Acts 25
Festus2 inherits a case that Felix left unresolved. Paul has languished in Caesarea for two years, and the chief priests have not forgotten him. They press the new governor immediately, asking him to send Paul to Jerusalem - but the request masks a darker plan: they will ambush him on the road and kill him. Festus refuses, and the trial resumes at Caesarea. The chief priests bring their accusations. Paul stands and answers them. And then comes the moment that will change everything: Paul, facing a governor who is trying to appease the Jews, makes an appeal that reaches beyond Caesarea, beyond Festus, all the way to Rome itself.
The appeal is "I appeal unto Caesar"3 - a right that every Roman citizen possessed. In that instant, the case passes out of Festus's hands. Paul will go to Rome, unaware that Christ has already told him he would bear witness there (Acts 23:11). Even his enemies, unwittingly, become the servants of Christ's will.
When King Agrippa II and his sister Bernice1 arrive to pay their respects to the new procurator, Festus sees an opportunity. He lays the case before them - a man accused of nothing concrete, yet pressed on all sides by the Jewish council. Agrippa becomes curious. He asks to hear Paul himself. The next day Paul is presented before Agrippa "with great pomp" - and in that moment, a prisoner in chains stands before a king in all his splendor, and yet the chains are on the wrong man.
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People in this chapter
A Roman citizen, a Pharisee trained under Gamaliel, and a hunter of the early church. Confronted by the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus, he became the missionary who carried the gospel across the Mediterranean and wrote thirteen of the New Testament’s twenty-seven books.
Procurator after Felix. Inherited Paul as a political problem and proposed sending him to Jerusalem to try to please the Jews. Paul, knowing the trap, appealed to Caesar - Festus had no choice but to send him to Rome. Later told Agrippa Paul was "mad" with much learning.
Great-grandson of Herod the Great; ruled territories in northern Palestine and oversaw the temple. Knew the Jewish prophets well. Heard Paul’s defense at Caesarea alongside Festus and Bernice. His "almost thou persuadest me" is one of Scripture’s most haunting near-misses.
Acts 25:1-3Festus Arrives; The Ambush Plot
1Now when Festus was come into the province, after three days he ascended from Caesarea to Jerusalem. 2Then the high priest and the chief of the Jews informed him against Paul, and besought him, 3And desired favour against him, that he would send for him to Jerusalem: laying wait in the way to kill him.
Festus takes office and immediately makes the rounds of the major cities in his province. He goes to Jerusalem first - a wise move politically, to pay respect to the Jewish leadership. But this move also gives the chief priests their chance. They waste no time.
Two years have passed since Paul was left in custody by Felix. The chief priests could have given up. They did not. They have waited for a new governor, hoping he will be more sympathetic - or more malleable. Festus is new to the province. They test him immediately.
The request seems innocent on the surface: let Paul be tried in Jerusalem, where the accusers can present their case. But the motive is murder. The chief priests intend to ambush Paul on the road between Caesarea and Jerusalem and kill him. They believe a new governor, unfamiliar with the case, will grant the request.
Acts 25:4-8Festus Refuses; Paul Tried at Caesarea
4But Festus answered, that Paul should be kept at Caesarea, and that he himself would depart shortly thither. 5Let them therefore, said he, which among you are able, go down with me, and accuse this man, if there be any wickedness in him. 6And when he had tarried among them more than ten days, he went down unto Caesarea; and the next day sitting on the judgment seat commanded Paul to be brought. 7And when he was come, the Jews which were come down from Jerusalem stood round about, and laid many and grievous complaints against Paul, which they could not prove; 8While he answered for himself, Neither against the law of the Jews, neither against the temple, nor yet against Caesar, have I committed offence.
To his credit, Festus sees through the request. He does not immediately send Paul to Jerusalem. Instead, he says he will hear the case at Caesarea - the Roman provincial capital, the seat of his authority. He invites the accusers to come down and present their case there. This is a judicious move. Festus is acting as a fair administrator.
When the chief priests and elders arrive at Caesarea and stand before Festus, they make many accusations. But none of them can be proved. This is the pattern that has repeated throughout Paul's trials. The accusations are passionate, detailed, carefully constructed - but when examined, they crumble. Paul has broken no law.
Paul's defense is direct. He has not sinned against the Jewish law, has not profaned the temple, has not committed any offense against the imperial order. He stands on facts. He does not appeal to emotion. He does not flatter Festus. He simply states what is true, and lets the truth speak.
Acts 25:9-12I Appeal Unto Caesar
9But Festus, willing to do the Jews a pleasure, answered Paul, and said, Wilt thou go up to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these things before me? 10Then said Paul, I stand at Caesar's judgment seat, where I ought to be judged: to the Jews have I done no wrong, as thou very well knowest. 11For if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die: but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Caesar. 12Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered, Hast thou appealed unto Caesar? unto Caesar shalt thou go.
Festus, despite his fair judgment so far, now seeks to please the Jews. He offers Paul a compromise: he will go to Jerusalem and be tried there - but Festus himself will still be the judge. It is an attempt to placate the Jewish leadership while maintaining the appearance of Roman justice. But Paul sees it for what it is: a trap.
Paul does not accept the compromise. He points out that he stands before Caesar's judgment seat - and that is where he ought to be judged. Festus himself has just heard the Jews and found no wrong in Paul. To move the trial to Jerusalem, in a city controlled by those same accusers, would be to abandon justice for politics.
Paul's appeal changes everything. The case is no longer Festus's to decide. It will go to Rome, to Caesar himself. In that moment, the chief priests' accusations lose their local power. Their plot fails. And Paul, through this appeal, is set on the path that will fulfill Christ's word: he will bear witness at Rome.
Acts 25:13-22Agrippa and Bernice Arrive
13And after certain days King Agrippa and Bernice came unto Caesarea to salute Festus. 14And when they had been there many days, Festus declared Paul's cause unto the king, saying, There is a certain man left in bonds by Felix: 15About whom, when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me, desiring to have judgment against him. 16To whom I answered, It is not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die, before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and have licence to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against him. 17Therefore, when they were come hither, without any delay on the morrow I sat on the judgment seat, and commanded the man to be brought forth. 18Against whom when the accusers stood up, they brought none accusation of such things as I supposed: 19But had certain questions against him of their own superstition, and of one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive. 20And because I doubted of such manner of questions, I asked him whether he would go to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these matters. 21But when Paul had appealed to be reserved unto the hearing of the emperor, I commanded him to be kept till I might send him to Augustus. 22Then Agrippa said unto Paul, I would also hear the man myself. To morrow, said he, thou shalt hear him.
King Agrippa II and his sister Bernice are clients of Rome - local rulers who maintain the facade of independence while answering to the emperor. They come to Caesarea to pay their respects to the new procurator. It is a courtesy call among the powerful. But it gives Festus the opportunity to lay an odd case before them.
Festus's summary of the accusations is striking. He says the Jews have "certain questions against him of their own superstition, and of one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive." Without intending to, Festus has stated the heart of the Christian gospel in a single sentence. Not a political threat, not a crime, not even a heresy against Jewish law - but a claim that a dead man is alive. That claim is the whole of Christianity.
Agrippa's response is simple: "I would also hear the man myself." He is intrigued. The case is strange - a man with no crime, no offense, yet pressed on all sides. Agrippa wants to understand what Paul has to say. Tomorrow Paul will speak before a king.
Acts 25:23-27Paul Presented in Great Pomp
23And on the morrow, when Agrippa was come, and Bernice, with great pomp, and was entered into the place of hearing, with the chief captains, and principal men of the city, at Festus' commandment Paul was brought forth. 24And Festus said, King Agrippa, and all men which are here present with us, ye see this man, about whom all the multitude of the Jews have dealt with me, both at Jerusalem, and also here, crying that he ought not to live any longer. 25But I have found that he hath committed nothing worthy of death: and that he himself hath appealed to Augustus, I have determined to send him. 26Of whom I have no certain thing to write unto my lord. Wherefore I have brought him forth before you, and specially before thee, O king Agrippa, that, after examination had, I may have somewhat to write. 27For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner, and not withal to signify the crimes laid against him.
The scene is set with all the ceremony of Roman authority. Agrippa and Bernice enter with great pomp. The chief captains are present. The principal men of the city are gathered. Festus commandeth that Paul be brought forth. It is theater - meant to display power, magnificence, the ordered hierarchy of the Roman world. And into that scene comes a prisoner in chains.
Festus is honest with Agrippa. He has found no crime in Paul. He is sending Paul to Caesar simply because Paul appealed to Caesar. But now Festus realizes he has a problem: how will he explain to the emperor why he is sending a prisoner if the prisoner has committed no crime? He hopes that Agrippa's examination will give him something to write, some charge to report.
Further study
- Herod Agrippa II and BerniceBible Odyssey (SBL)Open-access SBL scholarly entries on Herod Agrippa II, the last Judean king, and his sister Bernice, key figures in Acts 25's trial scene.
- Gazetteer of ancient places with Josephus and classical sources on Caesarea Maritima as the Roman procuratorial seat in Judea.
- Roman Provocatio (Appeal to Caesar) in Acts 25Intertextual BibleContextual Bible study resource on Paul's invocation of provocatio, the Roman citizen's right to appeal to the emperor.