Acts 26:1-32
Paul Before King Agrippa and Roman Governor Festus
1 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.”
So Paul motioned with his hand and began his defense: 2 “King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews, 3 and especially so because you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.
4 “The Jewish people all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child, from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem. 5 They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I conformed to the strictest sect of our religion, living as a Pharisee. 6 And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our ancestors that I am on trial today. 7 This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. King Agrippa, it is because of this hope that these Jews are accusing me. 8 Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?
9 “I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s people in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. 11 Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities.
12 “On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. 14 We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’
15 “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’
“ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. 16 ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. 17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
19 “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. 20 First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. 21 That is why some Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. 22 But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen — 23 that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.”
24 At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defense. “You are out of your mind, Paul!” he shouted. “Your great learning is driving you insane.”
25 “I am not insane, most excellent Festus,” Paul replied. “What I am saying is true and reasonable. 26 The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.”
28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?”
29 Paul replied, “Short time or long—I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”
30 The king rose, and with him the governor and Bernice and those sitting with them. 31 After they left the room, they began saying to one another, “This man is not doing anything that deserves death or imprisonment.”
32 Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
Paul has been held as a prisoner for at least two years by Governor Felix (Acts 24:27)...Felix was replaced by Festus...The Roman Governor Festus was now in charge of Paul's trial and his fate...Festus consulted with King Agrippa, who was King over a portion of Galilee and Perea...Agrippa was appointed King by the Emperor Caesar...Bernice was his sister...Agrippa was familiar with the Jewish customs and culture, as his father did...His father was also king and served as liaison between the Roman authorities and the Jewish people...He (and his father), as king, would have known many of the top Sanhedrin leaders that wanted Paul put in jail or executed...
The King, his sister, and Festus listens to Paul's defense of why he is on trial...Paul tells the King that you are very familiar with the Jewish ways, culture, and customs...Paul tells the King, Bernice, and Festus about his ties with the Jewish community and his growing up as a child as a Jew...Paul tells the listening group that he was formerly a Pharisee...Now he is on trial today for believing in a Messiah that God had promised long ago (Deuteronomy 18:18)...Paul tells about the Twelve tribes of Israel and and how they served God both day and night, and have been looking for the Messiah...And it is his hope and wonderment that this has happened, yet the the Jews that have accused him -do not believe in the fact that God can raise someone from the dead...Jesus is the One, whom God has raised from the dead...And Jesus, after His death, spoke to him on the road to Damascus in the voice of Aramaic...Jesus ask him, "why do you persecute Me?...Is it hard for you to kick at the goads?"...Then Paul says he asks, "who are You LORD?"...And the answer he gets is, "I AM Jesus, whom you are persecuting."...Jesus goes on to explain that He would rescue Saul or Paul from his own people, and then send him out to be the chosen instrument to carry His Name to the Gentiles...Jesus said He would send Paul out so the Gentiles could see the Light from the darkness, and from the power of satan to God, so that all Gentiles may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Him...Paul would not be disobedient about this vision from heaven...So he carries Jesus' message first to Damascus, then to Jerusalem, and then to all in Judea, and to the Gentiles also...He carries the message everywhere...Paul said that he had preached so that everyone (Gentile or Jew) should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds...For this very reason, this is why the Jews seized him in the temple courts and have tried to kill him...But Paul has had God's help and remains alive to this very day, so that he could testify in front of Governor Festus and King Agrippa...
Paul adds that he has not said anything what the prophets or Moses has said about a Messiah that was going to happen, and now it has...The Christ, the One who was to come, has came and has died...And He is the first to rise from the dead...Jesus now proclaims the Light of the Gentiles...And King Agrippa with his background would understand these things...
Festus interrupts Paul and tells him, your great learning has made you insane...Paul tells him that he is not insane and the King who is listening, will have heard of this Christ, this Messiah and is familiar with these things...He knows that Agrippa is an observant King, and what Jesus did, He did out in the open and in the public areas...Jesus did not hide in a corner, when He taught...He taught so everyone could hear Him, and His message...Paul then asks King Agrippa, if he believes in prophets, but the King cuts Paul off and asks him if in this short time he is trying to convert him to Christianity...Paul tells Agrippa that he just prays for him that he may become what he is (what Paul is), except for the chains he is bearing...
The King, Governor, and Bernice leave the room and agree that Paul does not deserve death...Paul does have a dispute with the older Jewish customs and beliefs about God and how the Jewish Leaders interpret the Scriptures...He is on trial for believing that the Messiah died and is a dead Man, who now is still alive...This man they said does not even deserve imprisonment...Had Paul not appealed to a trial with Caesar they could have sent him free...
Jesus had fulfilled all the Old Testament prophecies that Moses, the prophets, the history books, and the wisdom books had wrote about...He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God...Only He has the Words of Eternal Life...May we also believe what St. Paul believes in...