About Jesus    Steve Sweetman

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ch. 25:1-12    ch. 25:13-22    

he Trial Before Festus   (ch. 25:1 - 12)

Festus came from Rome to replace Felix.  Since being new to the area, he went to Jerusalem, the capital for the Jewish religion.  Caesarea was the capital of Judea as pronounced by Rome , but for centuries Jerusalem was the capital city for the Jews.  He therefore had to go to Jerusalem to get acquainted with his constituents.  Luke says that he did this on the third day.  It would have taken 2 days to get there, so Festus had only 1 day to rest after coming from Rome.

He met with the chief priest and Jewish leaders.  We note the words “chief priests”, priests being plural.  In reality there was only one chief priest.  Luke most likely means the chief priest, along with other subordinate priests.

Luke says that they “urgently requested” that Paul would be transferred over to them, as they wanted 2 years earlier.  The reason for this urgency was the same as it was 2 years ago. The would ambush the Roman guards who transferred Paul and kill Paul before he even got to Jerusalem .

Festus did no agree to this urgent request.  He suggested that they come to Caesarea to charge Paul there.  Of course this is not what the Jews wanted.  They had already tried this 2 years earlier.  Since then the high priest at the time was long gone.  The Jews were under their second high priest from Annanias’ time.

Festus spent “8 or 10 days” in Jerusalem left to go back to Caesarea with some of the Sanhedrin. (ch. 25:6)  The next day Festus called Paul before him and heard the charges that the Jews had against Paul, all of which were unsubstantiated, as Luke says.

Now after two long years, Paul gets a chance to defend himself again in from of members of the Sanhedrin and Festus, the Roman appointed governor.

Paul says, “I have done nothing wrong against the Jews, or against the temple, or against Caesar”.  Three things are mentioned by Paul.  These are the law, the temple and Caesar.  We might be able to assume these 3 points were in direct relation to the charges against Paul.  As in the first hearing, 2 years earlier, the Jews charged Paul concerning speaking against their law and desecrating their temple.  Now they were most likely trying to suggest that Paul was also doing something against the laws of Caesar.  This third charge would have had more weight than the first 2.  Remember that Paul had been accused in times past of treason because he preached that Jesus was a king, which would be in direct opposition to Caesar’s kingship, depending on how you might interpret Paul’s words that Jesus was a king.

In verse 9 Luke tells us that Festus wanted to do the Jews a favour, just as Felix did not many days earlier by not releasing Paul.  The governor wanted to keep the Jews somewhat happy.  Happy Jews meant fewer problems for the governor.

Festus thus asked Paul if he was willing to go to Jerusalem to stand before him and the Sanhedrin there. 

Festus, like Felix was more interested in his own ambition and prosperity.  He did not want trouble with the Jews.  He could have, and should have, dismissed the case on lack of evidence.  But what he does is give into the Jews by asking Paul if he wanted to go back to Jerusalem to hear this case.  This must have made the Jews happy.  Festus appeared to be lining himself up on their side.

Paul refused.  He replied, “ I am now standing before Caesar’s court where I ought to be tried.  I have not done anything wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well.  If however I am guilty of doing anything deserving of 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!”

To date you might say that Paul’s treated by the Roman governors had been a gross injustice.  He had been held against his will for 2 long years, with no legal support for his detainment.  Both Felix and Festus were not interested  in Roman justice.  They were interested in appeasing the Jews. 

Now for the second time the Jews brought their charges against Paul without proof.  The case should have been dropped. Festus should not have asked Paul if he wanted to go to Jerusalem.  The case should have ended there. 

Paul knew that he had not committed any crime against Roman Law.  If he had of, he was willing to take the punishment, even if it meant death. 

Paul stood on his rights as a Roman citizen and refused to go to Jerusalem .  The Sanhedrin was not a Roman court.  He was in a Roman court at this very moment and that court refused to hear his case, therefore he said that he would appeal to Rome.  Paul was certainly within his legal rights.  Some Christians, based on their idea of Christian ethics suggest that we should never stand up for ourselves, never use our civil rights.  We should be humble and take what is offered to us, even if it is unlawful.  This was not Paul’s position.  He was a Roman, and he wanted to be treated as a Roman.

It took Festus a few moments to go over the situation with his legal council, but realized that if this was Paul’s request, he had no legal way to deny it.  

We see a couple of things throughout this process. One is the personal ambition of the Roman governors and the fact that they don’t uphold the very law they stand for.

Another thing we see is that Paul always calls his opposition “the Jews”.  It is as if he is coming to the place in his thinking that he hardly considers himself a Jew anymore.  In his addresses he calls them brothers, but when he refers to them he calls them “the Jews”.  This very term is a term of separation.  He is making a distinction between him and his fellow countrymen.

Festus Consults King Agrippa  (ch. 25:13 - 22)

In verse 13 we see that King Agrippa paid a visit to Festus which lasted a few days.  This visit would have been due to Festus’s new position as governor.  King Agrippa had a vast territory that he had rule over of which included Festus’s territory.  Agrippa ruled all of Palestine , which included Jerusalem and he was the one who had direct authority over the Jewish rulers and the Temple in Jerusalem.  Naturally he would know much about the Jews because of his position.  His wife was also a Jew, but not a practicing Jew, therefore he would be familiar with Jewish tradition through his wife as well.

Because Agrippa was the King and because he understood Jewish tradition, Festus consulted with him concerning Paul and what he should do with Paul.   He explained the charges that the Jews presented to him concerning Paul.

Festus tells Agrippa that he informed the Jews that he could not simply hand Paul over to them to be tried in Jerusalem.  That was not Roman custom.  A Roman needed a proper trial where he could defend himself.  The problem with what Festus tells Agrippa is that it does not seem to be the way that it really happened.  Festus seemed quite willing to send Paul to Jerusalem, but Paul refused.  To me, it seems that Festus was retelling the story to make himself look better than he really was.

Festus tells Agrippa that he did not delay the proceedings, but the next day met with Paul and his accusers.  These facts are correct from what we see Luke has told us.

Festus relates to Agrippa that he was surprised about the charges the Jews laid against Paul, because they were all religious matters concerning their religion and also concerning some dead man who Paul claimed was alive.  You can well see that even in those days the thought of a man named Jesus who died and then rose from the dead was somewhat foreign to the rational mind.

Festus admits that he was at a loss to how to handle this situation, thus the reason for his conversation with Agrippa.  Agrippa himself was intrigued by the story so he asked to see Paul as well and to hear what he had to say.

So here we go again.  Paul has already defended himself before the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem , then before Felix in Caesarea, then before Festus in Caesarea , and now before Agrippa.