Acts 25

Acts 25:1-12

The Fourth Witness of Paul’s Innocence, Standing Before Festus the Governor (60 A.D.) – Acts 25:1-12 gives us the testimony of Paul standing before Festus and making his appeal to stand trial in the court of Caesar at Rome. This is the fourth speech that Luke records of Paul’s defense of the Christian faith. Paul has spoken before the Jewish mob at the Temple (Acts 21:15 to Acts 22:29); he has been taken before the Sanhedrin and addressed the Jewish leaders (Acts 22:30 to Acts 23:35); he has stood before Felix the governor (Acts 24:1-27); he now stands before Festus the subsequent governor (Acts 25:1-12), and he will stand before King Agrippa (Acts 25:13 to Acts 26:32). These preliminary trials lead up to Paul’s appeal to Caesar. Many scholars suggest Luke compiles this sequence of trials in order to reveal Paul’s innocence as a legal defense that could have been used during Paul’s actual trial. Acts 25:10-11 — Comments – Each of Paul’s opening speeches reveals a man unashamed and confident of his innocence. In Acts 21:40 he turns to address the Jewish mob rather than accept deliverance from the Roman soldiers, as would be typical for someone who had committed a crime and wanted to escape punishment. In Acts 23:1 he looks intently upon the Sanhedrin and speaks boldly rather than hanging his head down in shame and guilt. In Acts 24:10 he addresses Felix the governor with cheer. In Acts 25:11 Paul boldly declares to Festus that if any wrong can be found in him, he is ready to die. In Acts 26:1-2 he stretches forth his hand as an orator and speaks unto King Agrippa. Comments – Paul’s right to appeal unto Caesar came as a result of his Roman citizenship. Pliny the Younger tells us that Christians who were also Roman citizens were given the right to appeal unto Caesar, while others were either forced into renouncing their Christian faith, or put to death (Letters 10.96).[295] — [295] Pliny writes, “In the meanwhile, the method I have observed towards those who have been denounced to me as Christians is this: I interrogated them whether they were Christians; if they confessed it I repeated the question twice again, adding the threat of capital punishment; if they still persevered, I ordered them to be executed. For whatever the nature of their creed might be, I could at least feel no doubt that contumacy and inflexible obstinacy deserved chastisement. There were others also possessed with the same infatuation, but being citizens of Rome, I directed them to be carried thither.” See Pliny: Letters, vol. 1, trans. William Melmoth, in The Loeb Classical Library, eds. T. E.

Page, E. Capps, and W. H. D. Rouse (London: William Heinemann, 1915), 403. Acts 25:12 — Comments - In the same way that Paul the apostle had a destiny to stand before Caesar, so did Jesus Christ have a destiny to stand before Pilate.

Acts 25:13-26

The Fifth Witness of Paul’s Innocence, Standing Before Agrippa and Bernice (A.D. 60) – Acts 25:13 to Acts 26:32 gives us the lengthy testimony of Paul standing trial before King Agrippa. This is the fifth and final speech that Paul will make before his accusers before setting forth to Rome to face the highest court in the Roman Empire. Paul has spoken before the Jewish mob at the Temple (Acts 21:15 to Acts 22:29); he has been taken before the Sanhedrin and addressed the Jewish leaders (Acts 22:30 to Acts 23:35); he has stood before Felix the governor (Acts 24:1-27); he has stood before Festus the subsequent governor (Acts 25:1-12), and now he stands before King Agrippa (Acts 25:13 to Acts 26:32). These preliminary trials lead up to Paul’s appeal to Caesar. Many scholars suggest Luke compiles this sequence of trials in order to reveal Paul’s innocence as a legal defense that could have been used during Paul’s actual trial. Outline – Here is a proposed outline:

1. Festus Recounts Paul’s Defense to King Agrippa — Acts 25:13-222. The Opening Speech of Festus — Acts 25:23-273. Paul’s Speech to King Agrippa — Acts 26:1-294. The Verdict of King Agrippa — Acts 26:30-32

Acts 25:23-27

The Opening Speech of Festus – Acts 25:23-27 records the opening speech that Paul the apostle made to King Herod and those in attendance, while Paul the apostle was brought in bound in chains and stood before this predominately Roman crowd. Acts 25:23 — “with great pomp” - Comments - The “royal” pomp stands in stark contrast to the humility of Paul the apostle as he stands trial before the Roman court. “with the chief captains” – Comments - Josephus says that there were five cohorts of Roman soldiers deployed in Caesarea, with a thousand footmen per cohort (Wars 3.4.2). Thus, we can consider these five chief captains in attendance with their governor and the king. The possibility that additional chief captains from other cities attended this event is very likely. Acts 25:23 — Comments - John Chrysostom notes the attendance in the meeting of many great men. The King and his wife, the governor over this region of the Roman Empire, the chief captains of the Roman military, the leaders of the city, which were perhaps Jewish and Roman, and all of the guards of these men of renown, were either seated or standing to hear Paul preach the Gospel to them.[303] Therefore, this was clearly not a Jewish trial, but rather a Roman trial. [303] John Chrysostom, The Homilies of John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, On the Acts of the Apostles, Translated, With Notes and Indices, Part I Homilies XXIX-LV, in The Library of Fathers of the Holy Catholic Church, Anterior to the Division of the East and the West (Oxford: John Henry Parker, 1852), 683.Jesus told the twelve apostles that they would be brought before governors and kings for His name sake (Matthew 10:18, Luke 21:12), and Paul describes the office of an apostle as being “made a spectacle unto the world” (1 Corinthians 4:9). Matthew 10:18, “And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.” Luke 21:12, “But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name’s sake.” 1 Corinthians 4:9, “For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.” Acts 25:24 — Comments - Festus follows protocol in his opening speech by addressing the chief guest first, then others of dignified political and social rank. Acts 25:26 — Comments - Festus has referred to Emperor Nero as “Augustus” and “Caesar” (Acts 25:21). In Acts 25:26 he now calls him “Lord.” A few commentators note that some Roman emperors were not fond of being called by the title κύριος (lord). Citations from Suetonius suggest that Octavian and Tiberius despised this title (Augustus 53, Tiberius 27).[304] However, it appears from Acts 25:26 that Nero gladly accepted such flattering titles. Adam Clarke tells us that Pliny the Younger uses this term frequently in his letters for Trajan.[305] [304] Suetonius tells us that Octavian despised the term “lord,” saying, “He always shrank from the title of Lord as reproachful and insulting. When the words ‘O just and gracious Lord!’ were uttered in a farce at which he was a spectator and all the people sprang to their feet and applauded as if they were said of him, he at once checked their unseemly flattery by look and gesture, and on the following day sharply reproved them in an edict. After that he would not suffer himself to be addressed by that term even by his children or his grandchildren either in jest or earnest, and he forbade them to use such flattering terms even among themselves.” (Augustus 53) Suetonius tells us that Tiberius did not like to be called by flattering terms, “He so loathed flattery that he would not allow any Senator to approach his litter, either to pay his respects or on business, and when an ex-consul in apologizing to him attempted to embrace his knees, he drew back in such haste that he fell over backward. In fact, if any one in conversation or in a set speech spoke of him in too flattering terms, he did not hesitate to interrupt him, to take him to task, and to correct his language on the spot. Being once called ‘Lord,’ he warned the speaker not to address him again in an insulting fashion.” (Tiberius 27) See Joseph Gavorse, The Lives of the Twelve Caesars by Suetonius, in The Modern Library of the World’s Best Books (New York: Random House, 1931), 36, 138. [305] Adam Clarke, The Acts of the Apostles, in Adam Clarke’s Commentary, Electronic Database (Seattle, WA: Hendrickson Publishers Inc., 1996), in P.C. Study Bible, v. 3.1 [CD-ROM] (Seattle, WA: Biblesoft Inc., 1993-2000), notes on Acts 25:26.Acts 25:27 — Comments - In Acts 25:27 Festus admits that he could not justify sending Paul to Rome without first presenting this case to King Agrippa. Perhaps the Roman legal system necessitated Paul standing trial before Governors Felix and Festus and King Agrippa prior to being sent to Rome to stand before the Emperor. Festus could not hold Paul, a Roman citizen, indefinitely in prison without a criminal charge being officially placed upon him. We see Festus looking for a solution to a problem that has been inherited the previous governor Felix.