Paul Gets an Appointment with King Agrippa

“Then Agrippa said to Festus, ‘I would like to hear the man myself.’  ‘Tomorrow,’ said he (Festus), you will hear him.’  -Acts 25:22 (ESV.  Read Acts 25:13-27).

Governor Festus had affirmed Paul’s desire to take his case all the way to the Emperor in Rome, but still he did not have a good statement about Paul’s charges and why he should thus be granted his audience before the Emperor.  Enter King Agrippa and his wife, Bernice.  Who is King Agrippa, and how could he be of any help to Governor Festus in arranging the necessary papers on Paul?  This particular Agrippa is King Agrippa II, son of Agrippa I, and great grandson of Herod the Great.  Agrippa II was the ruler over a part of Palestine which included Peraea and Galilee.  The Emperor Claudius had assigned to Agrippa II supervision over the temple in Jerusalem and election of the high priest.  The Romans allowed the Jews to worship in their own way and keep the Jewish law; but at the same time they had to obey the Roman laws for the Jewish territories.  Therefore, any unrest from the Jewish sector as it related to temple activities and governance would be noted and handled by King Agrippa II.  Festus knew that Agrippa II had the best knowledge of any of the Roman officials concerning Jewish affairs.  It was customary for Agrippa to make courtesy calls to the rulers (or governors) of the various provinces, and so he and Bernice had come to Caesarea.  And now a word about Bernice.  She was a daughter of Herod Agrippa I, a half-sister to Agrippa II.  The fact that his half-sister lived with Herod Agrippa II caused much concern on the part of the Jewish people because they saw their marriage as incest.  They considered the relationship condemned according to their law in Leviticus 18:1-18 and 20:11-21.  Drucilla, the wife of Felix, the immediate past governor at Caesarea, was also a sister to Bernice and Agrippa II.  Amidst all this intrigue of family life, and to pay his courtesy call to another Roman official, Agrippa II and Bernice came to Caesarea to visit Festus.  Perhaps Festus could use their visit to get some information that would strengthen the case against Paul in his referral to the Emperor. 

Festus reviewed the case to Agrippa II, telling him of the hearing before the Jewish representatives that had come to his court in Caesarea.  “I would like to hear the man myself,’ said King Agrippa.  And so with “great pomp” they assembled the next day—Agrippa II and Bernice, Festus, prominent men, military tribunes—and then Paul the prisoner.  Festus defended his previous decision, stating that he had found Paul’s charges by the Jews undeserving of death.  But then he states the core of his own problem:  “But I have nothing definite to write to my Lord about him. Therefore I have brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that, after we have examined him, I may have something to write.  For it seems to me unreasonable, in sending a prisoner, not to indicate the charges against him” (Acts 25:26-27). 

Here the stage was set:  Agrippa II, flattered that Festus thought him capable of rendering a viable accusation against Paul that would entitle his hearing before the Emperor, was about to hear Paul.  Festus, not knowing the intricacies of Jewish law, really did need some help.  And Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, was about to have still another opportunity to give his powerful testimony in the presence of provincial rulers and some of the most prominent people of Caesarea.  Again, this portion of Paul’s story bears out the truth I have repeated several times as we have examined this section of the Acts of the Apostles:  God’s ways are higher than man’s ways, in all ways, and always.  As tense and critical as the situation was, God’s way would be victorious.

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.