24  Paul on Trial  Phase Two:  Before Festus  (Acts 25:1–12)

Festus therefore, having arrived in the province, three days later went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea. And the chief priests and the leading men of the Jews brought charges against Paul; and they were urging him, requesting a concession against Paul, that he might have him brought to Jerusalem (at the same time, setting an ambush to kill him on the way). Festus then answered that Paul was being kept in custody at Caesarea and that he himself was about to leave shortly. “Therefore,” he said, “let the influential men among you go there with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them prosecute him.” 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. And after he had arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and serious charges against him which they could not prove; while Paul said in his own defense, “I have committed no offense either against the Law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar.” But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, answered Paul and said, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me on these charges?” But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you also very well know. If then I am a wrongdoer, and have committed anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die; but if none of those things is true of which these men accuse me, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar.” Then when Festus had conferred with his council, he answered, “You have appealed to Caesar, to Caesar you shall go.” (25:1–12)

The latter part of Acts finds Paul a prisoner of Rome. Because of his faithfulness, he had made an unparalleled impact for Jesus Christ on the world. He had evangelized the lost, boldly confronted false religion, founded churches, and discipled faithful men for the task of spreading the gospel.

But Paul’s diligent, faithful, tireless efforts stirred up a wake of hatred and opposition from the enemies of the gospel. Shortly after his conversion, he “kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ” (Acts 9:22). Shocked and outraged by his startling change from persecutor to evangelist (9:21), “the Jews plotted together to do away with him” (9:23). But Paul discovered their plot and managed to escape (9:24).

That early incident set the pattern for Paul’s ministry, it started that way and stayed that way. Seemingly everywhere he went, he faced hostility, opposition, even outright persecution. Most of that opposition came from unbelieving Jews—a fact that deeply grieved him (Rom. 9:1–3). Other times, as in Ephesus (19:21–41), it came from Gentile followers of false religion.

We have already learned that Paul’s Jewish enemies managed to have him arrested by the Romans on trumped-up charges (21:27–33). For the next several years, he remained a prisoner, first in Jerusalem, then in Caesarea, finally in Rome. During that time, he repeatedly defended himself against the false charges brought against him. Shortly after Roman troops rescued him from the angry mob on the temple grounds, Paul defended himself from the steps of Fort Antonia (21:37–22:21). Unable to determine Paul’s crime, Claudius Lysias, the Roman commander at Jerusalem, brought him before the Sanhedrin (22:30–23:11). But the highest court in Israel failed to convict him of any wrongdoing. Learning of a plot against Paul’s life, Lysias sent him to Caesarea, the Roman headquarters in Judea (23:12–33). There he stood trial before the governor, Felix, and again was exonerated (24:1–27). Felix, however, fearing the Jewish authorities (and hoping for a bribe from Paul), rendered no verdict but instead kept Paul imprisoned for the remaining two years of his term as governor.

This text records Paul’s fourth defense, before Porcius Festus, Felix’s successor as governor. Felix’s brutal term in office had culminated in the ruthless subduing of a riot in Caesarea. When the outraged Jews sent a delegation to Rome to protest Felix’s actions, Emperor Nero recalled the governor to Rome in disgrace. Festus soon arrived in Judea to replace him.

Unlike Felix, who was a former slave, Festus was a member of the Roman nobility. Little is known of his brief term as governor (he died about two years after taking office). Since the first-century Jewish historian Josephus described him as better than his predecessor (Felix) and his successor (Albinus), he appears to have been an able leader.

Paul’s trial before Festus unfolds in four scenes: the assassination plotted, the accusations presented, the absence of proof, and the appeal proposed.

THE ASSASSINATION PLOTTED

Festus therefore, having arrived in the province, three days later went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea. And the chief priests and the leading men of the Jews brought charges against Paul; and they were urging him, requesting a concession against Paul, that he might have him brought to Jerusalem (at the same time, setting an ambush to kill him on the way). Festus then answered that Paul was being kept in custody at Caesarea and that he himself was about to leave shortly. “Therefore,” he said, “let the influential men among you go there with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them prosecute him.” (25:1–5)

When Festus, the new governor, arrived in the province of Judea, he inherited the political problems left by his predecessor’s inept rule. Felix’s callousness and cruelty had left a legacy of profound hatred toward Rome by the Jews. Their hostility and suspicion now focused on Festus, their new Roman overlord in occupied Palestine.

Unlike Felix, Festus was not a procrastinator. He moved swiftly to acquaint himself with the situation; a mere three days after arriving in Judea, he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea. His first goal was to meet the Jewish leaders (the high priest and the Sanhedrin) and, as much as possible, conciliate them. Those leaders, Festus knew, were the key to establishing peace in Judea. And maintaining peace was the highest priority of a Roman provincial governor.

Festus faced a difficult challenge, as the Jews had proven to be adept at manipulating their governors. Capitalizing on Pilate’s blunders, they had blackmailed him into executing Jesus. And although they had failed to pressure Felix into executing Paul, they had forced him to keep the innocent apostle imprisoned and out of circulation.

Adding to that challenge was the constant threat of revolution. Two centuries earlier, under the Maccabees, the Jews had thrown off the yoke of Greece. More recent times had seen the rise of ultranationalistic movements such as the Zealots. The revolt that was always smoldering would finally erupt in A.D. 66. Festus, like his predecessors, faced the dilemma of maintaining control without sparking a revolt.

Not only did Festus inherit Felix’s political problems, he also inherited his most celebrated prisoner. Although Paul had been imprisoned in Caesarea for the past two years, the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem had not forgotten about him. One of the first things the chief priests and the leading men of the Jews did after Festus arrived in Jerusalem was to revive the charges against Paul. Perhaps they feared that the new governor would, as often happened, quickly dispose of the cases left by his predecessor and release Paul. Hoping to capitalize on Festus’s inexperience and desire to placate them, they were repeatedly urging him, requesting a concession against Paul.

Their request seemed innocent enough—merely that Festus might order Paul to be brought to Jerusalem for trial. But at the same time, Luke notes, they intended setting an ambush to kill him on the way. The old ambush plot, foiled two years earlier by Claudius Lysias, was revived—this time by the Sanhedrin itself.

Festus was not to be so easily duped, however. To the Jewish leaders’ request he cautiously answered that Paul was being kept in custody at Caesarea and that he himself was about to leave shortly to return there. Accordingly, he saw no reason to transport the prisoner to Jerusalem. He maintained that the proper place for Paul, a Roman citizen, to be tried was at Caesarea, seat of Roman rule in Judea. If the influential men of the Jewish nation believed there was anything wrong about Paul, they could prosecute him there. Though Festus was inexperienced, had an obvious desire to conciliate the Jewish authorities, and lacked personal knowledge of Paul, God used him, as He had others, to providentially protect Paul from another plot against his life.

THE ACCUSATIONS PRESENTED

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. And after he had arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and serious charges against him (25:6–7a)

True to his word, Festus, after he had spent not more than eight or ten days among them, went down from Jerusalem to Caesarea. Proving himself again to be a man of action, on the next day he took his seat on the tribunal (the bōma, or judgment seat, cf. Matt. 27:19; John 19:13; Acts 18:12; 25:10, 17), thus making it an official Roman trial, and ordered Paul to be brought before him.

After the defendant had arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and serious charges against him. They swarmed around Paul like a pack of wolves attacking a sheep. But these wolves were toothless; the many serious charges they brought were the same ones (sedition, sectarianism, and sacrilege, cf. 24:5–6) that they had been unable to prove two years earlier before Felix. Those unsubstantiated charges were no more likely to convince Festus than they had Felix.

THE ABSENCE OF PROOF

which they could not prove; while Paul said in his own defense, “I have committed no offense either against the Law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar.” But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, answered Paul and said, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me on these charges?” But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you also very well know. If then I am a wrongdoer, and have committed anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die; but if none of those things is true of which these men accuse me, no one can hand me over to them.” (25:7b-11a)

Although the Sanhedrin had made very serious charges against Paul they could not prove them. Two years had passed since Paul’s trial before Felix, but they still had no witnesses, no evidence, and therefore no case. That argues convincingly for the apostle’s innocence and for their biased hatred of Jesus and the gospel.

Here, as he does throughout Acts, Luke stresses that Christians are innocent, law-abiding people. The town clerk at Ephesus acknowledged that (19:37), as did Gallio, proconsul of Achaia (18:12ff.). The frequent allegations by unbelieving Jews that Christians were political revolutionaries were untrue. Ironically, it was those same Jews, not the Christians, who finally rose in open revolt against Rome. When Rome ultimately did take action against the Christians, it was not because they were revolutionaries. The Romans persecuted and killed them for refusing, on religious grounds, to participate in the empire-unifying ritual of emperor worship.

Since the Jews had presented no evidence against him, Paul merely said in his own defense, “I have committed no offense either against the Law of the Jews (sectarianism) or against the temple (sacrilege) or against Caesar (sedition).” He thus denied point by point the charges against him.

Festus found himself on the horns of the same dilemma that had impaled Felix. Paul was a Roman citizen, falsely accused and obviously innocent. But to release him would antagonize the Jewish leaders—the same leaders Festus desperately needed to conciliate to keep the peace.

To his credit, Festus, unlike Felix, did not sweep the problem under the rug. Seeking a way out of his dilemma, he proposed a compromise. Wishing to do the Jews a favor, Festus asked Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me on these charges?” That the trial was to be before Festus, not the Sanhedrin, was no doubt intended to reassure Paul that his rights as a Roman citizen would be protected.

To the inexperienced Festus, that no doubt seemed like an acceptable compromise. But Paul knew the Jewish leaders far better than he did. The “compromise” actually gave them everything they wanted. The members of the Sanhedrin did not care who presided over Paul’s trial—they never intended there to be one. They planned to murder him on the way to Jerusalem (v. 3).

By now understandably frustrated at his failure to obtain justice, Paul immediately rejected Festus’s compromise. Since, as governor, Festus was the emperor’s representative, Paul could rightly claim, I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal. As a Roman citizen, that was where he ought to be tried; there was no reason to go to Jerusalem. The reference to Caesar’s tribunal also served as a subtle reminder to Festus of his duty as the emperor’s official agent.

Paul again affirmed his innocence, asserting, “I have done no wrong to the Jews.” Because they had presented no evidence against him, the Jewish leaders could not successfully dispute that claim. Paul’s bold words to Festus “as you also very well know” served as a rebuke and a call to integrity, since he did know that Paul was innocent (vv. 18–19). The high standards of Roman justice, and his duty as a Roman judge, demanded that he release the apostle.

Paul then clarified his motives. “If then I am a wrongdoer,” he said to Festus, “and have committed anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die.” He was not attempting to evade justice; instead, he demanded it by declaring, “but if none of those things is true of which these men accuse me, no one can hand me over to them.” As a Roman citizen, Paul had the right to expect justice from a Roman court. Since there was no case against him, he was under no obligation to put himself into the hands of the Jewish authorities (cf. v. 16).

Festus’s obvious readiness to appease the Jews put Paul in a difficult and dangerous situation. He had no illusions (even if Festus did) about what his fate would be if he did survive a murder plot and stand trial in Jerusalem. He knew how adroitly the Jewish leaders would capitalize on Festus’s inexperience. To return to Jerusalem meant almost certain death. Paul therefore chose a bold course of action.

THE APPEAL PROPOSED

“I appeal to Caesar.” Then when Festus had conferred with his council, he answered, “You have appealed to Caesar, to Caesar you shall go.” (25:11b–12)

Festus’s willingness to compromise did not bode well for Paul’s getting a fair trial in Jerusalem. Exercising his right as a Roman citizen, Paul announced his decision to appeal his case to Caesar. Such appeals could come after the verdict (appellatio) or, as in Paul’s case, before it (provocatio). Once granted, the appeal took the case out of the governor’s hands and transferred it to the emperor. Paul’s appeal seems at first glance to be sheer madness, since the emperor at the time was the infamous Nero. However, the early years of Nero’s reign (during which Paul’s appeal took place) were not marked by the cruelty and insanity of his later years.

Paul’s appeal offered Festus a convenient way out of the impasse. Thus it comes as no surprise that after Festus had conferred with his council and obtained its legal advice, he granted Paul’s appeal. Undoubtedly relieved to have this thorny problem taken out of his hands, he informed the apostle, “You have appealed to Caesar, to Caesar you shall go.”

When Festus announced that his appeal had been granted, Paul must have felt a sense of exhilaration. The Lord had kept His promise (23:11), and Paul was at last going to Rome.

From this passage several important lessons emerge. First, it is another tragic example of Jewish hostility to the gospel—a theme running throughout Acts (4:1–31; 5:17–42; 6:9–15; 8:1–4; 9:23; 13:6, 45; 14:2, 19; 17:1–9, 13; 18:5–17; 19:8–9; 20:3; 21:27ff.; 23:12ff.). Jesus predicted that opposition in His words to His disciples recorded in John 15:18–25:

The Lord’s reference to “their Law” shows that He had the unbelieving Jews (particularly their leaders) in mind.

No religion is neutral about Jesus Christ; all non-Christian religions are openly or subtly opposed to Him. As He Himself put it, “He who is not with Me is against Me” (Matt. 12:30). Persecution of Christians by false religion is always based on two premises: it is based on false accusations, and it is for Christ’s sake. Believers are to live blameless lives and so reveal their critics’ accusations to be false (Titus 2:2–8; 1 Pet. 2:12, 15; 3:16).

A second truth this text illustrates is the binding power of sin. Although he had been out of the mainstream, incarcerated at Caesarea for two years, the Sanhedrin’s hatred of Paul had not abated. “Truly truly, I say to you,” Jesus said in John 8:34, “everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.” In Romans 6:16, Paul asked rhetorically,”Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?” Peter wrote in 2 Peter 2:19, “By what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.” The Jewish leaders were enslaved by their venomous hatred of Paul, an innocent man.

Third, this passage reveals the sovereignty of God in human affairs (cf. Gen. 45:7–8; Dan. 4:17; Luke 22:53; John 7:30; 19:10–11; Acts 2:23). The Sanhedrin’s request to bring Paul to Jerusalem to stand trial seemed innocent enough. Festus needed the Jewish leaders’ support, so it was essential for him to conciliate them. Granting that seemingly innocuous request would have been, from Festus’s perspective, an easy concession. But God providentially intervened to protect His servant.

Fourth, the believer’s proper relation to government also appears in this passage. Paul willingly submitted to the Roman government—even as embodied in the person of Nero. He practiced the principle he set forth in Romans 13:1–5:

Understanding and applying these principles helped Paul’s life have the powerful impact on the world that it did.