Day 183, Acts 25
Paul was held (with some freedoms) in Caesarea for two years under Governor Felix. Now a new Governor takes over, and walks into the still-heated animosity between the Jewish religious system and The Way: the organic movement of those who believe Jesus is the resurrected Messiah.
We saw in the previous chapter that Felix (who was recorded to be a cruel and degenerate man) had been interested in Paul’s witness to Jesus, until he saw what following Jesus would involve, and in fear he ordered Paul to stop speaking. Sadly, those with power are often hesitant to follow Jesus for fear of losing their status and facing their sins. Instead Felix passes the hot potato to Festus, his successor as governor. History records that Felix was recalled to Rome where he was later found guilty of cruelty to his Jewish subjects.
So Festus arrives and immediately encounters this issue which has dragged on for two years while Felix was hoping in vain for a bribe from Paul. The plot to murder Paul on the journey from Caesarea to Jerusalem that we read about in Chapter 23 is still active (although presumably the original 40 Jews who vowed two years ago to neither eat nor drink until Paul was dead have presumably either broken their promise or preceded Paul in death by now). So Festus opens the court proceedings in Caesarea and the accusers again display more heat than light in their case against Paul, but the governor asks if Paul is willing to go to Jerusalem to be tried. Clearly Festus is trying to ingratiate himself with his unruly Jewish subjects. But Paul knows he has done nothing wrong (except that his proclaiming freedom from sin and relationship with God through the resurrection of Jesus threatens the earthly powers of religion and government). So Paul appeals to Caesar, which was his right as.a Roman citizen.
This gives Festus a challenge; he has no understanding of Paul’s supposed crime, yet he can clearly see the man is innocent. He can’t lose face by sending an innocent man to Caesar for judgment without a clear case to answer!
King Herod Agrippa and his sister Bernice arrive to greet the new governor, and Festus sees an opportunity to gain some clarity. Agrippa is the puppet king of the Jews and Bernice is the older sister of Felix’s wife Drusilla. So Paul, waiting to be sent to Rome, has another opportunity to present his case (and the gospel) to high authorities in his world. We’ll see what he says tomorrow.
Have a great day!
Mark.