A Study of Acts: An Entourage Comes to Hear Paul
Acts 25:23-27 - Are you blind to Paul’s message, like Festus? Are you looking up at His Truth?
“So, on the next day when Agrippa came together with Bernice amid great pomp, and entered the auditorium accompanied by the commanders and the prominent men of the city, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in. Festus *said, “King Agrippa, and all you gentlemen here present with us, you see this man about whom all the people of the Jews appealed to me, both at Jerusalem and here, loudly declaring that he ought not to live any longer. But I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death; and since he himself appealed to the Emperor, I decided to send him. Yet I have nothing definite about him to write to my Lord. Therefore I have brought him before you all and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the investigation has taken place, I may have something to write. For it seems absurd to me in sending a prisoner, not to indicate also the charges against him.””
Acts 25:23-27 NASB1995
The day after Agrippa and Bernice have an audience with Festus and discuss Paul, they come back and enter the auditorium with great pomp, accompanied by the commanders and prominent men of the city. So this entourage not only exhibited plain old pomp, they elevated it to great pomp! Let’s do a word study! Pomp comes from the Greek noun φαντασία or phantasía, with the following Biblical usages:
show, showy appearance, display, pomp
So it was a great and showy appearance on the part of these Roman and local authorities and spectators there at the bidding of Festus. Paul is brought into the middle of this circus, the humble man of God. I like what the author of Precept Austin says about this spectacle (Bruce Hurt):
Festus really rolled out the red carpet for Agrippa and Bernice. Notice it is not just "pomp" but great (pollus = much) pomp. In English pomp means ceremonial elegance and splendor, stately or magnificent display. But it can also convey vain and ostentatious display. Given their godless lifestyles, it was probably a combination of both. And it is as if the Holy Spirit is setting the stage for the presentation of a man who was the antithesis of pomp and display. One has to be reminded of the words in 1 Sa 16:7 "But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” We do not know what Paul looked like physically and it doesn't matter for we know what he looked like spiritually and he was without question one of the most Christ-like men who ever walked on this earth and here he was on display before all the pretentiousness of these people. One has to wonder how many of those present were convicted by the Holy Spirit in Paul's subsequent message and came to the realization that it wasn't anyone in the room who was great but it was the Lord Jesus Christ Whom Paul represented as an ambassador who was truly great.
What is so ironic about the great pomp is that this the very city in their father had so dreadfully perished for his pride [with] Luke recording "On an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel, took his seat on the rostrum and began delivering an address to them. The people kept crying out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died. (Acts 12:21-23+)
Festus speaks to the gathering after Paul is brought into the auditorium. He admits that this is a man that the Jews (leadership) want dead, meaning that Festus is aware of their desires to kill Paul. Festus has not found anything worthy of death in what Paul has done and wants to honor his appeal to be sent to Caesar. But Festus has a conundrum - he doesn’t want to send someone to Caesar without having something to write about as to why Paul wants an appeal to the highest authority in the Roman Empire. Festus is hoping that Paul will indict himself when he speaks so that there will be at least something that can be used as a charge against him. Festus is obviously terrified to send an innocent man to Caesar (Nero) with an “appeal” and be thought of as a fool or worse by the big boss.
Do you think Paul would pass up this opportunity to evangelize before this great gathering? I’m certain he saw this as a God-given opportunity. This viewpoint from John MacArthur from Precept Austin on this situation is quite interesting:
"Paul was probably not legally bound to attend the inquiry. He had already appealed his case to the emperor, thus taking it out of Festus's jurisdiction. But Paul would not think of passing up an opportunity to preach the gospel in such an important setting. Here is still another example of his courageous commitment to serve the Lord Jesus Christ in every circumstance. The vehicle for his gospel proclamation was to be the powerful, dramatic testimony of his conversion on the road to Damascus."
Festus is still blind to the truth, although, in his defense, he has not been in this position for very long. There is no excuse for Felix, who refused to do anything about this innocent prisoner for two years and heard the truth of the Gospel, probably many times, but ran away in fear and greedily hoped for a bribe. Thoralf Gilbrant, a Norwegian Bible scholar, has this to say about Festus from Precept Austin, quoting Martin Luther:
Unfortunately, though Festus had come to an understanding of the fact that Paul was not guilty of anything worthy of death, he had not come to an understanding of what Paul's message was all about. Martin Luther once said, "The object of his (Paul's) mission is to open their eyes—that is, to open and awaken the mind to the truth, and this in order to their conversion. The change is denoted by a twofold contrast—by that between darkness and light, and by that between the ruling power of Satan and the liberating fellowship of God. Finally, the ultimate design of God in their conversion consisted in the forgiveness of sins, and the bestowal of an inheritance, that is, a share in the glory." Festus was still blinded to these truths. (Ibid).
It seems like we are always looking down or across at the pomp and circumstance and the minutiae of this life and not looking up at God’s truth; this is even true of those of us who believe. We will see what happens in my next devotional, where I examine Acts 26:1-8- Paul begins his elegant apologia of his faith to the gathered spectators.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - I pray that I do not let the pomp and circumstance of this life interfere with my focus on Your Truth and Your Salvation. Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
The Blue Letter Bible was accessed on 1/31/2025 to review the lexicon for pomp.
Precept Austin was accessed on 1/31/2025 to review commentary for Acts 25:23-27.