Parish Bible Study Fellowship Monday 10 May 2021 Acts 25 Paul’s trial before Festus Acts 25 (NIV) Three days a*er arriving in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem, 2 where the chief priests and the Jewish leaders appeared before him and presented the charges against Paul. 3 They requested Festus, as a favour to them, to have Paul transferred to Jerusalem, for they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way. 4 Festus answered, ‘Paul is being held at Caesarea, and I myself am going there soon. 5 Let some of your leaders come with me, and if the man has done anything wrong, they can press charges against him there.’ 6 A*er spending eight or ten days with them, Festus went down to Caesarea. The next day he convened the court and ordered that Paul be brought before him. 7 When Paul came in, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood round him. They brought many serious charges against him, but they could not prove them. 8 Then Paul made his defence: ‘I have done nothing wrong against the Jewish law or against the temple or against Caesar.’ 9 Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favour, said to Paul, ‘Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?’ 10 Paul answered: ‘I am now standing before Caesar’s court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. 11 If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!’ 12 A*er Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: ‘You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!’ Festus consults King Agrippa 13 A few days later King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to pay their respects to Festus. 14 Since they were spending many days there, Festus discussed Paul’s case with the king. He said: ‘There is a man here whom Felix le* as a prisoner. 15 When I went to Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews brought charges against him and asked that he be condemned. 16 ‘I told them that it is not the Roman custom to hand over anyone before they have faced their accusers and have had an opportunity to defend themselves against the charges. 17 When they came here with me, I did not delay the case, but convened the court the next day and ordered the man to be brought in. 18 When his accusers got up to speak, they did not charge him with any of the crimes I had expected. 19 Instead, they had some points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a dead man named Jesus whom Paul claimed was alive. 20 I was at a loss how to inves[gate such ma\ers; so I asked if he would be willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial there on these charges. 21 But when Paul made his appeal to be held over for the Emperor’s decision, I ordered him to be held un[l I could send him to Caesar.’ 22 Then Agrippa said to Festus, ‘I would like to hear this man myself.’ He replied, ‘Tomorrow you will hear him.’ 23 The next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and entered the audience room with the high-ranking military officers and the prominent men of the city. At the command of Festus, Paul was brought in. 24 Festus said: ‘King Agrippa, and all who are present with us, you see this man! The whole Jewish community has pe[[oned me about him in Jerusalem and here in Caesarea, shou[ng that he ought not to live any longer. 25 I found he had done nothing deserving 1 of death, but because he made his appeal to the Emperor I decided to send him to Rome. 26 But I have nothing definite to write to His Majesty about him. Therefore I have brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that as a result of this inves[ga[on I may have something to write. 27 For I think it is unreasonable to send a prisoner on to Rome without specifying the charges against him.’ Verses 1-3 Last week Acts 24 ended with the transi6on from the governorship of Antonius Felix to that of Porcius Festus. We also saw last 6me how Paul was arrested in Jerusalem, rescued from a plot against his life and that Claudius Lysias transferred him to Caesarea, where he stood trial before Felix. We also read that Felix and his wife Drusilla heard Paul speak at his trial, and later on frequently sent for Paul and talked with him. Nero sent Porcius Festus to succeed him as procurator of Judea. Festus inherited the problems of his predecessor in regard to the Roman prac6ce of allowing freedom of worship to the Jews . Of course this did not even please all the jews who were bedivilled by strife among themselves. Festus died in his second year in office and In this short 6me as procurator liQle can be discovered against him. Luke gives Festus a good report. The statement, “aTer three days he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem” hints at the good and energe6c leadership of Festus. On his arrival the High Priest and the chief men of the Jews talked to him about Paul. They hoped to make Paul appear before them again in Jerusalem. We can surmise that Paul’s generous imprisonment in Caesarea was actually a providen6al provision of protec6ve custody against the murderous inten6ons of the Jewish religious leaders. It was also a season of rest and replenishment for Paul aTer his years of hard missionary service, preparing him for the challenges in the years ahead. On his arrival in Jerusalem Festus stood firm refusing to give in to the Jewish leaders. He was prepared to allow them to be a part of any trial of Paul but it would be held in Caesarea and not Jerusalem. Of course the Jewish leaders may not have actually wanted Paul to come to Jerusalem. What they really wanted was to have him murdered en route. The religious leaders knew that Paul would be acquiQed in any fair trial. 2 Verses 4-6a However Festus answered that Paul should be kept at Caesarea and the trial would take place there. There was a well established Roman judicial process which Festus was determined to follow: a. Charges had to be formulated and sustained by the prosecu6on b. There had to be a formal charge brought in court c. The case would be heard in person by the holder of the ‘imperium’ - in this case Festus as procurator. This would ensure no shady behind closed door affairs and would keep Festus clear of any charge of collusion. Verses 6b-8 Once again Paul was on trial before a Gen6le ruler, accused by religious leaders. As before, Paul’s life was in danger should he be found guilty. The Jewish leaders now laid many serious complaints against Paul, which they could not prove. The charges covered three areas: a. Against Jewish law - Paul had spoken against jewish prac6ces. b. Against the Temple - Paul had deprecated the temple with a non Jew. c. Against the Emperor - causing riots. Once again religious and poli6cal charges were combined. The disturbances which Paul was alleged to have caused were religious in their origin but civil in their character. As before, the religious leaders made accusa6ons without evidence against Paul. But what is interes6ng this 6me is that on this occasion the Emperor is included. Festus could not so easily dismiss the Public Order offences. Verses 9-12 It appears, however, that Festus now wanted to do the Jews a favour. Festus understood that it was important for him to have and keep a good rela6onship with the Jewish people of his province. 3 So Festus asked Paul if he was willing to go up to Jerusalem and there be judged before Festus concerning these things? Paul had no problem, if guilty, of facing death.But he was not guilty. He knew that he would not get jus6ce in Jerusalem. So Paul was leT with no alterna6ve but to appeal to Rome and the Emperor for jus6ce. Paul’s appeal made sense. He was convinced that the evidence was on his side and that he could win in a fair trial. Paul appealed specifically to Nero, who was later a notorious enemy of Chris6ans. But for the first five years of his reign, under the influence of good men around him, Nero was regarded as a wise and just ruler. The hands of Festus were now 6ed. He had no alterna6ve but to act on Paul’s request. However this did not stop him looking for some wriggle room so he consulted the expert witness - King Agripa II. Paul’s hearing before King Agrippa. Herod Agrippa II was the son of the first and beQer-known Herod Agrippa, who had executed James, and he was the brother of Berenice, Mariamne, and Drusilla (second wife of the Roman procurator Antonius Felix). He had been educated at the court of the emperor Claudius, and at the 6me of his father's death he was only seventeen years old.