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About Jesus Steve Sweetman This Section - Chapters 25:23 to 26:32 Previous Section - Chapters 25
Paul Before Agrippa (ch. 25:23 – 26:32) The
next day everyone met, a whole room of high officials, dignitaries and
their assistants, including King Agrippa and his sister Bernice.
All the important people in the city of Festus
says, “King Agrippa, and all who are present with us
… the whole Jewish community has petitioned me about him (Paul)
in Jerusalem and here in Caesarea, shouting that he ought not to live.
I found that he had done nothing worthy of death but because he
made his appeal to the Emperor I decided to send him to Rome”. We
see Festus as one being in charge here.
He was the official to open this gathering, but I am not sure that
he has a real handle on what to do. He
admits that the reason why he wanted Agrippa to hear Paul was in order for
him to be able to write a letter to the Emperor so he would have an
understanding of the nature of the charges against Paul.
(ch. 25:27) We
see by Festus’ words that the Jews in Ceasaera have now joined with the
Jerusalem Jews in the charging of Paul.
They also wanted him dead. It
seems that as time goes on more and more Jews are standing with the
Sanhedrin and against Paul. It
is as if a whole nation is trying to get read of one man. Festus
says that he found nothing wrong with Paul deserving death.
In fact the only charges the Jews could accuse Paul of were
concerning religious matters, which was not against any Roman Law.
Yet to appease the Jews Festus was attempting to get to the bottom
of this matter. After
King Agrippa gave Paul permission to speak Paul stood up to defend himself
once again. Before
we continue, this gathering was not a trial.
Paul had already appealed to Paul
begins his defense by telling the King that he feels fortunate to stand
before him and give his defense against the charges of the Jews.
I am sure that Paul was exceedingly happy to be able to share the
gospel of Jesus before such an important person. Paul
knows about Agrippa. He tells
him that he knows that he has an understanding of Jewish matters and
controversies. Once
again Paul asserts that the only reason why the Jews are after him is
because of his hope in the resurrection.
This he claims was the hope of the fathers of Paul
tells Agrippa and the others that the Jews have known him for a very long
time, even since a child, in his early manhood
to his adult life. They
knew he was a Pharisee, and by being a Pharisee
he was a devote follower of the Law of Moses as well as a believer
in the resurrection of the dead. Paul
is basically suggesting in his defense that the Jews accusations are not
logical. He states the fact
that all of the 12 tribes are working hard as they wait for the
resurrection to come. And if
he is preaching about this resurrection, where is the conflict.
Besides, as Paul puts it, “why should any of you consider it
incredible that God raises the dead”.
That ‘s a good question. If God is God, then what is the problem
with Him raising the dead. If
He created all things, raising anyone from the dead should not present a
problem to anyone. Paul
relates his story before he met Jesus, that with the authority of his very
accusers, he gathered Christians to put them in jail and approved of their
death. He had just as much
zeal as does his accusers. Paul
said that he went from synagogue to synagogue to punish these people and
tried to force them to blaspheme their God. One thing to note here.
When Paul was doing these things it was in the early days of the
church. We see that Paul went
from one synagogue to another to find Christians.
At this point in time Christians were still gathering in the Jewish
synagogue. Paul
admits that his attempt to capture Christians was an
“obsession”. (ch. 26:11) Imprisoning
Christians in You
might ask what Paul meant when he said he caused the Christians to
blaspheme. There would be two
ways of looking at this. If
Paul is thinking of his present day meaning of blaspheming, then what he
meant was that he tried to cause these new Christians to denounce Jesus.
If he was thinking of his old understanding of blaspheming, then he
was trying to make these Christian says something bad against the God of
Israel and the Law. Most feel
that the former is more likely. In
verse 12 Paul tells his audience about his conversion on one of these
trips that was sponsored by the chief priests.
He says that he saw a bright light, brighter than the sun.
Of course this light came from Jesus.
It makes you wonder when Jesus returns to earth, we might see this
same bright light. This will
most likely be so since Scripture teaches that every eye will see the
return of Jesus. We
learn here from what Paul says, that when Jesus spoke to him on the road,
He spoke in Aramaic, the language of the Jews. We
should also note that all the men with Paul fell to the ground,
along with Paul. This is not
mentioned in the other descriptions of this event in Acts. Jesus
said that “it is hard for you to kick against the goads”.
This statement is a statement that had often been used in times
previous to this. This was a
common statement. When an ox
was pulling a cart, a sharp spear like object was used to poke the ox to
go faster. This most likely
stung the ox, thus causing him to speed up.
This is what Jesus was telling Paul, or Saul as he was known then.
Paul was fighting off these pokes.
What actually were these pokes?
I am sure the testimonies of the Christians that Paul imprisoned
and later see killed constantly poked at Paul, and Jesus was telling Paul
that he was beginning to have a hard time withstanding these pokes.
He was beginning to wear down.
The NIV uses the word "goads". The KJV uses
the word "pricks". The
Greek word simply means to sting. It
is also used in 1 Corinthians 15:55 in relation to the "sting of
death". It is clear that
God had been poking Paul, or stinging him, trying to get him over to His
side, but it didn't work so
Jesus had to use more drastic measure as seen in chapter 9. Paul
asks, “who are you, Lord”. For
commentary on this question and Jesus’ response see my commentary on
chapter 9. In
chapter 9 we only see Jesus telling Paul that it is Jesus whom he is
persecuting, and that he needs to go into town where a man named Annanias
will speak to him. But here,
in this chapter Paul adds more to this conversation. It is thus possible
that Jesus actually said more words than what is recorded in Acts 9.
The other possibility is that Paul is summarizing what Jesus told
him directly and what Jesus told him through a prophetic word from
Annanias. Many feel that the
latter is what is happening here, that Paul is only summing up all of what
the Lord told him over the 3 days of his conversion. Note
what Jesus says, “I have appeared to
you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of
me and of what I will show you” From
the very beginning. Paul met Jesus directly and heard words from his
mouth. Then Jesus told him
that He would speak to Paul again at another time.
Remember Paul went into the third heaven and heard things that he
could not speak, that man should not hear.
Jesus told Paul that he would be a witness to these things.
The
same should be true of us as well. We
are to be a witness of Jesus and the things we know about Him.
Jesus
goes on to tell Paul, “I will rescue you from your own people and from
the Gentiles”. I wonder if
Paul really understood what these words meant at the time.
My guess is that he didn’t. Yet
as he stood before Agrippa that day, he certainly saw the fulfillment of
these words, especially the next statement that Jesus makes.
“I am sending you to them to open their eyes and to turn them
from darkness to light and from the power of satan to God, so that they
may receive forgiveness of sins, and a place among those who are
sanctified in me”. There
is a lot in these words of Jesus. Jesus
tells Paul that he will be used to open the eyes of both Jews and
Gentiles, helping them to leave their darkness.
It is thus clear that Jesus feels that anyone apart from Him lives
in darkness. He goes one step
further. He tells Paul that he
will be used in turning people from satan to God.
I conclude then that Jesus understands that all who are apart from
him are under the influence of satan, something that many of us don't
understand today. Jesus
gives 2 reasons for people to
flee from darkness and satan. Once
leaving the darkness and the power of satan, they receive forgiveness of
sins, and then they are counted as those who have been separated from the
rest of mankind, and called
children of God. Jesus
says that this separation, or sanctification
as the NIV puts it, comes through “faith” in Jesus.
Only as one trusts his life with Jesus can he be part of this
sanctified or separated group. We
are thus reminded of the words of Jesus when He said that He would build
His own “ekklesia”, or church. Jesus
told Paul that He would rescue him from the Jews and Gentiles.
What did He mean? Paul
was standing before the very people Jesus told him that he’d be rescued
from. Paul had suffered much, and would suffer even more in the future
because of Jesus. He would
loose his life for Jesus. So
what did Jesus mean when He said that He would rescue Paul from the Jews
and the Gentiles. Well maybe
Jesus’ definition of rescuing is different than ours.
When Paul was killed, you might say that Jesus finally rescued him
by bringing him home to Heaven. It
is clear to me that man’s definition of certain words and concepts is
different than our Lord’s. Verse
19 tells us that Paul specifically tells Agrippa that he “was not
disobedient to the vision from Heaven”.
Remember, although there are many people present, the King is the
important person in the room and it is to him that Paul is really
addressing his words. Verse
20 is important for 2 reasons. The
first reason is that we see the progression to whom Paul preached the
gospel to, which is evident as you read the book of Acts.
He says that he first preached to those in The
second point is to note what Paul preached.
This is his gospel in one short phrase.
He tells Agrippa, “I preach that they should repent and turn to
God and prove their repentance by their deeds”. (ch. 26:20)
Paul believed that people had to repent, that is, had to turn from
their own wicked ways. You
might suggest that all men are not wicked, only some.
Yet if you study Romans 1 and 2 you will see that Paul clearly
teaches that all men are wicked, at least at heart level.
Then Paul says that once you repent, you turn to God.
The turning to God aspect of salvation is called faith.
Turning to God is trusting in Him for your life, as well as your
salvation. Then
Paul adds an interesting point, something that James of Jerusalem would
love. Paul says that once you
repent, your deeds should show that you actually have repented.
If your deeds don’t show it, then Paul would say that you
haven’t repented, simple as that. For
this, that is the gospel, is the reason why the Jews seized Paul and tried
to kill him. The gospel is
truly an irritant to certain people. Paul
then expresses his feeling that God has helped him to date to survive the
Jewish attacks. Remember that
the Lord told Paul that He would rescue Paul from both the Jews and the
Gentiles. This is most likely
why Paul says what he says here. You
can see by what Paul says, that even though he is not a free man, he is
certainly enjoying defending himself before everyone he is standing
before. Yet beyond defending
himself, in actuality, he is really preaching the gospel, and that is what
gives him great satisfaction. Therefore
he says in verse 22, “so I stand here before small and great alike”. Part
of Paul’s defense is the
point that he is saying “nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said
would happen – that the Christ would suffer and, as the first to rise
from the dead, and would proclaim light to His own people and to the
Gentiles”. All
good Jews were expecting the Christ, or the Messiah to come and save them
from their enemies and set up His eternal Kingdom on earth.
Paul says that what he is preaching is exactly what the Old
Testament Law and Prophets were speaking of.
He says that Jesus Christ is the Messiah.
This is where he comes in conflict with His accusers.
They don’t believe that Jesus is the Christ.
They saw the Messiah to be a king and Paul preaches from Scripture
that the Messiah indeed was a king but would suffer and die.
Yet by rising from the dead, God has made Him Lord of all things.
Thus the importance of Paul’s message is based on the resurrection of
Jesus. Since He has risen, He
is Lord, and He is also the first to rise from the dead.
All those who trust in Him will rise as well. Verse
24 says, “at this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defense, ‘you are
out of your mind, Paul!” he shouted.
‘Your great learning is driving you insane’”. You can tell
that Festus was getting frustrated by what Paul was saying.
Luke says that he interrupted and actually shouted these words at
him. He acknowledged the fact
that Paul was a learned man, but he says that all this learning was the
thing that was driving Paul crazy. With
respect Paul replies by saying that “what I am saying is true and
reasonable”. Paul says 2
things here. He says what he
is saying is true. As usual he
backs up what he says by what he sees in the Old Testament.
But Paul also says that what he is saying is reasonable.
To me this is important. Many
Christians over the last few decades have by default taken the
reasonableness out of the gospel. By
this I mean that they have laid aside the idea that you can explain the
gospel from a reasonable and intellectual standpoint.
It is not something that should be accepted by mere blind faith.
The gospel is explainable and logical. Paul
continues to tell Festus that the King knows all about these things. Paul
is implying that even though Festus doesn’t understand what he is
saying, King Agrippa does because of his understanding with Jewish
matters. In
verse 27 Paul turns his face to look at the King and says, “King
Agrippa, do you believe the prophets?
I know you do”. Agrippa
responds by saying, “do you think that in such a short time you can
persuade me to be a Christian”? “Paul
replies, ‘short time or long – I pray God that not only you but all
who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these
chains’”. I have always
liked these words. Once again
you see the heart of Paul. No
matter who he was speaking to, whether great or small, he wanted them to
know Jesus as he did. He
stands up as an example for people to follow, by suggesting that he hopes
others will be as he is, except for his chains of course. I
see something happening in this event.
Paul was speaking directly to King Agrippa, although all the others
in the room would be listening and hearing as well.
Paul’s words were beginning to reach Agrippa’s heart.
I believe the Holy Spirit was speaking to Agrippa.
Just when the intensity level began to rise, just when Agrippa
seemed spell bound by what Paul was saying, Festus interrupts by telling
Paul that he was crazy. It was
if Paul had a direct line to Agrippa’s heart, and Festus saw what was
happening and so Festus jumps in to disrupt what was happening.
It was as if satan saw the effect Paul was having on Agrippa and
had to try to spoil it.
After
these words from Paul the King and Festus get up, thus dismissing the
meeting. While leaving the
room they confer with each
other. They conclude in verse
31, “this man is not done anything that deserves death or
imprisonment”. Paul may not
have convinced these men to give their lives to Jesus, but he did convince
them that what he was accused of was not worth death or being put in
prison for. The problem as
Agrippa sees it is that Paul could have been set free, but since he has
appealed to One
might then ask the question, “did Paul do the right thing in appealing
to Rome”? He could have been
set free to go forth and preach anywhere he wanted.
In my thinking I believe Paul’s appeal was right for him.
Remember in the vision the Lord told Paul that he would go to Rome
to witness to his name. This
was in the back of Paul’s mind. (see Acts 23:11)
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