Paul Appeals to Caesar

“If then I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death. But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can give me up to them.  I appeal to Caesar.  Then Festus, when he had conferred with his council, answered, ‘To Caesar you have appealed; to Caesar you shall go.’” –Acts 25:11-12 (ESV.  Read Acts 25:1-11). 

Porcius Festus succeeded Felix as governor (procurator) of Judea in AD 60, appointed by Nero.  Commentators note that Festus was a better ruler than Felix, who was recalled from office.  Festus had on his hands the prisoner, Paul the Apostle, who had been under guard at Caesarea for two years.  If Festus released Paul, he would have trouble from the Jews.  If he continued to hold Paul in prison, he would be faced with the dilemma of a person without definite official charges.  Festus knew he must act quickly concerning the already two-year term prisoner. 

Festus probably did not know that the Jews were out to get Paul’s blood.  On his first visit to Jerusalem, the Jews asked Festus to allow Paul to come to Jerusalem for trial.  Festus unwittingly saved Paul from planned ambush by the Jews by telling them Paul would remain in Caesarea and they were to send a group there for the trial.  The Jews were foiled again in their plot to kill Paul.  They did, however, send a contingent to Caesarea and brought “many charges” against Paul which “they could not prove.”  Paul’s argument was strong that he had not committed crimes against law, the temple or Caesar.  He had kept the Jewish law, he had not desecrated the temple as he had been accused, nor had he broken the Roman law. When asked if he wanted to go to Jerusalem to be tried there before Festus, Paul was quick to reply that he wanted to go to Rome and be tried before Caesar.  Festus then was bound to let him go to Rome.  Paul’s appeal was valid as a Roman citizen.  

This set Paul’s footsteps upon the first step toward Rome, a destination he had believed would come to him since the time of his conversion and commissioning.  God had also promised Paul (see Acts 23:11) that he would witness in Rome and that he would get there safely.  Paul knew that the Jews had not given up their desire to kill him.  Paul’s safest measure was to appeal to Caesar and to have the protection of Roman soldiers as body guards on his way to Rome.  With the powerful forces of Roman guards going alongside Paul, it was not likely that the prisoner’s attendants would be ambushed along the route.   

“God works in mysterious ways his wonders to perform,” is a beloved quotation we like to hear.  “To Caesar you will go!”  declared Festus.  Do we hear a sigh of relief in this declaration?  No doubt, Festus was glad to have Paul out of his domain.  Too much “heavy, heavy hangs over his head.”  He wanted to keep the peace, and one way of doing so was to send Paul on to Rome.  Think of a turning point in your own life when the situation seemed almost impossible. Thank God for His ability to bring us victoriously through dark times in our lives.