Acts 25
Acts 25:1-27 (NLT)
1 Three days after Festus arrived in Caesarea to take over his new responsibilities, he left for Jerusalem,
2 where the leading priests and other Jewish leaders met with him and made their accusations against Paul.
3 They asked Festus as a favor to transfer Paul to Jerusalem (planning to ambush and kill him on the way).
4 But Festus replied that Paul was at Caesarea and he himself would be returning there soon.
5 So he said, “Those of you in authority can return with me. If Paul has done anything wrong, you can make your accusations.”
6 About eight or ten days later Festus returned to Caesarea, and on the following day he took his seat in court and ordered that Paul be brought in.
7 When Paul arrived, the Jewish leaders from Jerusalem gathered around and made many serious accusations they couldn’t prove.
8 Paul denied the charges. “I am not guilty of any crime against the Jewish laws or the Temple or the Roman government,” he said.
9 Then Festus, wanting to please the Jews, asked him, “Are you willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there?”
10 But Paul replied, “No! This is the official Roman court, so I ought to be tried right here. You know very well I am not guilty of harming the Jews.
11 If I have done something worthy of death, I don’t refuse to die. But if I am innocent, no one has a right to turn me over to these men to kill me. I appeal to Caesar!”
12 Festus conferred with his advisers and then replied, “Very well! You have appealed to Caesar, and to Caesar you will go!”
13 A few days later King Agrippa arrived with his sister, Bernice, to pay their respects to Festus.
14 During their stay of several days, Festus discussed Paul’s case with the king. “There is a prisoner here,” he told him, “whose case was left for me by Felix.
15 When I was in Jerusalem, the leading priests and Jewish elders pressed charges against him and asked me to condemn him.
16 I pointed out to them that Roman law does not convict people without a trial. They must be given an opportunity to confront their accusers and defend themselves.
17 “When his accusers came here for the trial, I didn’t delay. I called the case the very next day and ordered Paul brought in.
18 But the accusations made against him weren’t any of the crimes I expected.
19 Instead, it was something about their religion and a dead man named Jesus, who Paul insists is alive.
20 I was at a loss to know how to investigate these things, so I asked him whether he would be willing to stand trial on these charges in Jerusalem.
21 But Paul appealed to have his case decided by the emperor. So I ordered that he be held in custody until I could arrange to send him to Caesar.”
22 “I’d like to hear the man myself,” Agrippa said. And Festus replied, “You will—tomorrow!”
23 So the next day Agrippa and Bernice arrived at the auditorium with great pomp, accompanied by military officers and prominent men of the city. Festus ordered that Paul be brought in.
24 Then Festus said, “King Agrippa and all who are here, this is the man whose death is demanded by all the Jews, both here and in Jerusalem.
25 But in my opinion he has done nothing deserving death. However, since he appealed his case to the emperor, I have decided to send him to Rome.
26 “But what shall I write the emperor? For there is no clear charge against him. So I have brought him before all of you, and especially you, King Agrippa, so that after we examine him, I might have something to write.
27 For it makes no sense to send a prisoner to the emperor without specifying the charges against him!”
Fallacious accusations brought against Paul were intended to inflict harm on him and his message. Though intended for evil, they effectively served to bring him before the highest Roman leadership, surely expanding the breadth of his testimony’s impact. What was not insignificant throughout this grueling mission for Paul was the fact that he was truly faultless. He never allowed skeletons in his closet to be discovered in this later time of intense scrutiny. He had always lived true to the identity he claimed, never yielding to a whim that could later be legitimately held against him. Instead of being brought down by the accusations, they only served to make fools of his accusers for their lack of evidence. What was really preserved through this, though, was Paul’s testimony of Christ and his transformation. The greatest defense he provided was the righteousness he had become, and that could not be refuted.
It would seem that the wicked are quite creative in their production of fabrications against the righteous. While they may be in dangerous error, there is also great importance placed on the legitimacy of the new life we claim in Christ. For every leveled accusation, there should be no possible uncovering of evidence to confirm it. The grace that so powerfully saves also works to purify and prepare a people who are set apart in righteousness to never provide legitimate evidence for the accusers’ spouting. Character and conduct are not made to be insignificant by the cross, but rather, they should be confirmation and evidence that this truly is so.