Act 25:18 | KingComments | STEP | The decision that Paul shall go to the emperor in Rome has been made. That does not mean that he will be put on transport immediately. There are still the necessary preparations to be made. The greatest concern for Festus, it turns out, is to make up a plausible reason that justifies the transport of this prisoner for the emperor. To his joy King Agrippa and Bernice appear after a few days. They come to congratulate Festus with his new job. Their arrival was a relief because Agrippa knows the Jewish customs well. King Agrippa is accompanied by Bernice, his sister, with whom he lives. Festus presents ‘the case of Paul’ to Agrippa. He tells how things went. Like everyone else in the world, Festus presents the case in the manner most favorable to him. He presents himself as the sincere upholder of justice, as if that must have its course and he is committed to it. The facts are as he knows them. He says that his predecessor Felix left behind a man in prison about whom he received an accusation in Jerusalem from the Jews who asked for his conviction. With a straight face he also tells how he responded to the Jews that the Romans are not in the habit of delivering a man by way of favor. He forgets that he himself acted with Paul only by granting favor to the Jews ( ) and that Paul accused him of this in veiled terms ( ). He mentions how he made “the man” come to his judgment seat without delay and listened to the accusers. The suspicions he had about what Paul might have misbehaved turned out to be unfounded. The accusations concerned only some points of disagreement with him about their own religion. He had also picked up something “about a dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive”. The way in which Festus speaks about the Lord Jesus is immensely disinterested. Festus has heard the core of the gospel, of which he passes on the summary to Agrippa: that the Lord Jesus died and rose ( ). To Festus, the story of the resurrection is only Jewish superstition. Festus does not say ‘alive again’ nor does he talk about the ‘resurrection’. All in all, Festus expresses Paul’s innocence. Once again, the testimony of Paul’s innocence sounds from the mouth of a pagan government servant. Because he no longer knew what else he could do about this case, he suggested that Paul go to Jerusalem to be tried there. He concealed the motivation for his proposal from Agrippa. He immediately goes on to mention that Paul’s reaction was that he appealed to the emperor. He accepted that appeal, ordering him to be held prisoner until the moment he was sent to the emperor. Through this report, Agrippa has become so much interested in Paul that he indicates that he wants to hear “the man” himself. Festus promises him that he will give him the opportunity to do so tomorrow.

‏ Acts 25:18

Festus Brings the Case Before Agrippa

The decision that Paul shall go to the emperor in Rome has been made. That does not mean that he will be put on transport immediately. There are still the necessary preparations to be made. The greatest concern for Festus, it turns out, is to make up a plausible reason that justifies the transport of this prisoner for the emperor.

To his joy King Agrippa and Bernice appear after a few days. They come to congratulate Festus with his new job. Their arrival was a relief because Agrippa knows the Jewish customs well. King Agrippa is accompanied by Bernice, his sister, with whom he lives.

Festus presents ‘the case of Paul’ to Agrippa. He tells how things went. Like everyone else in the world, Festus presents the case in the manner most favorable to him. He presents himself as the sincere upholder of justice, as if that must have its course and he is committed to it. The facts are as he knows them. He says that his predecessor Felix left behind a man in prison about whom he received an accusation in Jerusalem from the Jews who asked for his conviction.

With a straight face he also tells how he responded to the Jews that the Romans are not in the habit of delivering a man by way of favor. He forgets that he himself acted with Paul only by granting favor to the Jews (Acts 25:9) and that Paul accused him of this in veiled terms (Acts 25:11).

He mentions how he made “the man” come to his judgment seat without delay and listened to the accusers. The suspicions he had about what Paul might have misbehaved turned out to be unfounded. The accusations concerned only some points of disagreement with him about their own religion. He had also picked up something “about a dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive”.

The way in which Festus speaks about the Lord Jesus is immensely disinterested. Festus has heard the core of the gospel, of which he passes on the summary to Agrippa: that the Lord Jesus died and rose (1Cor 15:3-4). To Festus, the story of the resurrection is only Jewish superstition. Festus does not say ‘alive again’ nor does he talk about the ‘resurrection’. All in all, Festus expresses Paul’s innocence. Once again, the testimony of Paul’s innocence sounds from the mouth of a pagan government servant.

Because he no longer knew what else he could do about this case, he suggested that Paul go to Jerusalem to be tried there. He concealed the motivation for his proposal from Agrippa. He immediately goes on to mention that Paul’s reaction was that he appealed to the emperor. He accepted that appeal, ordering him to be held prisoner until the moment he was sent to the emperor.

Through this report, Agrippa has become so much interested in Paul that he indicates that he wants to hear “the man” himself. Festus promises him that he will give him the opportunity to do so tomorrow.