section:
At the end of Paul’s last missionary journey, he
resolved in the Spirit to . . . go to
Jerusalem, saying,
“After I have been there, I must also see Rome” (19:21)
And after Paul came to Jerusalem the Lord said to him,
Take courage, for as you have testified to
the facts about me in Jerusalem,
so you must testify also in Rome. (23:11)
Paul is not worried about whether he will be set free.
In fact, if he is set free (even in Caesarea) his life will be in greater danger!
Instead, Paul’s desire is to testify to Christ in Rome.
But how is Paul supposed to get from Caesarea to Rome?
So the Jewish leaders came to Caesarea,
bringing many and serious charges against
him that they could not prove.
They were not worried about convicting Paul at this hearing –
rather, their goal is to convince Festus to send Paul to Jerusalem.
But Paul replied,
Neither against the law of the Jews, nor
against the temple, nor against Caesar
have I committed any offense.
And it seems clear that Festus agreed.
He could not see any offense in Paul,
but wishing to do the Jews a favor
Festus suggests that he is ready to conduct a trial in Jerusalem.
But Paul does not wish to go back.
He knows that the Jewish authorities still want him dead
(and in fact, James the brother of Jesus will be stoned to death in Jerusalem
after a similar trial to the sort that the Jewish authorities request here).
But that is not the only reason.
He does not want to go back to Jerusalem
because to go back to Jerusalem would be to go backward.
Paul
says I am standing before Caesar’s
tribunal, where I ought to be tried.
To
the Jews I have done no wrong, as you yourselves know very well.
If
then I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything for which I deserve to die,
I
do not seek to escape death.
But
if there is nothing to their charges against me,
no one can give me up to them.
We saw in chapters 21-23 that Luke is pointing out that the elders of the church in Jerusalem
are the true spiritual authority in Jerusalem.
The council – the Sanhedrin – no longer speaks for God.
Paul had been willing to stand before the Sanhedrin in chapter 23,
but since the Sanhedrin is no longer faithful to God’s word,
Paul now says that he has more confidence in “Caesar’s tribunal”
than in the divinely appointed priests and elders in Jerusalem.
This is an important point.
Paul would prefer to be tried before the civil court than before a false religious court.
In 1 Corinthians Paul will rebuke Christians for taking each other to court,
but that is not because Paul is hostile to civil authority.
Indeed, Paul has more confidence in the pagan judges of Caesar’s court
than he does in the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem.
But the appeal to Rome is not especially based on any political calculation.
It is not that Paul thinks that he has a better chance of being vindicated by Nero.
Rather, the primary driving force in Paul’s thinking
is that he has been called by Christ to go to Rome,
and now Festus is setting him up for an all-expense paid trip!
I appeal to Caesar!
The appeal to Caesar was a basic right of every Roman citizen.
Some have wondered whether the appeal was “in order”
because Paul had not yet been convicted of anything.
That may be why Festus conferred with his council (verse 12).
But Paul realizes that he cannot wait for Festus to decide what to do with him.
Once Festus says “you are going back to Jerusalem”
Paul is dead.
Or for that matter, if Festus sets him free
it is likely that Jewish assassins will get to him before he can get out of the area.
If he is ever to get to Rome, now is his chance!
I appeal to Caesar!
And so Festus concludes,
To Caesar you have appealed; to Caesar you
shall go.
But Festus has a problem.
He is required to send Paul to Rome,
but he is having difficulty figuring out what to write.
And so he left Paul in prison for some days.
But then Agrippa and Bernice arrived to congratulate the new governor.
Agrippa was the son of Herod Agrippa (the king who died in Acts 12).
Bernice was the daughter of Herod Agrippa.
For many years the brother and sister ruled together as king and queen –
with persistent rumors that suggested that they were lovers as well.
Bernice was undoubtedly the most famous Jewish woman in the Roman empire.
She had already been married to two different governors,
and now (around the age of 30 or so)
she was approaching the height of her power and beauty.
Just a few years later she become the consort of the general Titus
(the general who destroyed the city of Jerusalem in AD 70)
and nearly became his wife when he became emperor.
It appears that many years later her granddaughter converted to Christianity.
But Luke is not concerned about this.
Luke’s point is that Agrippa and Bernice concur with all the Roman authorities
that Paul is innocent.
This is all the more important because Agrippa and Bernice had converted to Judaism.
And so when Agrippa and Bernice come to Caesarea
Festus naturally seeks the counsel of these “resident experts” on all things Jewish.
(For even though Agrippa was king of Galilee and modern day Lebanon,
he had the right to appoint the high priest in Jerusalem).
Festus admits to Agrippa and Bernice that he was out of his depth in this case:
When the accusers stood up,
they brought no charge in his case of such
evils as I supposed.
Rather
they had certain points of dispute with him about their own religion
and about a certain Jesus, who was dead,
but whom Paul asserted to be alive.
Being
at a loss how to investigate these questions,
I asked whether he wanted to go to Jerusalem
and be tried there regarding them.
But
when Paul had appealed to be kept in custody for the decision of the emperor,
I ordered him to be held until I could send him to Caesar. (v18-21)
So the next day Festus summoned Paul to appear before Agrippa and Bernice.
In his introductory remarks in verses 24-27
it is clear that Agrippa considers Paul innocent:
I found that he had done nothing deserving
death…
But I have nothing definite to write to my lord about him.
Notice here that Agrippa calls Caesar “my lord” –
“kurios” – a standard title of Caesar –
but one that Paul will contest ever so gently!
Paul was delighted to have such a hearing.
After all, King Agrippa was knowledgeable in all things Jewish,
and so he could give a clear presentation of the gospel.
But watch what happens –
because what may be a clear presentation of the gospel for one person,
may sound utterly absurd to someone else!
You have to know your audience –
and sometimes you have to pick which audience you are trying to reach.
And Paul makes it clear that his target audience is Agrippa (v2-3).
Paul starts by reminding everyone that he had been reared as a Pharisee –
the strictest party of our religion.
And his hope from his youth was in the promise made by God to our fathers,
to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship night and day –
namely, the hope of the resurrection.
Israel’s hope – according to Paul – has always been the resurrection of the dead.
And he points out in verses 9-11 that it was because of this hope
that he persecuted the church
and opposed the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
After all, if Jesus had been simply another false Messiah,
then those who followed Jesus would have been blasphemers and heretics –
and so for one whose hope was that God would raise righteous Israel from the dead,
it was important to purge Israel of such dangerous fanatics!
And so Paul (Saul of Tarsus) persecuted the saints (notice that he calls them “holy ones”)
even into foreign cities.
Verses 12-18 then recount Paul’s conversion.
He tells of how the light of heaven shone around him,
and he heard the voice from heaven saying
Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?
It is hard for you to kick against the goads.
Goads were sharp sticks used to prod recalcitrant animals in the right direction.
Jesus is saying that Saul is only making his own situation worse by resisting him!
This is the third time in Acts that we hear this story of Paul’s conversion.
And each time we hear a little more detail.
I think here Paul is telescoping the event.
In Acts 9:6 Jesus tells Saul
Rise and enter the city, and you will be
told what you are to do
It seems clear from Acts 9 that Paul did not know about the Gentile mission yet,
but that it was part of what Ananias was told.
I would suggest that Paul is here summarizing the whole episode,
both what he was told on the road outside Damascus,
and what he was told when he came to Damascus.
I am Jesus whom you are persecuting
(the clear implication for Agrippa is that if he persecutes Paul,
then he too will be persecuting Jesus)
But rise and stand upon your feet, for I
have appeared to you for this purpose,
to
appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in you have seen me
and
to those in which I will appear to you,
delivering
you from your people and from the Gentiles –
to
whom I am sending you to open their eyes,
so
that they may turn from darkness to light
and
from the power of Satan to God,
that
they may receive forgiveness of sins
and a place among those who are sanctified
by faith in me.
Once again we hear of the conversion of Paul in the form of a prophetic call.
Jesus has sent Paul to both Jew and Gentile –
and Jesus has promised to deliver him from both Jew and Gentile.
Therefore, O King
Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,
but
declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem
and throughout all the region of Judea, and
also to the Gentiles,
that they should repent and turn to God,
performing deeds in keeping with their
repentance.
And in verses 22-23 Paul summarizes his message.
Again, it is likely that Paul spoke for longer than a few seconds,
but Luke gives us the headings of the topics that Paul covered.
I stand here testifying both to small and
great,
saying
nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass:
that
the Christ must suffer
and
that, by being the first to rise from the dead,
he would proclaim light both to our people
and to the Gentiles.
This is the basic message of the gospel.
Paul has said repeatedly that the resurrection is the real issue here.
He said to the Sanhedrin that he was on trial because of his hope in the resurrection.
He said to Felix that it was because he spoke of the resurrection that he got in trouble.
And now he clarifies this to Agrippa:
Paul is on trial because he believes that the resurrection has already happened to Jesus.
The hope of Israel has happened to Jesus.
And therefore, because Jesus has been raised from the dead as the firstfruits,
the firstborn from the dead,
therefore Jesus now proclaims light to Jew and Gentile alike.
At this point, Festus is shaking his head.
Paul, you are out of your mind;
your great learning is driving you out of your mind.
For Festus, a good Roman, this is simply insane!
Paul does not seem to be surprised by this,
but then again, Paul wasn’t really speaking to Festus.
I am not out of my mind, most excellent
Festus,
but
I am speaking true and rational words.
For
the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly.
For
I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice,
for
this has not been done in a corner.
King
Agrippa, do you believe the prophets?
I
know that you do believe.
Paul knows that he has only a little time with Agrippa,
and so he will call the king to faith in Jesus Christ – even in front of all the court.
And Agrippa said to Paul,
In
a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?
And
Paul said,
Whether
short or long, I would to God that not only you
but also all who hear me this day might
become such as I am
– except for these chains.
It is worthwhile to point you to Paul’s boldness for the gospel.
And it would be good for you to emulate that boldness –
again, using the wisdom that Paul used
(knowing his audience and waiting for the proper time to speak boldly).
But the real question is not whether you will be like Paul.
The real question is whether you will believe Paul!
What will you do with Paul’s message?
Conclusion: “This Man Could Have Been Set Free” (26:30-32)
Agrippa and Bernice and Festus respond to Paul’s message.
While Festus thinks that Paul is nuts,
he agrees that Paul has done nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.
Agrippa even says,
This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.
But none of them bear fruits in keeping with repentance.
The rulers of Jews and Gentiles have nothing against Paul –
but neither do they believe him.
What will you do?
Luke is writing this to Theophilus, so that Theophilus will hear Paul’s message
and respond in faith.
Luke wishes that all who read his book – indeed, Luke wishes that you who hear this today!
would repent and believe that Jesus Christ is indeed the first to rise from the dead.
Because if Jesus is the first to rise from the dead,
then those who believe in him will rise with him.
The light of glory has dawned in the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
and you are called to
“repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with your repentance.”
In other words, if you believe Paul’s message,
then your whole life should be reoriented – turned around.