Acts 25:1 - Meaning and Application

We often say, “New rulers, new laws, new customs.” But here was a new governor, and Paul still received the same treatment, and no better. Festus, like Felix before him, was not as fair to Paul as he should have been, because he did not release him. Yet he was not as unjust as the Jews wanted him to be, because he would not condemn Paul to death or hand him over to their rage.

First, the high priest and the other Jews pressed Festus to abandon Paul. To send Paul to Jerusalem was, in effect, to give him up to them. They moved quickly. As soon as Festus arrived in the province and took up his office, he went to Jerusalem after only three days, probably after being installed at Caesarea, and the priests quickly came after him with their case against Paul. Festus stayed three days at Caesarea, where Paul was a prisoner, and we do not read that Paul made any appeal to him in that time to be released, though he likely could have found friends who might have helped him. But as soon as Festus came to Jerusalem, the priests hurried to win him over against Paul. Malice is a restless thing. Paul bore the long delay of his imprisonment more patiently than his enemies bore the delay in pushing their case to his death.

They were also very spiteful in the way they approached him. They brought charges against Paul before he had a fair hearing, hoping, if possible, to bias Festus and make him a judge already on their side. But this trick, base as it was, would not be enough on its own, because Festus would surely hear Paul himself, and then their claims would fall apart. So they planned something even worse, to kill Paul before he ever came to trial. These inhuman, hellish methods, which the whole world at least claims to hate, were what these persecutors turned to in order to feed their hatred of the gospel of Christ, and they did it while claiming zeal for Moses. Such was the terrible evil that false religious zeal can produce.

Their request also sounded reasonable. With the governor in Jerusalem, they asked him to send Paul there and judge him there. That would save them a great deal of travel, and it seemed sensible, since Paul was accused of profaning the temple in Jerusalem, and criminals are often tried where the crime was said to have happened. But their real plan was to lie in wait for him on the road and murder him as he was brought up. They likely thought he would not be guarded as strongly as when he had been sent down, or that the officers bringing him could be bribed to give them a chance. Scripture says they asked for favor against Paul. Prosecutors should ask for justice against someone they believe guilty, and if guilt is not proved, then justice is just as much served by acquittal as by punishment. But to ask for favor against a prisoner, and even from the judge, who should protect him, was bold and shameless. The favor should have been for the prisoner, favor toward life, but instead they wanted favor against him. They would count it a favor if the governor would only condemn Paul, even though they could prove no crime.

Then Festus made up his mind that Paul should be tried at Caesarea, where he was already held. He would not do them the kindness of sending Paul to Jerusalem. He ordered that Paul remain at Caesarea. We are not told that Festus knew of their bloody plan to murder Paul on the way, as the chief priests knew when Paul was first sent to Caesarea (Acts 23:30). But perhaps Festus was simply unwilling to grant such a favor to the high priest and his party. Or perhaps he wanted to uphold the dignity of his court at Caesarea and require them to come there. Or he may have wished to avoid the trouble and cost of moving Paul. Whatever his reason, God used it to keep Paul out of his enemies’ hands.

Maybe the Jews were more careful to hide their plot this time, so it would not be exposed as it had been before. Even if God did not reveal it now, he still brought it to nothing in another way by moving the governor’s heart, for other reasons, not to send Paul to Jerusalem. God is not tied to only one method when he saves his people. He can let plots stay hidden and still keep them from succeeding. He can even make the private plans of powerful men serve his gracious purposes.

Festus would, however, do them the justice of hearing their case if they would come down to Caesarea and accuse Paul there. In effect, he said, let those among you who are able, whether able in body and money for the trip, or able in mind and speech to manage the case, come down with me and accuse this man. Or let those who can actually prove something criminal against him come and give their evidence, if there is really any such wrongdoing as you claim. Festus would not simply accept their word, as they wanted him to. He would not assume there was wickedness in Paul until it was proved, and until Paul had been heard in his own defense. If Paul was guilty, the burden was on them to prove it.

Then came Paul’s trial before Festus. Festus stayed in Jerusalem about ten days, then went down to Caesarea, with the prosecutors likely in his train, since he had said they should come with him. Because they were so eager to push the case, he was willing to hear it first, and to speed their return home, he set the hearing for the next day. Quick justice is commendable, as long as haste does not outrun fairness.

The court was then set, and the prisoner was called forward. Festus sat on the judgment seat, as he normally did when a serious case came before him, and he ordered Paul to be brought in and stand before him. Christ, to encourage his disciples and strengthen them under such fearful trials, promised that the day would come when they would sit on thrones and judge the tribes of Israel.

Then the prosecutors presented their charges. The Jews stood around him, which shows how many there were. “Lord, how many are my enemies!” It also shows that they were united, standing with one another and determined to stay together. They were intent on the case and eager to accuse Paul.

They gathered around him, if they could, to frighten the judge into doing what they wanted, or at least to scare the prisoner and make him lose face. But it did not work. He had too strong a sense of right to be intimidated by them. “They surrounded me like bees, but they were quickly gone like a fire of thorns” (Psalm 118:12).

When they stood around him, they brought many serious charges against Paul. They accused him of major crimes. The list of accusations was long, and the things they claimed were very serious. They painted Paul as badly as their anger and imagination could manage. But when they finished speaking and the evidence was heard, they failed. They could not prove what they had said, because it was all false. Either the facts were not as they claimed, or there was no wrongdoing at all. They blamed him for things he did not know about, and neither did they.

This is nothing new. Even the best people on earth are sometimes spoken against falsely, not only by drunkards and scoffers, but even before a court.

When it came time for Paul to speak for himself, he held to his clear defense: not guilty. “I have done nothing wrong against the law of the Jews, or against the temple, or against Caesar.” He had not broken the Jewish law or taught anything that destroyed it. Did he make the law useless by faith? No, he upheld it. Preaching Christ, who is the goal of the law, was no offense against the law.

He had also not dishonored the temple or treated its worship with contempt. His work in helping to establish the gospel temple did not insult the temple that had pointed forward to it. And he had not done anything against Caesar or his government. This shows that when the case came before the government, they had likely accused him of disloyalty to the ruling powers, hoping to win favor with the governor and to look loyal to Caesar. So Paul had to clear himself on that point and say plainly that he was no enemy of Caesar, not even as much as those who accused him.

Paul’s appeal to the emperor gave the case a new direction. Whether he had already planned it or made the decision suddenly because of this pressure is not clear. But God put it in his heart, to carry out what had been said to him before, that he must bear witness for Christ in Rome, where the emperor’s court was (Acts 23:11).

Festus then proposed that Paul go to Jerusalem for trial again. He was willing to please the Jews and favor the accusers more than the prisoner, as far as he safely could against a Roman citizen. He asked Paul whether he would be willing to go to Jerusalem and defend himself there, where the charges had been made and where his witnesses could be present. He did not openly hand Paul over to the high priest and the Sanhedrin, as the Jews wanted. He only asked, “Will you go there and be tried before me on these charges?” If he had wanted, the governor could have ordered it, but he chose not to do that without Paul’s agreement. If he could have talked Paul into it, it would have made the plan seem less unfair.

In times of suffering, God’s people must be wise as well as patient. Since they are sent out like sheep among wolves, they need to be wise as snakes.

Paul refused, and he had good reasons. He knew that if he were sent back to Jerusalem, the Jews would find some way to kill him, even if the governor watched closely. So he asked to be excused. First, as a Roman citizen, he ought to be judged where he was, in Caesar’s court at Caesarea, the capital of the province. The trial was held in Caesar’s name and under his authority, so it could rightly be called Caesar’s judgment seat. In the same way, our courts act in the name of the ruler. Paul’s words here show clearly that Christ’s ministers are not free from civil authority. They must submit to it as far as they can in good conscience, and if they are guilty of a real crime, they must accept its judgment. Even if they are innocent, they should still answer its questions and clear themselves before it.

Second, as a Jew, he had done nothing wrong to them. “To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you very well know.” It is fitting for innocent people to speak up for their innocence and insist on it. We owe that to our own good name. We should not only avoid speaking falsely against ourselves, but also defend our integrity against those who speak falsely against us.

Third, he was willing to submit to the law and let it take its course. If he had done something worthy of death, he would not resist or try to escape. He would not run from justice or fight against it. “I do not refuse to die,” he says, “but I will accept the punishment my wrongdoing deserves.” This does not mean that everyone who may have committed a crime must accuse themselves and hand themselves over to justice. But when people are accused and brought before the law, they should submit and admit that God and the government are right. Sometimes examples must be made.

If he was innocent, as he said he was, then no one had the right to hand him over to the Jews, not even the governor, without clear injustice. It was the governor’s duty to protect the innocent as well as punish the guilty. So Paul asked for that protection.

Since he was always in danger from the Jews, and since they kept trying again and again to get him into their hands, Paul turned to the last safe refuge for one who is being treated unfairly. He took shelter there, because he could not get justice any other way: “I appeal to Caesar.”

Rather than be handed over to the Jews, which Festus seemed ready to allow, Paul says, in effect, “Let me be handed over to Nero.” When David had several close escapes from Saul’s anger and came to believe that Saul was a constant enemy who would one day kill him, he was driven to this resolve: “There is nothing better for me than to take refuge in the land of the Philistines” (1 Samuel 27:1). Paul is in a similar position here. It is a sad thing when a son of Abraham has to appeal to a Philistine, to Nero, rather than to those who call themselves the seed of Abraham, and when he is safer in Gath or Rome than in Jerusalem. “How the faithful city has become a prostitute!”

The final judgment on the whole matter is that Paul is neither freed nor condemned. His enemies hoped the case would end with his death, and his friends hoped it would end with his release, but neither happened. Both sides were disappointed, and the matter was left just as it was. This shows the slow steps Providence sometimes takes, not bringing things to a close as quickly as we expect. That often humbles our hopes and our fears and keeps us waiting on God. The case had already been put off to another time, and now it is sent to another place, to another court, so that Paul’s suffering may produce patience.

The governor first asks for advice about the matter: he conferred with his advisers, not with the Jewish council, which is called the Sanhedrin, but with his own counselors, who were always ready to help the governor. In a multitude of counselors there is safety, and judges should consult both themselves and others before giving sentence. Then he decides to send Paul to Rome. Some think Paul’s appeal was not really to Caesar’s personal judgment, but only to Caesar’s court, and that Festus could have chosen whether to send him there or handle the case himself. Still, Agrippa’s later remark seems to show that Paul could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar (Acts 26:32). By Roman law, a Roman citizen could appeal at any time to a higher court, even to the highest one, much as cases among us are transferred by certiorari, and prisoners by habeas corpus, or as appeals are often made to the House of Lords.

So Festus, whether by choice or by duty, comes to this decision: “Have you appealed to Caesar? To Caesar you will go.” He saw that the case was unusual and felt unwilling to decide it himself, either one way or the other. He also thought the emperor would be interested in hearing about it, so he sent it to him. In our judgment before God, those who defend themselves by appealing to the law will go to the law, and the law will condemn them. But those who turn to the gospel, with repentance and faith, will go to the gospel, and it will save them.