The Life and Ministry of Paul Pt. 9 by Jake Gurley III 1. The new procurator of Judea is Porcius Festus. A. Felix was replaced as procurator of Judea by Festus in AD 59. 1) The little information available on Festus time in Judea comes from Luke and Josephus. 2) Festus had a better reputation for fairness than Felix and focused on preventing disturbances rather than punishing them (Josephus, J.W. 2.14.1). B. Within days of his arrival in office, Festus heads to Jerusalem. 1) He starts off on the right foot introducing himself to the native territorial leadership and get to know their central city. 2) It was important to get a feel for the Jews in order to know how to govern them. a) He likely knew the heavy handed administrative role taken by Felix and knew the violent backlash to it. b) Instead of continuing the failed policies of his predecessor, he took a more conciliatory route showing personal interest in their welfare while maintaining a position of strength and control. c) He remained in Jerusalem for several days which gave him a good opportunity to know the power structure, the main characters, and the important issues he was to be dealing with in Judea. 3) They requested (as a goodwill gesture) that he decide the status of his prisoner, Paul, and remand him to their custody and justice. a) As an experienced administrator, he was not willing to make a commitment until he knew the situation and the ramifications of the decision (unlike the less experienced Lysias). b) It is unclear what he knew about Paul, Christians, Jews, or the preceding trials, but he was not about to relinquish any position of power or control to tribal leaders. c) It was also important for them to believe that he operated by the rule of law and would not show favoritism or bias in dispensing justice. d) Luke tells us that the Jewish leadership had already decided to have Paul killed en route to Jerusalem if he did return for a trial. - While the previous plot on Paul s life was made by the 40, this plot is by the Sanhedrin leadership, an important escalation of their involvement. - By this time, Anannias had been succeeded by Ishmael ben Phiabi as high priest during a difficult power struggle (Josephus, Ant. 20.8.8-9). - Luke does not provide any clue if Festus was cognizant of the plot. - To transfer Paul to Jerusalem would require a military escort which would involve the loss of lives on both sides and threaten any goodwill between Festus and his subjects. 4) Wisely, Festus requires the Jews to travel to Caesarea to present their case to him in order to make a finding in Paul s case.
a) This follows protocol to try a Roman citizen in a Roman tribunal, not a potential kangaroo court, or throw him to the wolves. b) He invited them to come to Caesarea with him as he returned home. c) This amount of access and time was not something granted to them by any of the previous governors, so they must have felt hopeful that they could return with Paul in their custody. 2. Paul s fourth defense in custody: governor Festus. A. The Jews surround Paul while they make their accusations. 1) Luke does not specify what their accusations are towards him. a) They were probably the same accusations made to Lysias and Felix. b) The ones related to the temple violation and resurrection would be an internal Jewish matter which this time around they used to press for validation for their own trial. c) They may have believed if they throw enough accusations out, though unsubstantiated, the sheer volume might make it appear to be serious (Greek, barea, lit. weighty, heavy, burdensome ). d) The bottom line is they still had no proof of these violations, but their threatening posture and positioning around Paul was a clear indication that their decision on his guilt and punishment had already been made. 2) Paul s response was to recognize they had no proof and insist that he was no threat to them or to Rome. 3) Festus offered a compromise to provide protection for Paul if he was to return to Jerusalem to be tried by the Jews under his authority. a) This seemed logical since the main accusation was a religious one. b) The favor to the Jews was to allow them settle what obviously was an internal matter. c) Since Paul had Roman citizenship, Festus had the obligation to protect his rights and safety in the process, regardless of where the trial took place. d) It is unknown if Festus understood the history of the region (as noted above) and underestimated the volatility and hatred Jews had for the Roman occupation, and their willingness to kill (or die) in defense of their independence and religious way of life. 4) Paul declined this offer and insisted he remain in the Caesarean court. a) Paul knew that the Jews were capable of deception and murder, and had earlier plotted to kill him even though he was in Roman custody. b) He also understood that if Festus was interested in doing a favor for the Jews to develop a good relationship with them, it could be extended farther and lead to a compromised verdict and penalty (a human sacrifice for peace). c) In addition, he knew his fate was in Rome, not Jerusalem. B. Paul makes his defense. 1) Paul understood the volatile nature of his people. a) If he returned to Jerusalem there was no way he was going to leave alive without the direct intervention of God.
b) He had no intention of putting Festus in a position to be able to give him up for the greater good. c) One of the benefits of the earlier vision of Christ which let him know he was destined to minister in Rome was to help him make decisions such as these. 2) Paul insisted on appeal to Caesar s court in Rome, an unusual request at this point in the case. a) It was called provocatio, but was normally for the appeal of a court decision, which had not yet been made in this case. b) Paul was not guaranteed a fair trial in Rome either (i.e. before Gallio in 18:12-17), but he knew that he needed to take the case out of Festus hands and head to Rome. - The Caesar at this time was Nero, who was notorious for his hostility in the targeted killing of Christians. - This early in his administration, however, he was not yet hostile to Christians (the Stoic philosopher Seneca, a mentor and advisor to Nero was helping to run things in Rome), so Paul would not have had any reason to doubt he could receive a fair hearing. - He was not as interested in personal justice as he was in spreading the gospel, so his focus must have been in finding the best way to take the gospel to Rome. - Paul had been patient with Felix since he had concluded Paul was innocent of the charges, and must have thought he would eventually be released so he did not need to press for an appeal to Caesar. c) In reaffirming his innocence he let Festus know that he is willing to pay a death penalty if it is warranted by his actions. - This let the Jewish leaders know he is willing to die at their hands if he is guilty and does not fear death, confirming his hope in the resurrection. - It shows respect to Festus knowing he is willing to submit to the Roman legal system and pay the penalty for violation of Roman law (lit. nor have I sinned against Caesar - Acts 25:8). - He may have also thought about the potential benefit to the Christians in Judea to be viewed as a non-threatening presence to Rome. - This statement puts Festus in a difficult position to avoid the appearance of being manipulated by the Jews. 3) Festus met with an advisory panel (consilium) to discuss his request. a) He needed confirmation what his legal obligations were and the potential ramifications of ruling one way or another. b) This was an unusual case and may have unforeseen consequences to his governance and political aspirations. c) He was not required to grant Paul s request even though it may have been the normal thing to do. 4) He may have realized it was a win/win situation presenting itself. a) It protects Paul, who was clearly innocent, to be legally transferred away from the intense pressure and provide distance between him and those who want to end his life.
b) The Jewish leaders don t get what they want but at least know that he will remain in custody for the foreseeable future (and they do not have to risk lives in an ambush) and save face with their people. c) Festus gets to look good with his new subjects by his willingness to compromise; not have to render an unpopular decision that could provoke civil unrest; appear to follow the rule of law; and have the added political benefit of defending and protecting the rights of a Roman citizen in the face of a hostile crowd. d) So Paul gave him the same way out taken by Lysias and Felix - send the problem to someone else. 3. King Herod Agrippa II and his sister Bernice visit Festus in Caesarea. A. Agrippa II and Bernice arrive to welcome the new procurator. 1) Agrippa was the son of Agrippa I and the grandson of Herod the Great and his wife, Miriamne, a Hasmonean princess (Jewish). 2) After being raised in Claudius court in Rome (his father died in AD 44), when his uncle died he took over the reign of the Chalcis territory (small region in northern Syria near Aleppo) at the age of 21 (AD 48). 3) In AD 53, he moved south to take over the territory east of the Sea of Galilee. 4) Since he retained the right given to his father and grandfather by Rome as a client king with the responsibility to control the temple and appoint the high priest in Jerusalem, he was also entitled the King of the Jews. 5) Bernice had been given in marriage to her uncle Herod of Chalcis at the age of 13, when he died and her brother Agrippa took over, the 20 year old moved in with her brother. 6) Their companionship over the years led to rumors about an incestuous relationship, which affected the Jews perception of them as it did for their sister, Drucilla, who had left her husband to marry the previous procurator, Felix. 7) Agrippa s arrival in Caesarea was just days after the Jewish leaders brought their case against Paul in Festus court. B. Festus request for assistance. 1) Festus already had agreed to transfer Paul to Caesar s court but needed to specify the charges and the reason it was passed up the chain by appeal. 2) He asks his guest, the King of the Jews, to shed some light on why they were so upset with Paul, and give him assistance with the summary for the transfer papers since he still had no idea how to charge him. a) He must have had the paperwork from Lysias and Felix available to consult, but still could not find clarification. b) It must have been confusing for him not being able to get a handle on why there to be so much hostility with the Jews towards Paul, yet he was still in custody after two years. c) After his own hearing he was no closer to getting a handle on the problem nor explain why he was incapable of solving it.
3) He narrates the previous hearing as he perceived it, making his involvement appear to be politically wise and insightful (as Lysias did earlier), not mentioning the appeal to Caesar came only after he showed interest in showing favor to the accusers. 4) It was enough of an argument to interest the young Agrippa (32 yrs. old) to see if he could understand the issues and help to build a case against this follower of Jesus. a) It would challenge his understanding of both the Roman law and his own people. b) It might also provide an opportunity to enhance his resume and possibly be in consideration for the Judean governorship in the future. - However, seven years later when Titus was about to destroy Jerusalem, Agrippa tried in vain to convince the Jews to stand down, which they refused, believing God would deliver them. - This led to their fall and the loss of Agrippa s title over a Jewish nation. - Afterwards, Bernice became Titus mistress until he decided marrying her would become a political hurdle when returning to Rome that he did not wish to challenge. c) At the least, it would provide intellectual stimulation, a judicial exercise, and put to the test his political acuity. d) It is unknown if Agrippa had heard of Paul, the controversy he was caught up in (going on now for over two years), or wanted to know more about Christianity from a trained rabbi as the basis of his desire to personally hear Paul s defense. e) Whatever was his motivation, he accepted the challenge and agreed to hear Paul s defense and help Festus with the case. 4. Paul s fifth defense in custody: King Herod Agrippa II. A. Paul is brought in to provide his defense before Agrippa. 1) It is unknown how much he knew about Agrippa II, but he grew up under the time Agrippa I was in charge of the temple. 2) It was also unknown how much Paul knew about the reason he had been called before Agrippa. a) He had already been granted a transfer to Caesar s court, so there was no need for further defense. b) The Jews had likely returned to Jerusalem, so there was no formal hearing or new accusations. c) If he was simply asked to recount his story, he may not have known it was to scrutinize it to uncover some kind of charge that would be worth a hearing in Rome. d) If he understood his overall purpose was to arrive in Rome in custody (which he already had committed to), then he did not present his case in the hope that Agrippa would recommend his release to Festus. e) Based on the content of his presentation, Paul was not defending his legal standing but defending Jesus as the Messiah, and using this opportunity to
present the gospel to Festus, Agrippa, Bernice, and the other officials present. 3) The latter seems to be the case since this fifth and final defense is the longest, most comprehensive, and climatic defense yet given, not to mention the inclusion of an invitation for the ceremonial King of the Jews (Agrippa) and the representative of the official King of the Jews (Festus/Caesar) to submit to the real King of the Jews (Jesus - Acts 26:29, cf. Lk 23:38). a) If Paul felt any kind of disappointment that Felix left without faith in Christ he was not going to let it happen again because of a lack of effort. b) The pomp and circumstance (lit. Greek grand fantasia ) of this ceremonial trial gave him the stage and audience he was called to address (Acts 9:15). c) He provided Festus and Agrippa the best of his biblical knowledge and training as well as the experience gleaned from his years on the road crossing the Roman Empire, which was tailored for this audience. - He used at least nine different styles of Greek rhetoric (Bock, Acts, p.705). - He used oratory style (outstretched hands) with the most elevated, cultured language (Polhill, Acts, p.499). - He uses his life as an example as a Jew without peer, what it took for him to understand who Jesus was and what it meant to follow him, the difference Christ has made in his life and his hope for eternal life, what F.F. Bruce calls Apologia pro vita sua (A defense of his life Acts, p.461). g) The valuation that Luke provides for the events surrounding Paul s arrest and five consecutive defenses culminating in this final one, is shown by the fact that they take up 1/5 of the entire book of Acts. B. Paul begins his defense. 1) He acknowledges Agrippa s position. a) Paul is likely aware that Agrippa has a Jewish understanding and heritage but lives a secular, Hellenistic lifestyle so he should be able to understand his dilemma dealing with Jewish sensibilities and Roman law. b) Paul also understands that the charges of political agitation (24:5) are behind him, so he can focus on the only remaining charge of believing in the resurrection of the dead, and do so in the context of following Christ. c) Perhaps Paul saw potential in Agrippa, one whose identity was based in Judaism yet detachment from the religious demands of Jerusalem, and was trained in the court of Claudius but distant from the influence of Rome, making him a fertile ground for the seeds of the gospel to be planted and potentially ripen into faith in Christ. d) Paul respectfully requested Agrippa hear him out, possibly a reflection that the Jews he previously spoke to (in the temple, Sanhedrin) quickly cut him off, shouting accusations when he said something that offended them; or was merely a grateful acknowledgement of his willingness to hear Paul s presentation. e) He presents his defense in the pattern that is still used by Christians today in presenting their witness: my life before Christ; how I realized I needed
Christ; how I gave my life to Christ; what my life has been like since I made that decision. 2) His lifelong passion was to be faithful to God by being a strictly observant Jew. a) He was a devout Jew in Tarsus, trained in Jerusalem under the Pharisee Gamaliel, and lived as a well known Pharisee, to which many witnesses could still attest to. b) The accusation of belief in the resurrection was what he was trained to believe as a Pharisee, and which other Pharisees and common Jews alike hoped for. c) His identity was still as a Jew being faithful to the God of their ancestors (my people our religion our ancestors our 12 tribes). d) The logic of his argument was: If you believe in God (as Creator/Sustainer of the universe), and believe he made promises to their forefathers, why should it be a surprise when it is fulfilled? - If the promise was for redemption, restoration, and eternal life it either had to be either a reference to the nation of Israel, or giving meaning and purpose to the lives of individual Jews with the hope of being right with God and having a renewed fellowship with him. - If he had the power to create life from nothing he certainly could resurrect created life from death if he chose to, so the surprise was not so much that it he was able to fulfill the promise and resurrect the dead, but that he chose to do it through Jesus. e) His passion towards obedience to God was displayed in his zeal in persecuting the followers of Jesus whom he thought were blasphemers. - His goal was not to kill Jewish Christians but motivate them to renounce their faith in Jesus (v. 11). - If they died in the process, he felt it was a just fate and stood behind it (i.e. Stephen in ch. 7). - He did not just pick them up in the temple in Jerusalem, but in synagogues and in other cities and countries. - He described his state of mind as frenzied or frantic (the Greek, emmanes) in his pursuit of followers of Jesus. f) His listeners must have been on the edge of their seats wondering, How could he possibly flip from such a passionate persecutor to the side of the persecuted? 3) The vision of Christ on the Damascus road is fuller than any other account provided by Paul. a) He recounts the supernatural light which focuses on his group. - This extremely bright light appears at noon, the brightest point of the day, yet it is brighter than the sunlight. - This light was associated with his blindness before (22:11), but here it is associated with the light of God s word of salvation to men (26:18). - A possible allusion to the purpose of Israel to be a light to the nations, which Paul is fulfilling at that moment (Isa 42:6, 49:6).
- The inclusion of the information that all of the men with him saw the light and fell to the ground indicated it was not an illusion in Paul s mind but a real event that was also experienced by witnesses. b) He then hears the words, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It hurts you to kick against the goads. - In the OT theophanies were often begun with repeated identification of the recipient (Gen 22:11, 46:2, 1 Sam 3:4) which Paul would know. - Paul had no clue that he was persecuting anyone other than those who had a blasphemous understanding of God. - A goad was a sharpened stick used by farmers to poke a plowing ox to keep them moving forward (the term is still used today to prod or goad a resistant person to do a certain act). - If an ox kicked back at the stick it could injure itself or waste energy because resistance was a futile attempt to change the direction the farmer wanted it to go. - Kicking against the goads was a common imagery in the Roman world as well as familiar to Paul (Eccl 12:11) which indicated his wellmeaning passion was not directed by/for God, but against him. c) He wonders who it is he is persecuting since he thinks it is the followers of Jesus yet the only one that has such power to create a vision like this was God. - It was Jesus appearing to him in a supernatural manner which only God could do, not to mention he was supposed to be dead - which meant he must have been resurrected by God. - Paul must have had a massive theological disorientation of what he thought he knew about God and Jesus, or perhaps it was the opposite, his passion was driven by the distress of unresolved guilt, the struggle with unsettling questions, and troubling doubt about his violent aggression towards fellow Jews who believed Jesus was the Messiah in which the vision provided instant clarity, focus, and resolution. - In this account, he leaves out the blindness, the role of Ananias, and his baptism. d) Jesus tells him the purpose of the vision was to call him to be a servant and a witness to Jews and Gentiles about who he is, and what he has done. - To be a servant (the Greek, hypereten) is not just to acknowledge Jesus as Lord, but to be committed to serving him for the rest of his life. - To be a witness (the Greek, martyra) is to spend his life telling people about who Jesus is, and what he has done in providing a way of salvation for fallen mankind (exactly what Paul is doing now). - It was this calling that Paul based his identity as an apostle (one who is sent) personally set apart and sent out by Jesus (Rom 1:1, 1 Cor 1:1 ) consistent with the OT prophets called and sent out by God (Isa 6:8, Jer 1:7, Ezek 2:3-4). 4) Since this vision occurred, his life has been lived in obedience to that call. a) The change in his life occurred immediately as he continued on to Damascus, further fine tuning his message in synagogue debates.
b) He eventually returned to Jerusalem to talk with Peter and the original disciples, presumably to get the story of their time with Jesus and what he taught them. c) He then acted on the commission Jesus gave to his disciples to take the message of salvation beyond the Jewish community to the world (Matt 28:19-20, Acts 1:8). d) So, his message was a call to repentance and righteousness, rejected by the Jews who were just as intent on killing him as they did Jesus. - Jesus did not stay dead but was resurrected and provides the opportunity of salvation for the world, Jews and Gentiles, slaves and kings. - Those who recognize they are living in darkness and see the light (as Paul literally did), turn from their life s direction and embrace the enlightened path (confess faith in Christ and follow him) will have eternal life and follow Christ as resurrected beings. C. Their response to his presentation. 1) Festus is the one who cuts him off, shouting, Have you lost your mind? a) Festus was incredulous at the idea that a person could be resurrected. b) He likely believed Plato s idea that death separated the immortal spiritual soul from the mortal physical body so it could ascend to the real existence of heaven (as do many Christians to this day). c) Having a material body, resurrected or not, was inconceivable to their way of thinking, and seemed like a crazy idea (1 Cor 1:23). d) Festus, like the Stoics and Epicurians in Athens (Acts 17), assumed his beliefs were true because it was his beliefs. - It was not believed to be true because it has incontrovertible logic or superior rationale when compared to another belief system, but assumed to be true simply because it was what he believed. - Denigrating another s belief as sophomoric or making a personal attack accusing them of idiocy is a defensive response which averts or deflects any real challenge to themselves or their belief. 2) Too much education has driven you mad. a) Many uneducated people think those who are exposed to new ideas through advanced education become lost or confounded and lose touch with reality, which occasionally does happen. b) There is a trap in academia for those who think in terms of theory and postulations which seems rational in the ivory tower of ideas, assumptions, and models, but does not stand up to the test of application in the real world where many variables cannot be anticipated or controlled. c) That may have been true of Paul prior to the vision he just described, but his life afterwards was based on the real world application of the gospel. d) If Paul was insane (the Greek, maine, manic in English) or embraced insane ideas, it could not have stood up to the test of constant challenges over the decades he had been promoting it throughout the Roman Empire nor had the widespread success of converts in Jewish and Gentile cultures. 3) Paul calmly and respectfully assures Festus that he is not a mental case.
a) He tells him his words are true and contain sound judgment. b) This is not some religious system made up in the secrecy of a dark corner (an ivory tower or an obscure Nazarean home), a foreign or new religion, but is a clearly established understanding of what God called Israel to become over a millennium earlier. c) He asks Agrippa to be a witness to that statement, knowing he understands the hope and meaning of the Messiah and the resurrection in Judaism. 4) Agrippa recognized where Paul was taking this discussion. a) Paul s question to him regarding the messianic prophecies was backing him into a corner. - If he said he did not believe the prophecies he was putting into question his commitment to Judaism which would affect his standing and authority with the Jews. - If he said he believed the prophecies, then he would be drawn into a discussion whether or not Jesus fulfilled them, and affect his standing as an authority on Judaism before Festus. - This would not end well for Agrippa knowing he would be debating one of the best trained and most gifted Jewish scholars in his day on a topic on which Paul was an expert, and had already demonstrated his level of commitment to the prophecy s fulfillment in Jesus. b) His response was to deflect the question with a question: You want to convince me to be a Christian so quickly? - He was perceptive in knowing that was where Paul was going with his question. - He also knew that the term Christian (lit. little-messiah) was a derogatory term that outsiders called followers of the Way (Acts 11:26) and may have been an attempt to trivialize the movement (and Paul s testimony) in contrast to historic Judaism. - He questions Paul s expectation that a short argument could convince him to abdicate his authority as the King of the Jews to become a follower of Jesus. - Whether it was a genuine question or sarcasm, it definitely was an uncomfortable position for the king, placed there by a prisoner in a formal setting to honor the king. 5) Paul helped him out by redirecting his question to all of those present, and in a general sense, to the world at large. a) He wanted Agrippa to choose to follow Christ as Lord but was not willing to force him, or anyone else, into faith in Christ (a lesson many modern Christians need to learn) because the truth of Christ is clear and obvious for anyone to understand and choose to either follow or reject. b) He injected humor to alleviate the awkwardness of the moment by expressing his desire for everyone there to have faith in Christ like him, minus the imprisonment. c) The comment was also a subtle way to let them all know he was being held in custody and desired to be released.
D. Agrippa s recommendation to Festus. 1) Festus, Agrippa, Bernice, and the other dignitaries present adjourned the session. a) For the fifth time Paul was given a defense, and for the fifth time he was found innocent (23:9, 29, 25:18, 25, 26:31). b) Even Agrippa could not find anything to support a charge against Paul. - His help to Festus was to verify his initial thought that there was no cause to hold him (insanity was not illegal). - Agrippa wondered why Paul would choose to appeal to Caesar s court when justice would have set him free; not knowing that Festus favor to the Jews forced him to claim the appeal. c) Festus could not release Paul after his claim for appeal to the Emperor s court without a spotlight shining on his questionable judicial abilities and potential incompetence. - He could have recognized his error in judgment offering to hand Paul over for a Jewish trial when Paul immediately claimed an appeal, which may have been why it was not mentioned to Agrippa. - He may have feared the career ending path of his predecessor Felix s removal and charges of mismanagement levied against him, even though Festus was still new to the post. d) Only Paul knew that he was in God s custody, put there to tell the story of Jesus as he moved up the chain of authority, and to be a minister of the gospel from the inside of the Roman Empire; so it was off to Rome.