Lesson for August 13, 2025

Paul the Apostle

Lesson 12

Acts 25:1-22

Paul Before Festus, the Governor of Caesarea

Verses 1-5

Festus, then, after arriving in the province, went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea three days later. ² And the chief priests and the leading men of the Jews brought charges against Paul, and they were pleading with Festus, ³ 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). ⁴ Festus then answered that Paul was being kept in custody in Caesarea, and that he himself was about to leave shortly. ^5 ‘Therefore,’ he said, ‘have the influential men among you go there with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, have them bring charges against him.’”

When the trial in Caesarea ended, Festus, the new governor, wanted to appease the influential Jews, so he agreed to another trial in Caesarea. If they found anything irregular in the case, Paul would be retried by the Jews before Festus.

Verses 6-12

^6 “After Festus had spent no 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 that Paul be brought. ⁷ After Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many, and serious, charges against him which they could not prove, ⁸ while Paul said in his own defense, ‘I have not done anything wrong either against the Law of the Jews, or against the temple, or against Caesar.’ ⁹ But Festus, wanting to do the Jews a favor, replied to Paul and said, ‘Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me on these charges?’ ¹⁰ But Paul said, ‘I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried. I have done nothing wrong to the Jews, as you also very well know. ¹¹ If, therefore, I am in the wrong and have committed something deserving death, I am not trying to avoid execution; but if there is nothing to the accusations which these men are bringing against me, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar.’ ¹² Then when Festus had conferred with his council, he answered, ‘You have appealed to Caesar; to Caesar you shall go.’

Festus sought to please the Jewish leaders by trying to convince Paul to return to Jerusalem to stand trial, where the Jews had hatched another plot to kill Paul. Paul stated correctly that he was under the jurisdiction of Roman law and should not be tried under Jewish law. He was a Roman citizen, and he ought to be judged by Roman law. (It seems that Festus knew that Paul was innocent even though he would not admit it) Under Roman law, the innocent were supposed to be released and not punished. Once Paul appealed to Caesar, which was the highest court in the land, he could not be sent to Jerusalem for trial.

Verses 13-22

^“Now when several days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived in Caesarea, paying their respects to Festus. ¹⁴ And while they were spending many days there, Festus presented Paul’s case to the king, saying, ‘There is a man who was left as a prisoner by Felix; ¹⁵ and when I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews brought charges against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him. ¹⁶ I replied to them that it is not the custom of the Romans to hand over any person before the accused meets his accusers face to face and has an opportunity to make his defense against the charges. ¹⁷ So after they had assembled here, I did not delay, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered that the man be brought. ¹⁸ When the accusers stood up, they did not begin bringing any charges against him of crimes that I suspected, ¹⁹ but they simply had some points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive. ²⁰ And being at a loss how to investigate such matters, I asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial there on these matters. ²¹ But when Paul appealed to be held in custody for the Emperor’s decision, I ordered that he be kept in custody until I send him to Caesar.’ ²² Then Agrippa said to Festus, ‘I also would like to hear the man myself. ‘Tomorrow,’ he said, ‘you shall hear him.’”

After several days King Agrippa, king of Judea (Jewish king) and Bernice (his sister) came to Caesarea to greet Festus. Herod Agrippa II was the last of the Herodian line. His grandfather was Herod the Great, His grand uncle, Herod Antipas, who had killed James and John the Baptist. Agrippa had no authority in the Roman province of Caesarea. He had a “kingdom” to the north and had come down with his sister Bernice simply to visit and to pay his respects to the new Roman governor. He was playing politics.

Festus, wanting a second opinion regarding the request to return Paul to Jerusalem for trial, consulted King Agrippa. Festus stated the position of the law, as if this was the position which he had taken. Remember that he was ready to send Paul back to Jerusalem to be tried by the Jews. He falsely represented himself as a zealous public servant in a very self-righteous way (I did not delay). 

Festus knew what the charges from the Jews against Paul were going to be, but he didn’t want to admit it to Agrippa, so he lied. But Festus did give the correct assessment of the controversy, so he already knew what the Jews were going to accuse Paul of. Roman law recognized the right of their subjects to worship any way they wanted to worship. They could have their own religion, provided that it did not conflict with the authority of the Emperor. Agrippa was intrigued enough that he wanted to hear Paul’s defense. 

Verses 23-27

^“So, on the next day when Agrippa and Bernice came amid great pomp and entered the auditorium, accompanied by the commanders and the prominent men of the city, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought before them. ²⁴ And Festus said, ‘King Agrippa, and all you gentlemen present with us, you see this man about whom all the people of the Jews appealed to me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer. ²⁵ But I found that he had committed nothing deserving death; and since he himself appealed to the Emperor, I decided to send him. ²⁶Yet, I have nothing definite about him to write to my lord. Therefore, I have brought him before you all and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the investigation has taken place, I may have something to write. ²⁷ For it seems absurd to me in sending a prisoner, not to indicate the charges against him as well.’”

Festus was trying to come up with a reasonable explanation to send to Caesar for not having resolved this issue himself. Festus hoped that King Agrippa could bail him out. And without realizing it, Festus exposed the true nature of religion. The Jews hated Paul, were jealous of Paul, and wanted him dead. And Festus said, ‘King Agrippa, and all you gentlemen present with us, you see this man about whom all the people of the Jews appealed to me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer. Their antagonism was manifest in yelling and screaming in both the Jewish and the Roman courts. It exposed the true nature of all religion which is emotionalism.

Festus knew that by Roman law Paul was innocent of all charges, but he couldn’t say Paul was innocent without offending the Jews. So, he said Paul had done nothing worthy of death. The implication was that Paul had done something wrong. There was a lot of hypocrisy in Festus’s statement. Festus was willing to sacrifice Paul for personal and political motives. 

Festus now faced the dilemma of Roman law. Under Roman law, Paul had appealed to Caesar, which meant a change of venue to Rome. Paul was no longer under the legal jurisdiction of Festus, but Festus had to provide a report to Caesar. 

Festus could not admit his own incompetence to Caesar for being unable to resolve this issue himself, so he hoped that Agrippa or the others present would give him some help. Remember, this was not a trial; it was a hearing for the purpose of resolving the dilemma of Festus. Festus was going to have to come up with a report that did not reveal his own incompetency and how he had catered to the religious Jewish leaders. So, he was hopeful that King Agrippa or someone present could bail him out with an explanation to Caesar that made him look competent.

We will examine Paul’s defense in our next lesson!