I greet you in the blessed name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Our text for tonight's message is taken from Acts 25:3-17.
Paul has stood before two Roman governors, Phili and Festers. Both of them knew that Paul was innocent of the charges that were brought up against him by the Jewish leaders. But they refused to release Paul because they were fearful of the Jewish leaders, since it could possibly lead to a riot.
Phelix's solution was to avoid the truth, avoid making a decision, shift the blame or the responsibility to Glorious Lius, and he left Paul in prison for almost two years. Then Festus came in as the new Roman Governor. His solution was to strike a compromise in order to please the Jewish leaders, and he proposed for Paul to have the hearing at Jerusalem.
Paul knew that he would not have a fair trial at Jerusalem. The Jewish leaders were not interested in the truth; they were only interested in his life. They wanted to kill him. So, he had no choice but to appeal to Caesar. Remember, the Roman Emperor who was sitting on the throne at this point in time was Emperor Nero, one of the most wicked Emperors the world has ever known. Yet Paul was willing to stand before him. In a sense, Paul was saying regarding truth and justice, it is better for me to stand before Emperor Nero than all these Jewish leaders. I stand a better chance with the most wicked Emperor than all these Jewish leaders.
Festers said to him, "Since you have appealed to Caesar, then unto Caesar shalt thou go."
That was where we ended our last message. But now, the Roman Governor Festus was caught in a dilemma. Why? Because he could not send Paul to Rome without a report. He had to inform the emperor about the charges brought against Paul. But Festus knew that all those charges were theological in nature. And as a Roman, as a Gentile, he was not familiar with the Jewish theology. So he could not write the report to the emperor.
Then came King Agrippa into the picture. The person who supposedly would understand Jewish theology very well. The person who would be equipped to write such a report. So, Festus turned to King Agrippa for help. This is what we want to consider for tonight's message. And in the next chapter, we will consider how Paul stood before Agrippa. The title is still the same: Paul stood before King Agrippa.
Our first point is Festus's dilemma. Let us look at verse 13, Acts 25:3. "And after certain days King Agrippa and Bernice came unto Caesarea to salute Festus."
Several days after Paul had appealed to Caesar, King Agrippa and Bernice had come to pay their respects to the new Roman Governor Festus.
King Agrippa was also known as Herod Agrippa. Allow me to give you a brief background on the different Herods. The Herods were known to be half-Jews. They were the client Kings whom the Romans had installed to help govern the Jewish people. A client King means the customer was King. His duty was to help the Romans make sure that the Jews behave themselves and pay their taxes. They were sort of like the puppets of the Roman Empire.
There were several Herods in the Bible. In this passage, it was Herod Agrippa II. Later on, when the Jews revolted against the Romans, which led to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70, he sided with the Romans, and he was considered a betrayal of his own people.
His father, King Agrippa the first, was the one who killed the Apostle James and arrested Peter. Subsequently, he was eaten by worms when he failed to give glory to the almighty God. We have considered that in Acts 12:1-23.
His great uncle Herod Antipas was the one who executed John the Baptist, the one who committed adultery with Herodias. He was also the one who tried Jesus Christ together with Pontius Pilate.
Perhaps the most well-known amongst all the Herods would be his great-grandfather Herod the Great, the one who ruled during the birth of Jesus Christ, the one who murdered all the children at Bethlehem in order to kill the newborn king.
This King Agrippa II was very immoral. His wife Bernice was actually his sister. If you remember in our previous message, we had mentioned that Drusilla, the wife of Phelix, was the daughter of King Agrippa the first. In other words, Bernice and Drusilla were sisters.
One sister, Bernice, had committed the sin of incest by having a relationship with her own brother, Agrippa II. The other sister, Drusilla, had committed the sin of adultery by forsaking her own husband and following after Phelix.
You can imagine what kind of a family it was. Indeed, people can be influenced by the environment, by the society, by their friends and peers. But surely, people are most influenced by their own families. When the parents are immoral, unbelieving, worldly, wicked, evil, somehow it runs in a family. The children would grow up manifesting those same characteristics. That is why we get the saying "like father, like son," right?
Of course, there are exceptional cases whereby certain individuals came from dysfunctional homes, but they actually grew up well and good. But very seldom, though. As Christians, as the covenantal people of God, we ought to influence our children and always point them to the path of righteousness rather than the path of wickedness.
So we must bear in mind verse 14, "And when they had been there many days, Festus declared Paul's cause unto the king, saying, 'There is a certain man left in bonds by Phelix.'"
From verse 14 to 21, Festus narrated to King Agrippa what had happened, beginning with how the previous Roman Governor Phelix had left Paul in prison in order to please the Jewish leaders. So as the new Roman Governor, he took over; he inherited all these problems.
Verse 15: "About whom, when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me, desiring to have judgment against him."
"Desiring to have judgment against him" means asking for the sentence of condemnation. Here the words of Festus were very revealing. In other words, the chief priests and the elders did not want a fair trial. They did not want to know the truth. They just wanted Festus to pass a judgment of condemnation upon Paul. That was all they wanted Festus to do.
Verse 16: "To whom I answered, 'It is not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and have license to answer for himself.'"
"To have license to answer for himself" means to have the opportunity to speak for himself, to defend himself concerning the crime laid against him. As a responsible judge, Festus refused to give in to their demands. He wanted to hear the case for himself before rendering a verdict. He wanted to give Paul the opportunity to defend himself.
Verse 17: "Therefore, when they will come hither without any delay on the morrow, I sat on the judgment seat and commanded the man to be brought forth."
Remember, after
Festus returned to Caesarea from Jerusalem, the very next day, he immediately sat on the judgment seat and tried Paul's case. He would have thought that the charges brought against Paul in a Roman Court would involve a very serious violation of the Roman law. But to his surprise, verse 18 says, "Against whom, when the accusers stood up, they brought none accusation of such things as I supposed."
He was thinking that Paul must have done something very serious against Rome. But to his surprise, it was none of that sort. Verse 19: "But had certain questions against him of their own superstition, and of one Jesus which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive."
The word "superstition" was a neutral word. It can mean either good or bad. In a good sense, it can mean one's belief, and in a bad sense, it can mean superstition like believing in myths, legends, old wives' tales. According to the context, it is best to understand the word "superstition" as religion. In other words, the whole issue was about their own religion. It was about Paul's belief in the resurrection of one man, Jesus Christ.
Most likely, Festus could not understand how an obviously intelligent and educated man like Paul would claim that a dead man could be alive. He could not fathom how such a highly educated man could ever believe in that. He did not understand the implications of Christ's resurrection nor did he understand about Christ's life, his ministry, and the Holy Scriptures.
So he was not qualified to make a judgment on such matters. Even Festus knew his own limitations, that this kind of case did not belong to the Roman's court. Instead, it should be tried in the Jewish court.
That was the reason why he suggested for Paul to go to Jerusalem. Look at verse 20, "And because I doubted of such manner of questions, or I was puzzled how I should deal with such questions, I asked him whether he would go to Jerusalem and there be judged of these matters."
My friends, but that was only half of the truth. Because verse 9 already tells us that the other reason why Festus suggested for Paul to go to Jerusalem was to do the Jews a pleasure, which means to please the Jewish leaders. When we say half-truth or purposely withholding half of the truth, it is still a lie. We must never feel good about just speaking half the truth.
Some people would say, "Well, at least I speak half of the truth." Or, "At least it is not a total lie." Do you realize that sometimes half the truth is worse than a direct, blatant lie? Why? The reason is because you withhold the other part of the truth so that you can hide your real motivations or intentions. You only want the person to hear that good part about you. You only want the person to form good opinions about you, to think well about you. So you only speak half the truth. You sugarcoat the whole matter.
As someone rightly said, half-truth is not only a lie; often times it is a lie plus hypocrisy. Like Festus telling Agrippa that the reason why he suggested for Paul to go to Jerusalem was because this kind of case should be tried in a Jewish court. But he did not mention the other reason, and that was to please the Jewish leaders.
My friends, as believers, we must never behave like that. You and I must always speak the truth, the whole truth. Of course, Paul knew the situation far better than Festus, and so he appealed to Caesar. Verse 21, "And when Paul had appealed to be reserved unto the hearing of Augustus, I commanded him to be kept till I might send him to Caesar."
As we have mentioned previously, that both Julius Caesar and his son Augustus Caesar had already died at this point in time. So the term Augustus and Caesar was just a general reference to the Roman Emperor. And at this point in time, Emperor Nero was sitting on the throne.
Without a proper valid charge and without a report, Festus could not send Paul to the Emperor. So he needed King Agrippa's help.
Our second point is King Agrippa's eagerness. Interestingly, verse 22 says this, "Agrippa said unto Festus, 'I would also hear the man myself tomorrow,' said he, 'Thou shalt hear him.'"
The words "I would also hear the man myself" was in the imperfect tense, which means Agrippa had been wanting to hear Paul for a long, long time. Most likely, he had heard about Paul, and he looked forward to hearing from this man who seemed to have turned the world upside down wherever he went. How this man was so bold in propagating Christianity amongst the Jewish people and turned so many hearts to the Lord Jesus Christ. He was eager to meet this man, to hear from this man for himself. But he did not need to wait very long because Festus said, "Tomorrow you shall hear from him."
Verse 23, "And on the morrow, when Agrippa was come and Bernice with great pomp, and was entered into the place of hearing, with the chief captains and principal men of the city, at Festus' commandment, Paul was brought forth."
Recently, many of us would have watched the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. We saw all the people dressed in royalty, some in full dress uniforms with shining garments and beautiful colors of all sorts. Someone said, even the color black looks so amazing.
Perhaps that is a picture of what we have here in verse 23, where King Agrippa and his queen and all the influential people entered in with great pomp. When everyone was seated, Festus gave the command, and Paul was brought in.
You can imagine what a drastic contrast amidst all the splendor and spectacle. There was this most unimpressive Jew walking in. 2 Corinthians 10:10 tells us that Paul's bodily presence is weak and his speech contemptible, which means his speech was with no power, humanly speaking. Historians describe Paul as short, bald, and physically unimpressive. Yet this unimpressive man was the most powerful and controversial figure the world has ever known.
What does that teach us? Do not judge a book by its cover. Some people would judge you by your appearance, right? Others would judge you by your wealth, by your worldly credentials, by your status, or even by your age.
I may not have said this to you before, but there were numerous occasions whereby people had questioned my age. Some said to me, "You are too young to be a pastor," or indirectly, "Due to your age, you are inexperienced to be a pastor." Is there a right age to be a pastor? Sixty or seventy years old, then a person is eligible to be a pastor?
Maybe you are a Sunday school teacher or a Bible facilitator or a fellowship leader. Has anyone ever questioned your age or your appearance or your stature? Is there such a thing as you must be of a certain age to be able to teach? Or you must dress and appear in a certain way? Or you must talk in a particular way, then you are eligible and acceptable?
Most certainly not. Of course, you must be spiritually knowledgeable, and you must also be spiritually mature, and you must be dressed modestly. But isn't it true that it is not about all these external things? It is about God's calling. It is about our spiritual qualifications. That was the reason why the Apostle Paul said to young Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:12, "Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity."
In other words, don't let anyone look down upon you because you are young. But make sure you are an example of the believers in the way you speak, in your behavior, in your love, in your spirit, in your faith, and in your purity.
Yesterday, after the children's holiday Bible School, Leah was sharing about her school having a mission trip. Then Marcus asked me, "What is the minimum age limit to join the church mission trip?" I said to him, "If we are going to Myanmar or if we are going to the Philippines and if your parents are coming along with you, there is no age limit. Even at that young age, you can also be an example of the believers, right?"
Look at verse 24, "And Festus said, King Agrippa, and all men which are here present with us, ye see this man, about whom all the multitude of the Jews have dealt with me, both at Jerusalem, and also here, crying that he ought not to live any longer."
Festus openly said to everyone present that this was the man whom the Jewish leaders and the multitude had appealed to him that he should not be allowed to live any longer. I cannot imagine how these so-called religious people could ever cry out, "Kill him! Kill him!" Just like the way they did to Jesus Christ, "Crucify him! Crucify
him! He ought not to be allowed to live any longer." How spiritual and religious can that be? Have you ever thought about that? How could religious people be crying out, "Kill him! Kill him! He ought not to live any longer?"
And yet, people could be so spiritually blind to follow these religious leaders. Even a pagan like Festus would disagree. Verse 25, "But when I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death, and that he himself had appealed to Augustus, I determined to send him."
Knowing that Paul was innocent and he had the right to appeal to Caesar, therefore, Festus agreed to send him to Caesar. But as I've said at the beginning, he was faced with this dilemma. He could not send a prisoner to Caesar for trial without indicating the charges against him. The Emperor would be very angry with him for wasting his time. How can you send a prisoner to me and ask me to investigate and judge this person without a report? Without the proper charges? That is what verse 26 and 27 means.
Look at the last two verses, "Of whom I have no certain thing to write unto my Lord. Wherefore I have brought him forth before you, and especially before thee, O King Agrippa, that after examination had, I might have somewhat to write. For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner and not withal to signify the crimes laid against him."
In other words, Festus wanted King Agrippa to examine Paul, investigate the case, and with his experience and understanding of the Jewish theology and perhaps the Jewish culture as well, he will be able to help him write the report and the subsequent charges. So in the next chapter, when we come back, we will learn more about Paul standing before King Agrippa.
Let us close with a word of prayer. Our Father in heaven, we thank thee for this opportunity for us to learn from this passage. Indeed, we have seen how Paul, Thy faithful servant, stood boldly, faithfully, and defended by speaking the truth, nothing but the truth, before the Roman Governor Phelix, and then subsequently the new Roman Governor Festus. And even him would not release Paul, and we knew it was all because Thou hast determined that Paul would testify of the Lord Jesus Christ at Rome. So ultimately, Paul would go to Rome.
But in the meantime, Festus turned to King Agrippa. And this was what we have learned just a moment ago. We pray that as we study through the book of Acts, we will learn to draw spiritual lessons from Thy precious Word. Help us that we may apply Thy truth into our lives. We give Thee thanks, and we pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.