The first couple of verses tell us the background of the events that will take place in this passage. Let’s read chapter 25, verse 23 together. “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 court. At the command of Festus, Paul was brought in.” What does this tell us about the passage? If you take another look at the verse, it says that “the next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and entered the audience room.” Let’s stop there. King Agrippa and Bernice came in with great pomp, meaning they came with splendor and showiness. While they may not have been boasting about their high status with their words, they came into the room in a boastful manner. From this we can see that this isn’t really a court trial, because King Agrippa and the others in the room lacked seriousness. Another key thing we can see is that they were in an “audience room”, not a courthouse. Right away we can see that this isn’t an official trial, but is just a public hearing of Paul. The purpose of this hearing is evident if we keep reading the passage. Let’s read verses 25-27 together. “25 I found he had done nothing deserving 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 investigation 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.” What Festus says here is absolutely mind-boggling. First, he affirms that Paul did nothing deserving death. To us, it seems like Paul has been imprisoned and put on trial for only a couple of chapters, but keep in mind that in reality Paul has been captive for years. After all these years, Festus determines that there is nothing that Paul has done to deserve death, or even imprisonment. Second, because Paul appealed to Caesar, Festus has to give Caesar a letter to explain why Paul is going to him. However, Festus has nothing to write to Caesar! Third, we learn that the sole purpose of this hearing to give Festus something to charge Paul with so he can send Paul to Caesar. You would think that since Paul had been through so many trials they would at least have come up with something to charge him with. It’s impossible to have a court case without charges against the defendant. That’s the whole point of a trial. We did learn of a couple accusations the Jews made against Paul in previous chapters, such as Paul blaspheming and destroying the temple. However, none of these charges could be substantiated in court. Do any of you know what two important things you need to prove your statements in court? You need evidence and witness testimony. The Jews claimed that Paul was a blasphemer, but they had no evidence to prove it. Furthermore, their testimonies were not consistent, so Festus couldn’t validate any of their claims against Paul. Festus has to find out another way to charge Paul and send him to Caesar.
Now we know that the point of the hearing is that Festus could write something to Caesar about Paul. The next question is, why did Festus consult King Agrippa? Let’s read chapter 26, verses 2 and 3. “2 King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews, 3 and especially so because you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.” Agrippa was a king, and he was well acquainted with Jewish practices. King Agrippa probably knew about the differences between the Sadducees and Pharisees, the Jewish view of Jesus, the Christian view of Jesus, and other religious matters. Festus knew that if anyone would be able to appropriately judge Paul, it would be King Agrippa. Not only that, but King Agrippa was curious about Paul and Paul’s views on Christianity, as evidenced by chapter 25, verse 22. Looking again at verse 2, Paul says that he considers himself fortunate to speak before King Agrippa, even though Paul has been on many trials before. Paul hopes that King Agrippa will be able to use his understanding of Jewish customs to understand Paul’s testimony. Paul has spoken to many religious leaders before, but now he hopes that King Agrippa will be the one who accepts his message.
No comments:
Post a Comment