A Study of Acts: Paul Before Festus
Acts 25:1-12 - God’s higher Will may move things in ways that are mysterious to us at the time, but then become clear to us later as the perfect path.
“Festus then, having arrived in the province, three days later went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea. And the chief priests and the leading men of the Jews brought charges against Paul, and they were urging him, requesting a concession against Paul, that he might have him brought to Jerusalem (at the same time, setting an ambush to kill him on the way). Festus then answered that Paul was being kept in custody at Caesarea and that he himself was about to leave shortly. “Therefore,” he *said, “let the influential men among you go there with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them prosecute him.”
After he had spent not more than eight or ten days among them, he went down to Caesarea, and on the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought. After Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and serious charges against him which they could not prove, while Paul said in his own defense, “I have committed no offense either against the Law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar.” But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, answered Paul and said, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me on these charges?” But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you also very well know. If, then, I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die; but if none of those things is true of which these men accuse me, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar.” Then when Festus had conferred with his council, he answered, “You have appealed to Caesar, to Caesar you shall go.””
Acts 25:1-12 NASB1995
Porcius Festus hits the ground running after he takes over from Felix. He goes to Jerusalem and meets with the chief priests and the leading men of the Jews and they bring charges against Paul. They request that Paul be brought to Jerusalem to stand trial, but were, in fact, secretly planning another ambush to kill him. Festus tells them that Paul is being kept in custody in Caesarea and they can come there with him to prosecute him if there was anything wrong about the man.
So how does this lengthy and seemingly unproductive incarceration of Paul serve God’s purposes? We humans with our limited vision may question it, but God’s ways are always higher than ours. I like these thoughts from Presbyterian pastor Derek Thomas, as found in Precept Austin:
God’s providence may sometimes appear to us to be inefficient. Why place one of the best preachers of the seventeenth century—John Bunyan—in prison for twelve years? The answer, from our perspective over three centuries later, is obvious: without the imprisonment there would have been no Pilgrim’s Progress. That book still ranks as one of the most important in all of Christian literature. The same thought could be had concerning Paul’s imprisonment. Why place the most useful Christian in the world at that time in prison? But God’s ways are not our ways (cf. Isa. 55:8–9), and there is a yet-unseen purpose behind this “frowning providence.” Later, from his incarceration in Rome, Paul would testify that God had worked in such a way as to secure advantages for the gospel that otherwise would not have been possible. It had become known among members of the imperial guard that his imprisonment had been due to his relationship to Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:13+). Opportunities for witness had been given to him in the most unlikely places. Seeming inefficiency was actually part of God’s strategy. (Reformed Expository Commentary: Acts p. 675).
Festus returns to Caesarea after a few days and takes his seat in the tribunal. The Jewish leaders have followed him there. Paul is brought before the tribunal and the Jewish leaders bring many serious charges against him that they cannot prove. Paul, in his defense, says that he has committed no offenses against the Law of the Jews, the Temple or against Caesar.
Festus apparently wants to curry favor with the Jewish leaders and he asks Paul if he is willing to go to Jerusalem to face trial for these charges, with Festus overseeing the trial. Festus was looked upon favorably by many historians of that time as being fair and reasonable, but Luke, in his Acts documentation, sees him in a less favorable light as yet another corrupt political player. Here is what Jack Arnold says about Festus from Precept Austin:
"At this point, Festus should have dismissed the case against Paul, but now we find this man is a compromiser, always seeking to find the middle ground. He was a true politician because he wanted to please his Jewish subjects, and after all, it was more important to please millions of Jews than to release a man called Paul, the pest. Festus suggested that Paul be taken to Jerusalem to be tried, not by the Sanhedrin but by Festus himself." (Sermon)
Paul counters this request by saying that he is standing before Caesar’s tribunal, which is the proper place, and that he is not a wrongdoer against the Jews, as Festus surely knows. Paul then notes, in a conditional manner, that if he IS a wrongdoer, he does not refuse to die if that is the penalty, but he cannot be handed over to them (the Sanhedrin) if these things are not true. Paul brings forward his rights as a Roman citizen to appeal to Caesar. Festus has no choice under Roman law but to grant the appeal. The Caesar at this time is Nero, early in his reign. According to commentary, this was five years before Nero began his insane persecution of Christians and he was thought to be a decent leader under the influence of the Stoic Seneca. I like this commentary from Jack Arnold, again found in Precept Austin:
"Some think Paul should not have appealed but merely trusted his life to God who would have supernaturally delivered him as He delivered Peter from prison in an earlier part of Acts. Not so. Paul had rights as a citizen and could use those rights. Furthermore, Paul realized that the whole system of Roman law was ordained by God and he could commit himself to it because God is providentially in control of government. God had permitted the whole Roman legal system to be formed to protect His servant Paul. It was not Roman lawyers and judges who saved Paul from death, but Roman law. If it had not been for Roman law, Paul would not have stood a chance. The Roman judges and lawyers were corrupt but the Roman law system saved Paul from certain death. Corrupt judges and lawyers were forced by their own law to protect the Apostle Paul. Again we see God's hand at work. We left Paul in Acts 24 in jail with no apparent way to get out and be on his way to Rome. But in Acts 25, we have a change of administration, a new trial, a governor who upheld Roman law, and Paul’s appeal which would take him to Rome as a prisoner to appear before Caesar. God works in strange and mysterious ways."
I also found this great summary of the lessons we can learn from this passage in Acts 25 by John MacArthur, as found on Precept Austin:
First, it is another tragic example of Jewish hostility to the gospel—a theme running throughout Acts (Acts 4:1-31; 5:17-42; 6:9-15; 8:1-4; 9:23; 13:6, 45; 14:2, 19; 17:1-9, 13; 18:5-17; 19:8-9; 20:3; 21:27ff.; 23:12ff.). Jesus predicted that opposition in His words to His disciples recorded in John 15:18-25. The Lord's reference to "their Law" shows that He had the unbelieving Jews (particularly their leaders) in mind. No religion is neutral about Jesus Christ; all non-Christian religions are openly or subtly opposed to Him. As He Himself put it, "He who is not with Me is against Me" (Matt. 12:30). Persecution of Christians by false religion is always based on two premises: it is based on false accusations, and it is for Christ's sake. Believers are to live blameless lives and so reveal their critics' accusations to be false (Titus 2:2-8; 1 Pet. 2:12, 15; 3:16).
A second truth this text illustrates is the binding power of sin. Although he had been out of the mainstream, incarcerated at Caesarea for two years, the Sanhedrin's hatred of Paul had not abated. "Truly, truly, I say to you," Jesus said in John 8:34, "everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin." In Romans 6:16, Paul asked rhetorically, "Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?" Peter wrote in 2 Peter 2:19, "By what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved." The Jewish leaders were enslaved by their venomous hatred of Paul, an innocent man.
Third, this passage reveals the sovereignty of God in human affairs (cf. Gen. 45:7-8; Dan. 4:17; Luke 22:53; John 7:30; 19:10-11; Acts 2:23). The Sanhedrin's request to bring Paul to Jerusalem to stand trial seemed innocent enough. Festus needed the Jewish leaders' support, so it was essential for him to conciliate them. Granting that seemingly innocuous request would have been, from Festus's perspective, an easy concession. But God providentially intervened to protect His servant.
Fourth, the believer's proper relation to government also appears in this passage. Paul willingly submitted to the Roman government—even as embodied in the person of Nero. He practiced the principle he set forth in Romans 13:1-5. Understanding and applying these principles helped Paul's life have the powerful impact on the world that it did. (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Acts)
God’s promise to Paul that he would go to Rome is now moving forward, although Paul first has an audience with King Agrippa and his consort Bernice (more on these two later…), who have come to pay their respects to Festus. My next devotional examines Acts 25:13-22, Festus describes the situation with Paul to Agrippa and Bernice.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - Please help me to know that Your ways are always much higher than ours and the mystery of Your Will becomes clear to us as we finally see the perfect path. 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
Precept Austin was accessed on 1/26/2024 to review commentary for Acts 25:1-12.