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Acts
25:1-27
“Now when Festus was
come into the province, after three days he ascended from Caesarea to
Jerusalem. 2 Then the high
priest and the chief of the Jews informed him against Paul, and besought him, 3 and
desired favour against him, that he would send for
him to Jerusalem, laying wait in the way to kill him. 4 But Festus answered, that Paul should be kept at
Caesarea, and that he himself would depart shortly thither. 5 Let them therefore, said he, which among you are able, go
down with me, and accuse this man, if there be any wickedness in him. 6 And
when he had tarried among them more than ten days, he went down unto Caesarea;
and the next day sitting on the judgment seat commanded Paul to be brought. 7 And
when he was come, the Jews which came down from Jerusalem stood round about,
and laid many and grievous complaints against Paul, which they could not prove. 8 While
he answered for himself, Neither against the law of
the Jews, neither against the temple, nor yet against Caesar, have I offended any thing at all. 9 But
Festus, willing to do the Jews a pleasure, answered Paul, and said, Wilt thou
go up to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these things before me? 10 Then
said Paul, I stand at Caesar’s judgment seat, where I ought to be judged: to the Jews I have done no wrong, as thou
very well Knowest. 11 For
if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not
to die: but if there be none of these
things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them, I appeal unto
Caesar. 12 Then Festus,
when he had conferred with the council, answered, Hast thou appealed unto Caesar? unto Caesar shalt thou go. 13 And
after certain days king Agrippa and Bernice came unto
Caesarea to salute Festus. 14 And
when they had been there many days, Festus declared Paul’s cause unto the king,
saying, There is a certain man left in bonds by Felix: 15 about
whom, when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews
informed me, desiring to have judgment against him. 16 To
whom I answered, It is not the manner of Romans to deliver any man to die,
before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and have licence to answer for himself concerning the crime laid
against him. 17 Therefore, when
they were come hither, without any delay on the morrow I sat on the judgment
seat, and commanded the man to be brought forth. 18 Against
whom when the accusers stood up, they brought none accusation of such things as
I supposed: 19 but had certain
questions against him of their own superstition, and of one Jesus, which was
dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive. 20 And
because I doubted of such manner of questions, I asked him, whether he
would go to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these matters. 21 But
when Paul had appealed to be reserved unto the hearing of Augustus, I commanded
him to be kept till I might send him to Caesar. 22 Then
Agrippa said unto Festus, I would also hear the man myself. To morrow, said he,
thou shalt hear him. 23 And
on the morrow, when Agrippa was come, and Bernice, with great pomp, and was
entered into the place of hearing, with the chief captains, and principal men
of the city, at Festus’ commandment Paul was brought forth. 24 And
Festus said, King Agrippa, and all men which are here present with us, ye see
this man, about whom all the multitude of the Jews have dealt with me, both at
Jerusalem, and also here, crying that he ought not to live any longer. 25 But
when I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death, and that he himself
hath appealed to Augustus, I have determined to send him. 26 Of
whom I have no certain thing to write unto my lord. Wherefore I have brought him forth before
thee, O king Agrippa, that, after examination had, I
might have somewhat to write. 27 For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner,
and not withal to signify the crimes laid against him.”
Introduction
Audio
version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/teachinglibrary.asp?Book=44
“We are in the
beginning of chapter 25, seeing a change in the governorship of Judea, southern
Syria, Jerusalem. Felix has been recalled to Rome because of his cruelty, only his brother
Paulus has influence there, causes his life to be spared, he’s banished from
there. And then tradition says he
committed suicide. And a new man, Porcius Festus has come on the scene. History tells us he was a gracious man, that
Felix was removed because of his cruelty to the Jews and the people and to the
people of the Middle East, and that as Festus came, he tried as hard as he
could to be gracious, he tried to curry the favour of
the Jews, and some of that becomes a problem as he has Paul the apostle on his
hands. It says in verse 27 of chapter
24, “But after two years Porcius Festus came into
Felix’ room: and Felix, willing to shew
the Jews a pleasure, left Paul bound.” “shew the Jews a favour” hoping that would be favourable to him when he got back to Rome, Felix left Paul
bound. “Now when Festus was come into
the province, after three days he ascended from Caesarea to Jerusalem.” (verse
1) which is from sea level to 2,500 feet above sea level, he’s only three
days there and has to go to Jerusalem, to make his face known, let the
population know there there’s a new Procurator, ah, Jerusalem and Israel
[Judea] being not the best duty in the Roman world, a troubled spot, and he
goes up then to pay an official visit to Jerusalem, to
become acquainted, to acquaint them with himself. At that time it says “Then the high priest
and the chief of the Jews informed him against Paul, and besought him, and
desired favour against him, that he would send for
him to Jerusalem, laying wait in the way to kill him.” (verses 2-3) they’re reforming this plot, so this plot is growing. They realize Festus doesn’t know anything of
local culture and so forth, so they say ‘Would you please, if you want
our favour, bring this prisoner, Paul the apostle
back here to Jerusalem so that we might try him here?’ and it says they
kept asking him that as long as he was in Jerusalem. Now, no doubt Satan working behind the
scenes, his number one nemesis as it were was Paul the apostle, he would loved to have closed his mouth at this point in time. And the plot, again, that had been formed
before, seems to be renewed and growing, that there would be those waiting to
kill Paul as he’s brought from Caesarea back to Jerusalem. “But Festus answered, that Paul should be
kept at Caesarea, and that he himself would depart shortly thither.” (verse 4) and he said “Let them therefore, said he,
which among you are able, go down with me, and accuse this man, if there
be any wickedness in him.” (verse 5) So, ‘bring witnesses down to Caesarea
and let me hear the case.’ “And
when he had tarried among them more than ten days, he went down unto Caesarea;
and the next day sitting on the judgment seat commanded Paul to be
brought. And when he was come, the Jews
which came down from Jerusalem stood round about, and laid many and grievous
complaints against Paul, which they could not prove. And while he answered for himself,” Paul
now then gets to defend himself, he says “Neither against the law of the
Jews, neither against the temple, nor yet against Caesar, have I offended any thing at all.” (verses 6-8) Paul said ‘I haven’t done a single
thing against the Jews, the temple, or Caesar.’ “But Festus, willing to do the Jews a pleasure, answered Paul, and
said, Wilt thou go up to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these things before
me?” (verse 9) Now
Paul is the one who had written in Romans 13, verses 1 to 4 to submit to the
powers that be, because the powers that be are ordained of God. Rome and Roman law at this point favourable towards Paul in regards to God’s design and
providence, to be moving him not back to Jerusalem, but to Rome, and a Roman
judge could not move an accused man to another court without the permission of
the person that was accused. So it was
illegal for Festus to move Paul back to Jerusalem to be tried, unless Paul
agreed to that. And he said ‘Will
you go back? wanting to do a favour for the Jews.’ “Then said Paul, I
stand at Caesar’s judgment seat, where I ought to be judged: to the Jews have I done no wrong, as thou
very well knowest.” (verse 10) Caesarium Appolum, he said ‘I appeal to Caesar,’ and as a Roman citizen that was his right, and it sets the stage for the rest
of the Book, it will put Paul face to face with Nero, who at this point now has
come to the throne, it sets the tone for the rest of our journey through the
Book of Acts, he says ‘I appeal to Caesar’s judgment seat,’ “where I
ought to be judged: to the Jews I have
done no wrong, as thou very well knowest. For if I be an offender, or have committed
any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die: but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may
deliver me unto them. I appeal unto
Caesar.” (verses 10b-11) “Then Festus, when he had conferred with the
council, answered, Hast thou appealed unto Caesar? unto Caesar shalt thou go.” (verse 12) puts him face to face, God’s man, world’s man, God’s great man of that
day now will end up face to face with the world’s man. ‘You’ve made that appeal to Caesar and
you will go.’
King
Agrippa II & Bernice Come To Visit Procurator Festus In Caesarea
And it says “After
certain days king Agrippa and Bernice came unto
Caesarea to salute Festus.” (verse 13) Now this is Agrippa the 2nd, he
is the son of Agrippa the 1st who put James to death. Now he has jurisdiction over Jerusalem,
Festus’ jurisdiction is over the entire area, and this is an official visit to
the new Procurator from the man who has jurisdiction over Jerusalem, he comes
now to Caesarea, Agrippa II, and it says he comes with Bernice. He is an Idumean,
he has the title of the appointer of the high priest, the guardian of the Temple, all of these titles fell to him. He was friends with the Imperial family and
had great favour, and he has Bernice with him. Now Bernice was a beautiful woman. Problem was, that Bernice lived a life
jealous of her sister Drusilla who had been there with Felix, whom Josephus
said that she excelled all women in beauty, that there was no woman as
beautiful as Drusilla. Bernice, jealous
of that, but Bernice is quite a gal, as we study her. Bernice was first married to a prince named
Markus at 13 years of age. And then she
married her uncle, Herod king of Calcius, she left
him for her brother, Agrippa II, who she’s with in this scene, and lived in
incense, no incest, no she probably did that too, incest, which infuriated the
Jews. She left him for king Polemo of Cilicia, left him and went back to Agrippa II,
and in our chronology is where we have her at this point in time, living in
incest with her brother. She left him
and went to Vespasian and became his paramour, his mistress for a time, and
left Vespasian and went to Tacitus, became his wife, and then left Tacitus for
Titus his son. So she’s been around the
block. There was a support group in the
Roman Empire for past husbands of Bernice, with
Post-Traumatic-Bernice-Disorder. So, you
have Festus there, and then Agrippa and Bernice come to visit him, “And when
they had been there many days” so they’re spending time there, “Festus
declared Paul’s cause unto the king, saying, There is a certain man left in
bonds by Felix:” (verse 14) Paul’s literally in shackles now, no doubt to a
Roman guard, though he had certain freedoms, we know. He’s been left in shackles by Felix. He, Festus, says “About whom, when I was
at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me,
desiring to have judgment against him. To whom I answered, It is not the manner of the Romans to deliver any
man to die, before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and
have licence to answer for himself concerning the
crime laid against him.” (verses 15-16) and this
is all new to Festus, this area of the world. He says to the Jews, in Rome we don’t do things like this, when
someone’s going to face the death sentence they have the right under Roman law
to face their accusers to see how the whole thing plays out. Festus then says, “Therefore, when they
were come hither, without any delay on the morrow I sat on the judgment seat,
and commanded the man to be brought forth. Against whom when the accusers stood up, they brought none accusation of
such things as I supposed: but had
certain questions against him of their own superstition, and of one Jesus,
which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive.” (verses 17-19) So you can tell, he doesn’t
know anything about this. It’s a
superstition to him, and here’s this guy named Jesus, and they have accusations
related to that, and Paul keeps affirming, ‘yes he died, but he’s alive,’ and this is all news to Festus, he’s trying to figure out what to do
with this. And he says “And because I
doubted of such manner” ‘I was not informed, instructed,’ “I asked him whether he would go to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these matters. But when Paul had appealed to be reserved
unto the hearing of Augustus, I commanded him to be kept till I might send him
to Caesar.” (verses 20-21) King James says “of
Augustus,” the Caesars kept that name, Augustus is like the gods, “to the
August ones” is the idea, he appealed to go to Caesar, the August one, who is
Caesar Nero at this point in time. “I
commanded him to be kept till I might send him to Caesar. Then Agrippa said unto Festus, I would also
hear the man myself. To
morrow, said he, thou shalt hear him.” (verses 21b-22) Festus says ‘Alright,
we’ll do this tomorrow.’ “On the
morrow, when Agrippa was come, and Bernice, with great pomp, and was entered
into the place of hearing, with the chief captains, and principal men of the
city, at Festus’ commandment Paul was brought forth.” (verse 23) Notice this “with the chief captains,”
this is not the Centurions, it’s the Tribunes, the Chiliarch’s,
now this is probably, if you’ve been to Israel with us, in Caesarea, the
Amphitheater that has been unearthed there, just in the last 50 years,
remarkable site, becoming visible because of the Aswan Dam and the silt dying
back, a horseshoe shape appeared in view from helicopter, they found Caesarea,
they found there a plaque that says Pontius Pilatus, the Procurator, because up
until the time they found that plaque, Bible critics had mocked the Bible
saying ‘There’s not even any record of Pontius Pilate.’ The Bible always wins, if you wait long
enough, and they found a plaque there in Caesarea, this is not Caesarea
Philippi that’s in the mountains, this is Caesarea on the coast, which was
where the Roman Procurators ruled from, they would come to Jerusalem during the
Feasts to keep down trouble, but they found there at Caesarea a plaque with his
name, and you can see it when you’re there. The one they have there is a duplicate, the original is in the Museum in
Jerusalem. They’re probably in that
amphitheater, it’s very remarkable, you can stand down in the center, it seats
about 2,500 and you can drop a dime and you can hear it anywhere in the
place. That’s what some of these Jews where
there for, to drop a dime on Paul, by the way. So they gathered with Bernice and great pomp, and the Tribunes, plural,
were there, each one of them has over a thousand men under him, “and the
principal men of the city, at Festus’ commandment Paul was brought forth.” So there’s quite a crowd there. “And Festus said, King Agrippa, and all
men which are here present with us, ye see this man, about whom all the
multitude of the Jews have dealt with me, both at Jerusalem, and also here, crying that he ought not to live any longer.” (verse 24) ‘he should be put to death.’ “But when I found that he had committed
nothing worthy of death, and that he himself hath appealed to Augustus, I have
determined to send him. Of whom I have
no certain thing to write unto my lord. Wherefore I have brought him before you, specially before thee, O king Agrippa, that, after examination had, I might have somewhat
to write.” (verses 25-26) He says ‘My problem is, I can’t send
this prisoner to Caesar without charge, I’ve listened to all this stuff and I
don’t see the problem, I don’t know what the accusation should be, I have no
lawful charge,’ “Wherefore I have brought him before you, and specially before
thee, O king Agrippa, that, after examination had, I might have somewhat to
write. For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner, and not withal to signify the crimes laid against him.” (verses 26-27) You don’t send a guy
to Caesar saying ‘Here’s a bad guy,’ you know, Nero’s not the kind of
guy that likes that kind of stuff. Now,
chapter 26 will take us to Paul’s defense. This is the longest address we have from the apostle Paul in the Book of
Acts, the longest continuous speech recorded from the lips of Paul. [transcript of a connective expository sermon
on Acts 25:1-27, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary
Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue,
Philadelphia, PA 19116]
related links:
audio version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/teachinglibrary.asp?Book=44
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