With Felix out of the picture, Festus had control of Paul, and that could have meant trouble. Chapter 25 covers Paul before Festus and his appeal to Caesar. We also meet King Agrippa and see his interest in Paul – both on account of his case and his message. Let’s take a look.
1) V1-12 – 1Three days after arriving in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem, 2where the chief priests and Jewish leaders appeared before him and presented the charges against Paul. 3They urgently requested Festus, as a favor to them, to have Paul transferred to Jerusalem, for they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way. 4Festus answered, “Paul is being held at Caesarea, and I myself am going there soon. 5Let some of your leaders come with me and press charges against the man there, if he has done anything wrong.” 6After spending eight or ten days with them, he went down to Caesarea, and the next day he convened the court and ordered that Paul be brought before him. 7When Paul appeared, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many serious charges against him, which they could not prove. 8Then Paul made his defense: “I have done nothing wrong against the law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar.” 9Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?” 10Paul answered: “I am now standing before Caesar’s court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. 11If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!” 12After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!”
Festus succeeded Felix in 59 AD and reopened the case against Paul. Paul was in danger now, because Festus was siding with the Jews over Rome in many cases. Having no confidence in his chances of a fair trial in this district, Paul appealed to Caesar (v11). Roman citizenship increasingly abused this right until it was abolished in 212 AD. Claudius always heard the cases himself, but until 62 AD, Nero never did. We don’t know who, if anyone, heard Paul’s case, but because of his case, F.F. Bruce says, “It would soon be impossible to regard Christianity as a variety of Judaism… A favorable hearing…might win recognition for Christianity…as the true fulfillment of Israel’s ancestral religion.”
2) V13-22 – 13A few days later King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to pay their respects to Festus. 14Since they were spending many days there, Festus discussed Paul’s case with the king. He said: “There is a man here whom Felix left as a prisoner. 15When I went to Jerusalem, the chief priests and elders of the Jews brought charges against him and asked that he be condemned. 16I told them that it is not the Roman custom to hand over any man before he has faced his accusers and has had an opportunity to defend himself against their charges. 17When they came here with me, I did not delay the case, but convened the court the next day and ordered the man to be brought in. 18When his accusers got up to speak, they did not charge him with any of the crimes I had expected. 19Instead, they had some points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a dead man named Jesus who Paul claimed was alive. 20I was at a loss how to investigate such matters; so I asked if he would be willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial there on these charges. 21When Paul made his appeal to be held over for the Emperor’s decision, I ordered him held until I could send him to Caesar.” 22Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear this man myself.” He replied, “Tomorrow you will hear him.”
Festus, as the new governor, was still in the middle of meeting and greeting all of the other “important” people in the region. In this particular region, there may have been no more important relationship for Festus to keep right than the one with 17-year-old Agrippa II, the grandson of King Herod and son of Herod Agrippa I, who died in 44 BC (Acts 12:23) after essentially proclaiming himself “King of the Jews.” Hearing “about a dead man named Jesus who Paul claimed was alive” (v19), Agrippa was intrigued and wanted to meet and talk with Paul, and he got to do just that.
3) V23-27 – 23The next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and entered the audience room with the high ranking officers and the leading men of the city. At the command of Festus, Paul was brought in. 24Festus said: “King Agrippa, and all who are present with us, you see this man! The whole Jewish community has petitioned me about him in Jerusalem and here in Caesarea, shouting that he ought not to live any longer. 25I found he had done nothing deserving of death, but because he made his appeal to the Emperor I decided to send him to Rome. 26But I have nothing definite to write to His Majesty about him. Therefore I have brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that as a result of this investigation I may have something to write. 27For I think it is unreasonable to send on a prisoner without specifying the charges against him.”
Festus introduced Paul to King Agrippa; he was likely glad to have the responsibility of dealing with Paul off his shoulders, but he still had the responsibility to draft a letter explaining the situation. Having nothing specific to say to Caesar, Festus passed the letter-writing duty off to Agrippa.
Bible text from Gospelcom.net. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.