Brit Chadasha Foundations-Concepts in Acts-Chapter 25

Acs 25.1-27 tells us Festus refuses to put Paul on trial in Jerusalem and reopens the trial at Caesarea; Paul appeals his case to Caesar to avoid another plot against his life; King Agrippa and Bernice visit Festus and are told about Paul’s case; Paul is brought before Agrippa, Bernice and Festus, with Festus making an opening statement.

v 1…Festus therefore, having arrived in the province (of Judea), three days later went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea (to acquaint himself-this was about 60 AD).

v 2…And the chief priests and the leading men of the Jews brought charges against Paul (time has not lessened their hatred); and they were urging him (to motivate him),

v 3…requesting a concession (judgment) against Paul, that he might have him brought to Jerusalem, setting an ambush to kill him on the way.

v 4…Festus then answered that Paul was being kept in custody at Caesarea and that he himself was about to leave shortly (Caesarea being the official judgment seat of Caesar in JUdea-he refuses to release Paul and expose him to their plot).

v 5…”Therefore”, he said, “let the influential men among you go (down) there with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them prosecute him.”

v 6…And after he had spent not more than eight or ten days among them, he went down to Caesarea; and on the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought.

v 7…And after he had arrived, the Jews (rulers) who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him (in a semi-circle like in the Lishkat Ha Gazit, or Chamber of Hewn Stone where the Sanhedrin sat), bringing many and serious charges against him which they could not prove (because they were lying and concerned with their power);

v 8…while Paul said in his own defense, “I have committed either against the Law (Torah) of the Jews or against the Temple or against Caesar (again we see that Paul was a Torah observant believer in Yeshua).”

v 9…But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor (having been treated with hospitality by them during his visit to Jerusalem), answered Paul and said, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me on these charges?”

v 10…But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal (already), where I ought to be tried (he was already before the proper court-this shows how far Israel has fallen; Paul had a better chance for a fair trial before a pagan than he did going back to a city who said they were God’s people). I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you also very well know (Festus knew he was innocent from Felix, or the letter from Lysias, and Paul’s own testimony).

v 11…If then I am a wrongdoer, and I have committed anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die; but if none of those things are true of which these men accuse me, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar (by doing this he has removed himself from Jewish authority; he now would be banned from the synagogues to teach and possibly the Temple; Paul doesn’t trust Festus either and would now rely on Caesar’s jurisdiction alone; the Caesar at this time was Nero, who was regarded at this time to be a just ruler, but he would deteriorate shortly into a tyrant).”

v 12…And when Festus had conferred with his counsel (who helped him administer justice), he answered, “You have appealed to Caesar, to Caesar you shall go (where God had said he would go to be a witness-Acts 19.21, 23.11).”

v 13…Now, when several days had elapsed, King Agrippa (II) and Bernice (sister of Drusilla, the wife of Felix, and Agrippa II) arrived at Caesarea, and paid their respects to Festus.

v 14…And while they were spending many days there, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king, saying, “There is a certain man left a prisoner by Felix (He tries to make it the fault of Felix);

v 15…and when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews brought charges against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation upon him.

v 16…And I answered them that it is not the custom of the Romans to hand over any man before the accused meets his accusers face to face, and has an opportunity to make his defense against the charges.

v 17…And so after they had assembled here, I made no delay, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal, and ordered the man to be brought.

v 18…And when the accusers stood up, they began bringing charges against him not of such crimes I was expecting (like treason or sedition),

v 19…but they had some points of disagreement with him about their own religion (theological differences) and about a certain dead man, Yeshua, whom Paul asserted was alive (Yeshua’s resurrection was a repudiation for what these chief priests did).

v 20…And being at a loss how to investigate such matters, I asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and there stand trial on these matters.

v 21…But when Paul appealed to be kept in custody for the examination of Augustus (Nero), I ordered him to be kept in custody until I send him to Caesar.”

v 22…And Agrippa said to Festus, “I also would like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow,” he said, “you shall hear him.”

v 23…And so, on the next day when Agrippa had come together with Bernice, amid great pomp public display-the same city where their father was eaten by worms), and had entered the auditorium accompanied by the commanders and prominent men of the city, and the command of Festus, Paul was brought in.

v 24…And Festus said, “King Agrippa, and all you gentlemen here present with us, you behold this man about whom all the people of the Jews appealed to me, both at Jerusalem and here, loudly declaring that he ought not live any longer.

v 25…But I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death (as far as a criminal offense); and since he himself appealed to Augustus (Nero), I decided to send him.

v 26…Yet I have nothing definite about him to write to my lord (this term was not applied to the emperors of Rome until Nero). Therefore I have brought him before you and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the investigation has taken place, I may have something to write (of substance in a criminal charge).

v 27…For it seems absurd to me in sending a prisoner, not to indicate also the charges against him (he wasn’t quite sure of the charge, so he wanted to reexamine him again).”

Posted in All Teachings, Articles, Idioms, Phrases and Concepts, Prophecy/Eschatology, The Festivals of the Lord, The Tanak, Tying into the New Testament

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