Introduction
We are
getting to the end of Acts, there are only a few chapters left, but plenty of
action. Last week we were following the life of the apostle Paul. He had come
to Jerusalem with an offering for the poor there. While he was in Jerusalem, he
went to take part in a purification ceremony in the temple that some of the
other Christians talked him into. While he was there, a riot ensued, a mob
tried to get him, the Roman soldiers protected him, took him away, and are
holding him in custody here in the fortress of Antonia under a lot of solders.
Paul is there and we saw that he may be at one of the lowest points in his life
as he sees the state of the Jerusalem church, as he is attacked by his own
people in the temple of God, and we ended last week on Acts 23:11,
That
night the Lord appeared to Paul and said, “Be encouraged, Paul. Just as you
have been a witness to me here in Jerusalem, you must preach the Good News in
Rome as well.”
That’s a
pretty important promise for Paul who is going to go through severe trials, who
is going to have to stand before some of the most powerful men in the world in
the weeks and years to come. He knows that he is invincible here in Israel
because God has promised that he is going to take him to Rome to testify. When
Paul was called as a Christian, he was told that he would testify to the Jews,
but also the Gentiles (kings and governors and some of the most powerful people
in the world). Imagine getting that when you become a Christian, a vision from
God that says you will testify before presidents and prime ministers and
dictators. That would be a little ominous, a little intimidating, but that is
what Paul had and he has a promise from Jesus that this is not the end. He
would be with him and see him through. In the very next verse,
The
next morning a group of Jews got together and bound themselves with an oath not
to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.
They put
themselves on the ‘kill Paul diet.’
There
were more than forty of them in the conspiracy.
These guys
wanted Paul dead.
They
went to the leading priests and elders and told them, “We have bound ourselves
with an oath to eat nothing until we have killed Paul.
There is
nothing we can do about it at this point, so,
you and
the high council should ask the commander to bring Paul back to the council
again. Pretend you want to examine his case more fully. We will kill him on the
way.”
This
is apparently is from the Fortress of Antonia to either the temple of the
little meeting space on the far-left corner. They are going to kill him on the
way.
But
Paul’s nephew—his sister’s son—heard of their plan and went to the fortress and
told Paul.
Isn’t that
interesting, the first time and only time we learn about Paul’s family. He had
a sister living in Jerusalem, she had a son, how old was this guy? It seems
like he is kind of a young boy, the word is a little ambiguous. Paul had
visitation rights, he wasn’t convicted of anything yet, so he tells Paul about
this plan.
Paul
called for one of the Roman officers and said, “Take this young man to the
commander. He has something important to tell him.” So the officer did,
explaining, “Paul, the prisoner, called me over and asked me to bring this
young man to you because he has something to tell you.” The commander took his
hand, led him aside, and asked, “What is it you want to tell me?” Paul’s nephew
told him, “Some Jews are going to ask you to bring Paul before the high council
tomorrow, pretending they want to get some more information. But don’t do it!
There are more than forty men hiding along the way ready to ambush him. They
have vowed not to eat or drink anything until they have killed him. They are
ready now, just waiting for your consent.”
This is
Claudius Lysias, the commander.
“Don’t
let anyone know you told me this,” the commander warned the young man.
The
commander knows that things are tense in Jerusalem. They are so tense in fact
that there will be a huge Jewish revolt less than a decade from now. There are
already assassins sneaking into the temple killing high profile people. Paul is
a Roman citizen and he knows that he must protect him.
Then
the commander called two of his officers and ordered, “Get 200 soldiers ready
to leave for Caesarea at nine o’clock tonight. Also take 200 spearmen and 70
mounted troops.
There are
these forty guys who have taken an oath to kill Paul, the Roman commander
counters with 470 troops. 70 of them are on horses.
Provide
horses for Paul to ride and get him safely to Governor Felix.” Then he wrote
this letter to the governor:
Luke got a
copy of it and he copied it right into the book of Acts,
“From
Claudius Lysias, to his Excellency, Governor Felix: Greetings! This man was
seized by some Jews, and they were about to kill him when I arrived with the
troops. When I learned that he was a Roman citizen, I removed him to safety.
I
definitely did not almost flog him…in case anyone asks… I am the hero in this
story.
Then I
took him to their high council to try to learn the basis of the accusations
against him. I
soon discovered the charge was something regarding their religious
law—certainly nothing worthy of imprisonment or death.
Remember,
Lysias has tried three different times to find out what they had against Paul.
He still can’t figure it out. He has to send him on without any charges.
But
when I was informed of a plot to kill him, I immediately sent him on to you. I
have told his accusers to bring their charges before you.” So that night, as
ordered, the soldiers took Paul as far as Antipatris. They returned to
the fortress the next morning, while the mounted troops took him on to Caesarea.
He gets an
escort of 470 until he is well outside of Jerusalem, through some pretty
dangerous passes, actually. From there, the mounted troops take him the rest of
the way up the coast to Caesarea.
When
they arrived in Caesarea, they presented Paul and the letter to Governor
Felix. He read it and then asked Paul what province he was from. “Cilicia,”
Paul answered.
I wonder
if he was hoping to pass him off, like Jesus was passed back and forth at his
trial.
“I
will hear your case myself when your accusers arrive,” the governor told him.
Then the governor ordered him kept in the prison at Herod’s headquarters.
This is a
magnificent city built by Herod the Great on the coast of the Mediterranean.
Paul would have been kept near the palace that Herod built originally. If you
go to Israel today you can see the remarkable remains of this, Israel has
turned this into a national park. You can see the Romans ruins, there is this
magnificent aqueduct coming down the coast that fed water to the city. This is
where Roman governors spent most of their time. They would go down to Jerusalem
for the festivals, but they would spend most of their time here. It is at
Caesarea that Luke is going to narrate three trials over the next three
chapters. In these hearings Paul will face three of the most powerful men in
this part of the world, as well as two of the most powerful women through their
wives. We are going to see Paul on trial here at Caesarea. Last week he was on
trial in Jerusalem before the Jews, this week he is on trial at Caesarea before
the Romans.
Trials
Before Felix and Drusilla
His first
one he stands before is Governor Antonius Felix. This guy ruled Judea from
52-58/59 AD. He was a freed slave of Emperor Claudius. He was friend with
Claudius, apparently grew up with him, was freed by him, and rose to a position
of some prominence. Unfortunately, he was cruel, corrupt, and unpopular. Most
historians think he did more than anybody of the Romans rulers during this time
to drive the Jewish people toward revolt. Tacitus said, ‘he exercised the power
of a king with the mind of a slave’ (Hist. 5.9). He didn’t have a real high
view of Felix. It says,
Five
days later Ananias, the high priest, arrived with some of the Jewish elders and
the lawyer Tertullus, to present their case against Paul to the governor.
They bring
in this big shot lawyer, this orator who is going to make this persuasive case
and get Paul transferred back into their hands.
When
Paul was called in, Tertullus presented the charges against Paul in the
following address to the governor: “You have provided a long period of peace
for us Jews and with foresight have enacted reforms for us. For all of this,
Your Excellency, we are very grateful to you.
Well, none
of that was true, actually. He is sort of buttering him up, getting on his good
side, sort of expected with a speech back then.
But I
don’t want to bore you, so please give me your attention for only a moment. We
have found this man to be a troublemaker who is constantly stirring up riots
among the Jews all over the world.
First
charge: Riot causer.
He is a
ringleader of the cult known as the Nazarenes.
Second
charge: Cult leader, he is leading this illegal religion.
Furthermore,
he was trying to desecrate the Temple when we arrested him.
Third
charge: Temple desecrator. Rome didn’t like any of these things. He is using
the language that would get Felix to sign on the dotted line and hand him back
over to be executed.
You can
find out the truth of our accusations by examining him yourself.” Then the
other Jews chimed in, declaring that everything Tertullus said was true. The
governor then motioned for Paul to speak. Paul said, “I know, sir, that you
have been a judge of Jewish affairs for many years, so I gladly present my
defense before you. You can quickly discover that I arrived in Jerusalem no
more than twelve days ago to worship at the Temple.
This is a
very quick sequence of events here.
My
accusers never found me arguing with anyone in the Temple, nor stirring up a
riot in any synagogue or on the streets of the city.
‘I am not
a riot causer’ he says to answer the first charge, ‘these guys never saw me
start a riot,’ he says.
These
men cannot prove the things they accuse me of doing. But I admit that I follow
the Way,
That’s what
Christians called themselves back then.
which
they call a cult.
But he
isn’t a cult leader.
I
worship the God of our ancestors,
There’s
nothing new here, Judaism was accepted as a legal religion by the Romans, but
they really wanted people doing the Roman religion of emperor worship, so you
had to get special permission to start your own religion. They are trying to
paint Paul as doing a new thing, and he is saying that he is afforded the legal
protections given to Judaism. This is not a new cult; this is not some heresy.
and I
firmly believe the Jewish law and everything written in the prophets.
The same
God, the same scriptures in the Old Testament.
I have
the same hope in God that these men have, that he will raise both the righteous
and the unrighteous.
Death is
not the end; I hope you realize that no matter what you believe. Everyone will
be resurrected and there are two types of resurrection. There is one where
people who have put their faith in Jesus Christ and they are considered
righteous, not because they never did anything wrong but because Christ never
did anything wrong and because he took their punishment and they can be
declared innocent. But he says a lot of other people are going to be
resurrected too, the unrighteous, the people who are going to have to answer
for their own lives to the God of the universe, and they are going to have to
answer for not living a perfect life as he demands. He says look, that’s the
hope that we have, this is the hope when we face death that the grave is not
the end. That if our faith is in Christ we can live on to eternal life.
Because
of this, I always try to maintain a clear conscience before God and all people.
After several years away, I returned to Jerusalem with money to aid my people
and to offer sacrifices to God.
I had
money for the poor, that’s why I was coming back.
My
accusers saw me in the Temple as I was completing a purification ceremony.
There was no crowd around me and no rioting.
To answer
your third charge, I wasn’t defiling the temple, I was in a purification
ceremony at the temple and there was no crown, there was not rioting.
But
some Jews from the province of Asia were there—and they ought to be here to
bring charges if they have anything against me!
Rome took
very seriously the crime of leveling charges and then not showing up to court
to back up those charges. You could get in big trouble for that. He says, ‘hold
on now, shouldn’t they be here if this is the charge that they were going to
bring?’
Ask
these men here what crime the Jewish high council found me guilty of, except
for the one time I shouted out, ‘I am on trial before you today because I
believe in the resurrection of the dead!’”
That’s
what caused the Sanhedrin to erupt last week, remember. Paul is saying, ‘this
is not a legal matter involving Roman courts, this is a theological matter.’ It
shouldn’t be tried here before Felix.
At that
point Felix, who was quite familiar with the Way,
He had
been around for 5 or 6 years at this point, he had heart about these
Christians, he was familiar. He,
adjourned
the hearing and said, “Wait until Lysias, the garrison commander, arrives. Then
I will decide the case.”
He already
had Lysias’s testimony, he knew is already contradicted what Tertullus had
said, he knew it wasn’t the Jews who arrested Paul, but it was the Romans and
they had jurisdiction. So, he says, ‘let’s just wait, okay?’
He
ordered an officer to keep Paul in custody but to give him some freedom and
allow his friends to visit him and take care of his needs.
It was a
really loose jail term. He is on the Mediterranean coast, he can hear the waves
lapping on shore, yeah, he is locked up and there is an officer there, but he
is allowed to have company. In fact, this goes on this way for quite some time.
A few days
later Felix came back with his wife, Drusilla, who was Jewish.
He
is married to this Jewish woman named Drusilla, let’s talk a little bit about
her. She as the third wife of Felix, he had stolen her away from her previous
husband un-righteously. But Drusilla has an interesting history, she is part of
a very important family who has real intimate dealings with Jesus Christ. First
of all, her great grandfather was Herod the Great. This was the guy who built
Caesarea. This was the guy who, when Jesus was born, he killed all the babies
in Bethlehem. This was the guy who interacted with the wisemen when Jesus was
born. Herod the Great, her great grandfather got a very clear shot at hearing
about the savior, he rejected it. Her great uncle, Herod Antipas, we read about
him at the end of the gospel accounts, he was the Herod who kept hearing about
Jesus throughout his life, and when Jesus was on trial before Pilate, Pilate
sent him to Antipas, and he wanted Jesus to do tricks for him, Jesus said no,
and Herod Antipas got bored and mocked him. Her great uncle Herod Antipas also
got to meet Jesus Christ the very morning he was crucified, rejected him. Her
dad, Agrippa I would have grown up hearing about Jesus, he was the Herod we
read about in Acts 12, the one who killed James Zebedee, the one who tried to
kill Peter, the one who got eaten by worms because he accepted the praise of
men. Well he obviously did not receive Christ either. Finally, his daughter
Drusilla is here now, and she also gets to meet the apostle Paul and hear about
Jesus.
Drusilla
is pretty interesting, one of the things about her is that she was renowned far
and wide for her great beauty. Josephus said, ‘Drusilla did indeed exceed all
other women in beauty.’ Drusilla was like the Giselle Bundchen of the first
century. She was the hottest girl around and everyone knew it. Here we have
Felix, this powerful man, he has got his hot wife (she is only 19 at the time),
and he has already stolen her away from her first husband. So, this is the couple
who is coming to meet with Paul.
Sending
for Paul, they listened as he told them about faith in Christ Jesus.
He told
them about what it means to put your trust in Christ, what Jesus taught.
As he
reasoned with them about righteousness and self-control and the coming day of
judgment,
Remember
Paul is always reasoning with people. He reasoned with them about three things;
first of all, righteousness, talking about the perfection and majesty of God
and how fall short we fall. He is talking about self-control, so with
righteousness the implication is that you have sinned, you fall short of the
mark, Felix, and you can’t control yourself, you keep on sinning, you have done
so many terrible things in your life. Faith in Jesus Christ is the only answer
here, I can’t believe the boldness from Paul. I guess he had that promise from
Christ. He also told Felix about the coming day of judgement. That is not
something you really want to hear when you are powerful in this life you like
to think you can get away with anything, you don’t like to hear that there is a
much higher court, a much higher kind who you are going to have to answer to
someday. As a result,
Felix
became frightened.
He started
to get terrified of this message. The gospel is the good news, but there is bad
news associated with it. The bad news is that you have fallen short of God’s
righteous standard. There is a day of judgement and you are going to have to
pay if you don’t get forgiveness. The good news is that forgiveness is
available free of charge, but some people are so freaked out but the bad news
that they can’t think straight about the good news. Does he put his faith in
Christ?
“Go
away for now,” he replied. “When it is more convenient, I’ll call for
you again.”
I’m very
busy right now, I have got things I need to attend to, and so, let’s talk
later. Isn’t that interesting?
He also
hoped that Paul would bribe him,
Remember
the money that Paul brought to Jerusalem? He is hoping that Paul has some of
that left.
so he sent for him quite often and talked with
him.
He got
plenty of conversations with Paul over the course of his time there.
After two
years went by in this way,
Paul is
just sitting in this cell for two years.
Felix
was succeeded by Porcius Festus. And because Felix wanted to gain favor
with the Jewish people, he left Paul in prison.
He never
did anything with Paul’s legal case or with his case for Christ. He did
nothing. So, Felix, in summary, heard the message but was frightened, he put it
off for a more convenient time. Instead of pursuing the truth, he tried to get
some more money and job security. So often the case with the rich and powerful
and famous. They might sense that there is something to this, and yet, they
just put it off, they usually have the power to surround themselves with
protection. On the inside he is threatened and on the outside, he is the one
who is telling Paul to go away. He is also the one looking for a bribe, he is
looking for money, he is leaving Paul there for job security. But in the end,
he got neither more money nor job security as a result of Paul. The truth is
that he was fired in 58 AD because of extreme complaints from the Jews, he
would have been executed but his brother interceded for him with Nero. He lost
his wife and his son in 79 AD. We know the exact date because she moved to this
little town called Pompeii and that is when Vesuvius erupted. Here we have the
most beautiful woman in the world encrusted under layers of ash, her beauty was
unable to save her, her power was unable to save her, and eventually he lost
his own life. He came to the end of his life and like the scripture say, ‘naked
we come into this world and naked we leave.’ None of the money, none of the
clout. He wanted a bribe from Paul and Christ was offering him eternal riches
and turned that down in favor of a bribe that he never got and could never
last. He was offered the favor of God, the grace of God, and he turned in down
hoping for the favor of the fickle religious leaders of that day. How foolish
to put this off, there is never going to be a convenient time. God is not a God
of convenience, he is the God of heaven and earth, he is your creator, he is
the judge, the one who loves you and sent his son, and he calls you to put your
faith in Christ and then calls you to live for him. Felix, what a
disappointment.
Trials
before Festus
He was
succeeded by Governor Portius Festus. Festus ruled from 59-62 AD. He was
actually a lot more competent than Felix but he had some work to do after Felix’s
disasterous term of office. It is not surprise that Acts 25:1 tells us,
Three
days after
Festus arrived in Caesarea to take over his new responsibilities, he left for Jerusalem
Before we
move on, let’s think for a moment. Paul has just had two years locked up at
Caesarea. On the one hand, this guy is the most prolific church planter ever,
here he is locked up. But on the other hand, think about what happened during
this time. Luke was with him, he was able to travel back and forth from
Jerusalem and Caesarea, he could interview eyewitnesses about the life of
Christ, about the early church. I bet a lot of plans for the book of Luke and
the book of Acts came together during this time. God knew what he was doing,
and this was a whole lot better than what Paul could have done planting church,
writing Luke and Acts. He was there two years and we have spent a year and a
half studying these books, hopefully it hasn’t felt like a prison sentence.
But the
two years come to an end and he leave immediately for Jerusalem, he knows he
has to get in with the powerful, the opinion makers, he has to form some
alliances, he has some making up for bad decisions to do.
where
the leading priests and other Jewish leaders met with him and made their
accusations against Paul.
What the
first thing they do? Making accusations against Paul. They have their list of
things to do when Festus comes, and the first thing is still to kill Paul.
Remember those forty guys who said they wouldn’t eat or drink until they kill
Paul? It’s been two years. They’ve probably had something to eat by now.
They
asked Festus as a favor to transfer Paul to Jerusalem (planning to
ambush and kill him on the way). But Festus replied that Paul was at Caesarea
and he himself would be returning there soon. So he said, “Those of you in
authority can return with me. If Paul has done anything wrong, you can make
your accusations.” 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.
We are
less than two weeks into Festus’s reign in Judea and here he has Paul and the
religious leaders sitting in his court.
When
Paul arrived, the Jewish leaders from Jerusalem gathered around and made many
serious accusations they couldn’t prove.
We have
heard all this before.
Paul
denied the charges.
We have
heard that before, too.
“I am
not guilty of any crime against the Jewish laws or the Temple or the Roman government,”
he said. Then Festus, wanting to do the Jews a favor, asked him,
He says,
‘Paul, let me just throw this out there….’
“Are
you willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there?”
Paul knows
this is basically walking into his own death.
But
Paul replied, “No! This is the official Roman court, so I ought to be tried
right here.
He knows
the laws.
You
know very well I am not guilty of harming the Jews. 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.
And then
Paul says,
I
appeal to Caesar!”
This was
the best perk about being a Roman citizen. I guess the not getting flogged part
was really good too, as we saw last week. But this right here, any roman
citizen could say, I don’t like the way things are heading in this biased local
court, I would like to go to Rome and be tried there by that biased local
court.
Festus
conferred with his advisers
Well
Festus is like, ‘what just happened, is he allowed to do that? What do I do
now? This is my second week on the job and now I have to deal with this.’
and
then replied, “Very well! You have appealed to Caesar, and to Caesar you will
go!”
Trials
before King Agrippa and Bernice
A few
days later King Agrippa arrived with his sister, Bernice, to pay
their respects to Festus.
New
governor, King Agrippa comes in. He is the King of an area kind of up by the
Sea of Galilee and even north of there. These guys, speaking of the family of
Herod the Great, were the brother and sister of Drusilla. They were a son and
daughter of Agrippa I. Bernice and Agrippa II. Now, Bernice was also an
interesting lady. Josephus says, ‘Drusilla was very ill treated by Bernice
because of Drusilla’s beauty.’ You’re growing up, you’re the sister of Giselle
Bundchen, and you don’t look like her, and you don’t like her, so she had
married a guy when she was like 15 and then she married her uncle Herod, and
then there was this really weird thing that everyone was talking about with her
brother Agrippa II that they were always together and they probably had some
romantic thing going, and so then she married this other guy, and then she left
him, and then she had this thing with General Titus, who destroyed Jerusalem,
and then he sent her away. She really had been around. This whole family was
really dysfunctional, she is forced to marry her uncle and then she has a thing
with her brother…. yeah.
So
anyways, these two show up. King Agrippa and his “sister” Bernice.
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.
That
guy…it’s his fault.
When I
was in Jerusalem, the leading priests and Jewish elders pressed charges against
him and asked me to condemn him.
It’s kind
of their fault too.
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. When his accusers came here for the trial, I didn’t delay.
‘I am not
one to just stretch things out for two years like some governors…’
I
called the case the very next day and ordered Paul brought in. But the
accusations made against him weren’t any of the crimes I expected. Instead, it
was something about their religion and a dead man named Jesus, who Paul insists
is alive.
You can
see Festus, he is just confused, it doesn’t really seem like he is trying that
hard to understand, he is more worried about his career.
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. But Paul
appealed to have his case decided by the emperor.
‘It’s kind
of Paul’s fault too that I am in this bind.’
So I
ordered that he be held in custody until I could arrange to send him to Caesar.”
“I’d like to hear the man myself,” Agrippa said.
I don’t
know how many stories he heard from his great uncle, his dad, or his great
grandfather about the Jesus but not here is finally his chance to hear it
first-hand.
And
Festus replied, “You will—tomorrow!”
I think he
is kind of hoping that when he writes his report to Cesar that he can also say,
‘I also conferred with Herod Agrippa II and here is what he thought. I am not
completely incompetent for sending a guy to Rome and I still don’t know what he
did.’
So the
next day Agrippa and Bernice arrived at the auditorium with great pomp, accompanied
by military officers and prominent men of the city.
They were
rolling out the red carpet, the photographers were there. Ryan Seacrest was
over there interviewing people, it was quite the event.
Festus
ordered that Paul be brought in. 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. 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.
You can
see Luke is making his points, Paul has done nothing wrong. If this is a legal
brief for Pauls’ trial in Rome, Paul is looking pretty good.
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.
He is
like, ‘Nero doesn’t really like it when you send prisoners with no charges all
the way across the Romans Empire to take up his time.’ Nero is going to be
like, ‘what is Festus doing down there.’
For it
makes no sense to send a prisoner to the emperor without specifying the charges
against him!” Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You may speak in your defense.” So
Paul, gesturing with his hand, started his defense:
This is
Paul’s longest speech in Acts, by the way.
“I am
fortunate, King Agrippa, that you are the one hearing my defense today against
all these accusations made by the Jewish leaders, for I know you are an expert
on all Jewish customs and controversies.
He has a
little more confidence that Agrippa is going to track what he is saying and not
get confused like Festus.
Now please
listen to me patiently! As the Jewish leaders are well aware, I was given a
thorough Jewish training from my earliest childhood among my own people and in
Jerusalem. If they would admit it, they know that I have been a member of the
Pharisees, the strictest sect of our religion. Now I am on trial because of my
hope in the fulfillment of God’s promise made to our ancestors. In fact, that
is why the twelve tribes of Israel zealously worship God night and day, and
they share the same hope I have. Yet, Your Majesty, they accuse me for having
this hope!
Paul
keeps putting the focus back where it belongs, that this is a theological
debate. They don’t like the gospel; they don’t like what he is bringing about
Jesus being the fulfillment of the scriptures and that is really the only
issue. They are angry and rejecting Christ.
Why
does it seem incredible to any of you that God can raise the dead?
Some
people are hesitant to believe in miracles, but if you really think about it,
if there is really a God, who created all of this, why can’t he do something as
small as a miracle?
I used
to believe that I ought to do everything I could to oppose the very name of
Jesus the Nazarene. Indeed, I did just that in Jerusalem. Authorized by the
leading priests, I caused many believers there to be sent to prison. And I cast
my vote against them when they were condemned to death.
This is
one of the best pieces of evidence that Paul was on the Sanhedrin, even though
he was pretty young at the time. The Sanhedrin, by the way, is not supposed to
condemn people to death. Is this Paul calling out the Sanhedrin for killing
people on front of the Roman authorities?
Many
times I had them punished in the synagogues to get them to curse Jesus. I was
so violently opposed to them that I even chased them down in foreign cities.
One day I was on such a mission to Damascus, armed with the authority and
commission of the leading priests. About noon, Your Majesty, as I was on the
road, a light from heaven brighter than the sun shone down on me and my
companions. We all fell down, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul,
Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is useless for you to kick against the
goads.’
The goads
were these pointed sticks they would put behind the ox. Sometimes the ox didn’t
want to do what you told them to do so they would kick back. They were intended
to do, if you kick, it hurts, if you resist, it hurts. God was telling Paul,
‘it is pointless to resist.’
“‘Who
are you, lord?’ I asked. “And the Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are
persecuting. Now get to your feet! For I have appeared to you to appoint you as
my servant and witness.
Tell
people that you have seen me and tell them what I will show you in the future. And
I will rescue you from both your own people and the Gentiles.
Isn’t that
what we see here in this story tonight? God fulfilling that promise. This is
one of the reasons he was able to have such boldness, he knew God had chosen
him and given him a message and had promised to protect him as long as Paul
still had a race to run. We can have boldness for the same reasons. If you are
a Christian, God has called you, he has given you a message, and he promises to
protect you until your race is over and you can go and be with him. God says,
Yes, I
am sending you to the Gentiles to open their eyes, so they may turn from
darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God.
Yes, we
bring a message of light in the darkness.
Then
they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s
people, who are set apart by faith in me.’
Turning to
Christ, putting your faith in him, you are given forgiveness, you are given a
place among God’s people that can never be taken away, you are set apart.
And so,
King Agrippa, I obeyed that vision from heaven.
What was I
supposed to do? When you get a vision from heaven, a commissioning from God.
I
preached first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all
Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that all must repent and turn to God—and prove
they have changed by the good things they do.
It
produces a changed life.
Some
Jews arrested me in the Temple for preaching this, and they tried to kill me.
But God has protected me right up to this present time so I can testify to
everyone, from the least to the greatest.
Greatest,
like Festus and Agrippa.
I teach
nothing except what the prophets and Moses said would happen—
He is
like, ‘look, I am straight out of the scriptures. This was all predicted long
beforehand.’ What did they predict? First of all,
that
the Messiah would suffer and be the first to rise from the dead,
Agrippa,
he says, surely you have heard of the prophets, perhaps you have read Isaiah 53
where Isaiah writes 700 years before the time of Christ.
Unjustly
condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that
his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion
of my people…
The
Messiah would be killed not for his own guilt, but for our guilt.
He was
buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave. [Matt 27:57-60]
Isaiah
predicted it, that was exactly what happened to Jesus.
Yet it
was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord
makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his
days to announce God’s light to Jews and Gentiles alike.” (Isaiah 53:8-9)
So on the
one hand he is being crushed, he is suffering and he is dying, and that is
God’s will, but on the other hand it is pleasing to God because he is making
his life an offering for sin and even though he dies, he is going to see his
offspring and prolong his days. Resurrection.
He also
says, this Messiah would announce God’s light to the Jews and the Gentiles
alike, just like what was predicted in the Old Testament. Again, Isaiah,
“I will
also hold You by the hand and watch over You, and I will appoint You as a
covenant to the people, as a light to the nations,
This is
for more than just the Jews, he says,
To open
blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon and those who dwell in
darkness from the prison. Behold, the
former things have come to pass, now I declare new things; Before they spring
forth I proclaim them to you.” (Isaiah 42)
God says
the reason that I predicted things in the past is so that you will know that
what I am saying now is true, and the reason I am predicting the future is so
that when it happens you will know that it is from me and that this message is
from me. I am the God of history, he says. I am the only one who can tell the
future. This is how God has authenticated his message. Paul is persuading, he
is reasoning from the scriptures here with Agrippa.
Suddenly,
Festus shouted, “Paul, you are insane. Too much study has made you crazy!”
Paul had a
thing going here…
But
Paul replied, “I am not insane, Most Excellent Festus. What I am saying is the
sober truth.
But
anyways…
And King
Agrippa knows about these things. I speak boldly, for I am sure these events
are all familiar to him, for they were not done in a corner! King Agrippa, do
you believe the prophets? I know you do—” Agrippa interrupted him. “Do you
think you can persuade me to become a Christian so quickly?”
This
question is a little hard to interpret actually. The Greek literally says, ‘In
few you are persuading me to become Christian.’ So, is this sincere or
sarcastic? Is he saying, ‘boy you are pretty persuasive, you have almost
persuaded me to become a Christian?’ Or is he saying, ‘do you really think you
can persuade me to become a Christians so quickly in so little time and with so
few arguments?’ So, he is either just brushing Paul off or he is maybe almost a
Christian. Although almost a Christian is still not good enough, right? It’s
like saying, ‘My parachute almost opened.’ At this point Paul backs off.
Paul
replied, “Whether quickly or not, I pray to God that both you and everyone here
in this audience might become the same as I am, except for these chains.” Then
the king, the governor, Bernice, and all the others stood and left. As they went out, they talked it over and
agreed, “This man hasn’t done anything to deserve death or imprisonment.” And
Agrippa said to Festus, “He could have been set free if he hadn’t appealed to
Caesar.”
Festus is
like, “Gah!”
Conclusions
That is
the end of our story for tonight. Let’s draw a few conclusions.
First of
all, we saw here that Paul went through trials, but he didn’t shrink back. He
used those trials as an opportunity to testify, as an opportunity to witness.
We don’t just write people off and assume they won’t be interested. We don’t
just put our head down and try to survive. I guess he did that at times with
the Jewish leaders, they had rejected it, he just had to get out of there. But
with each of these powerful men and women he is presenting his case, he is
trying to persuade, he is seeing if there is any interest there. He also knew
that God was going to protect him. God was going to keep him safe and that gave
him a boldness.
The other
thing is that the responses Paul gets are pretty typical. You have Felix, he
was frightened. He must have sensed this message was true enough to be scared
but what does he do about it? He decided to wait for a more convenient time. He
had some money to pursue and some alliances to secure and before you knew it,
there never was a convenient time and his life was over. Don’t be guilty of the
Felix mistake, waiting for a more convenient time. You should especially be
careful if you are kind of like Felix, if you have a lot going for you. People
who are wealthy, it is pretty hard to say yes to God.
There is
also Festus, his response, he didn’t really even try to understand the message
and he dismissed it as crazy talk. I don’t want you to be guilty of the Festus
mistake either. Dim awareness, dismissing it after a few sound bites, not
really thinking it through, you are going to have to answer to God someday,
everyone in this room will have to say, I heard it at least once. Will you
dismiss it as crazy talk, or will you look further into it?
Finally,
Agrippa, he saw where the evidence was leading, he had been raised in a family
where many of them had heard about Christ, he may have even been close to
believing, and yet, almost isn’t good enough. He dismissed the witness, got up,
and walked out of the court room. I don’t want any of you to make the Agrippa
mistake either, where you see it is headed somewhere and you just walk the other
way.
The only
other response that you need to worry about now is yours. You have heard Paul’s
testimony, you have heard the testimony of Isaiah, you have seen the teachings
of Jesus throughout the gospel of Luke, throughout the book of Acts, now how
will you respond? Are you going to wait until a more convenient time, you have
other things to pursue? Are you going to dismiss it as crazy talk and move on?
Are you thinking this is headed somewhere but will just walk away? Or will you
put your faith in Jesus Christ and receive forgiveness of sins and be
transferred from light to darkness, from the kingdom of Satan to the kingdom of
God, to be joined to the people of God and ushered into an inheritance that
will last forever. That is your choice tonight.