Acts 25:1-5 When Festus became
governor, the Jews attempted again to murder Paul by treachery. Whether Festus
was aware of the previous plot and how it had been thwarted is not stated, but
he at least prevented a similar plot. So he followed procedure and told the
Jews to bring charges before him. We get here a small picture of the Roman
Empire, whose bureaucratic procedures were well established, but also
functioned well. As Solomon said, there is a proper procedure for everything.
(Ecclesiastes 8:5-6) And Paul referred
to the proper role of government in Romans 13:3-4.
Acts 25:6-12 Festus held court in Caesarea.
The Jews were not able to prove any of the charges, and Paul declared his
innocence before both God and man. Festus also wanted to curry the Jews'
favor. And so Paul refused to go to
Jerusalem for a trial; what would be the point?
They could bring the case to Caesarea, they had already tried to make it
and failed, so he knew full well what their game was. It is not clear why he
appealed to Caesar. Perhaps that was the next step in the process, to avoid
being extradited to Jerusalem. Perhaps it was simply a means of putting to an
end the charade that the Jews were putting on. Perhaps it was because Jesus had
told him it was time to go to Rome, to carry out what was promised earlier.
(Acts 23:11). Being a Roman citizen, it was his right to appeal to Caesar, and
so he did.
Acts 25:13-22 Agrippa arrived in
Caesarea and Festus explained Paul's situation to him. How Luke got the transcript
of this conversation is puzzling. Perhaps they held open court. Perhaps a bit
of wry humor by Luke, quoting Festus as saying he was at a loss as to how to
investigate a disagreement over whether Jesus was dead or alive. Is this solely
a matter of faith, or is it possible to actually investigate such a claim,
gather evidence, apply logic, and make a determination? That is the subject of
the book Knowing Christ Today, by Dallas Willard, in which the author
makes the case that such questions can be investigated in such a way as to
establish knowledge of such facts. But
Festus was a politician, not a scholar.
Acts 25:23-27 Festus came to Agrippa
in court and publicly passed the responsibility for Paul to him. Paul had given
him the perfect bureaucratic excuse to not have to take the risk of making a
decision, by appealing to Caesar. It may have made him look weak, but it
completely avoided the risk of alienating the Jews, whom he had just begun to
rule over as governor and would have to rule for his term of office. And it
doubtless curried favor with Agrippa by bumping the case up to him.
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