Acts 25 Paul Appeals to Caesar
1 Now when Festus had come to the province, after three days he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem. 2 Then the high priest and the chief men of the Jews informed him against Paul; and they petitioned him, 3 asking a favor against him, that he would summon him to Jerusalem—while they lay in ambush along the road to kill him.
The Jews had complained, resulting in the removal of Felix from office. And so Festus- the new governor- made the case of Paul a priority. Paul had unjustly been imprisoned for two years. Yet, after the appointment of Festus, within three days, he went to Jerusalem. And immediately, “the high priest and the chief men of the Jews informed him against Paul; and they petitioned him asking a favor against him, that he would summon him to Jerusalem…” (2b-3a) "High priest- Ananias had been assassinated, and Agrippa, who had the power of appointment, substituted Ismael, the son of Phabi, in his place. Chief men of the Jews- Not merely the Sanhedrin, as before, but the eminent by rank, wealth, or learning." (Whedon)
Again the plan was to summon Paul, while they lay in ambush along the road to kill him. “I beg the Reader at the opening of this Chapter to remark, that notwithstanding the awful state those perjured persons had fallen into, by having sworn not to eat or drink till they had killed Paul, (see Acts 23:12 etc.) yet still the high priest, and the leading body of the Jews thirsted for his blood. [Even characters change, yet…] No time could wear away this enmity. No alteration can ever take place in this deep-rooted hatred against Christ and his people." (Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary)
4 But Festus answered that Paul should be kept at Caesarea, and that he himself was going there shortly. 5 “Therefore,” he said, “let those who have authority among you go down with me and accuse this man, to see if there is any fault in him.”
”Kings may die and governors be changed, but Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. [He will one day rule His people Israel from the New Jerusalem.] The Christian knows this, and-- I. Looks back on departed governors. 1. Without harsh judgment, for he knows that they stand, or will stand, before the highest Judge. 2. Without immoderate praise, for he sees that all the glory of the world is vanity. II. Looks toward the new government. 1. Without extravagant hope, for he knows that there is nothing new under the sun.2. Without anxious fear, for he knows that Christ reigns. (K. Gerok) YET THE FAVOR WAS DENIED. This was a civil matter and would be handled in the civil capital of the provence.
6 And when he had remained among them more than ten days, he went down to Caesarea. And the next day, sitting on the judgment seat, he commanded Paul to be brought. 7 When he had come, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood about and laid many serious complaints against Paul, which they could not prove, 8 while he answered for himself, “Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I offended in anything at all.” 9 But Festus, wanting to do the Jews a favor, answered Paul and said, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and there be judged before me concerning these things?” 10 So Paul said, “I stand at Caesar’s judgment seat, where I ought to be judged. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you very well know. 11 For if I am an offender, or have committed anything deserving of death, I do not object to dying; but if there is nothing in these things of which these men accuse me, no one can deliver me to them. I appeal to Caesar.”12 Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered, “You have appealed to Caesar? To Caesar you shall go!”
After ten days, Felix went back to Caesarea… and the next day, "Festus seats himself upon the bema, or judicial elevation, his council (Acts 25:12) or assessors are seated beside him; Paul is called from the guard room of the palace, and the Jews earnestly press around the tribunal. And laid many serious complaints against Paul, which they could not prove,…—The court was not convinced by the evidence. (See Acts 25:18.)" (Whedon) Feix should have released him, but this new judge was still of the world and thus worldly. "Instead of a licentious Felix, a proud Festus, who at first showed a noble bearing (Acts 25:4-5) but soon, like his predecessor, surrendered righteousness to please men (Acts 25:9)--in short, under another name, the same man of the world." (K. Gerok)
"Festus is aware that as a Roman citizen Paul cannot be obliged to undergo trial by the Jews. He probably does not expect that Paul will consent. But he will do the Jews the pleasure of making the query." (Whedon's Commentary) Paul indeed appealed to Caesar.
And this appeal of Paul, “no doubt, was made from the encouragement he had derived from the Lord's vision to him; in which Jesus had told him, that he must bear witness for him at Rome, Acts 23:11. And very sweet, and seasonable, was that gracious visit of the Lord, to his poor prisoner. In the confidence of which, he demands a hearing before the then Emperor of Rome, who was Festus's lord. And, by this means, he not only pleaded his right, as a Roman, so to be tried; but he perfectly for the time, got free from his enemies at Jerusalem.
Reader!! do not overlook the love of Jesus, on this occasion, to Paul. And, when you have thanked the Lord Jesus, for this grace to the Apostle then; connect with it the assurance, that the same grace Jesus sheweth to all his people now. Oh! how sweet are all the love-visits of Jesus! Reader! even at this distance of time, I feel my poor heart disposed to bless God, for his timely instruction given to Paul, to make this appeal. Methinks I see the Governor, looking most pitiful indeed! He is obliged to take counsel with those around him, how to act. And he that just before had said: wilt thou go up to Jerusalem and there be judged before me? is now compelled to conduct himself towards his poor prisoner, as if Paul had said in answer: be judged before thee? No! To your sovereign and master, I appeal for judgment. By Caesar only will I be judged! And here the Court broke up. The Jews sent home disappointed. The Governor humbled, Paul triumphant. And how often doth the Lord thus baffle the designs of bad men, and deliver his people?" (Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary)
Acts 25 King Agrippa II Greets Festus and Agrees to Hears the Case
13 And after some days King Agrippa and Bernice came to Caesarea to greet Festus. 14 When they had been there many days, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king, saying: “There is a certain man left a prisoner by Felix, 15 about whom the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me, when I was in Jerusalem, asking for a judgment against him. 16 To them I answered, ‘It is not the custom of the Romans to deliver any man to destruction before the accused meets the accusers face to face, and has opportunity to answer for himself concerning the charge against him.’ 17 Therefore when they had come together, without any delay, the next day I sat on the judgment seat and commanded the man to be brought in. 18 When the accusers stood up, they brought no accusation against him of such things as I supposed, 19 but had some questions against him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, who had died, whom Paul affirmed to be alive. 20 And because I was uncertain of such questions, I asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and there be judged concerning these matters. 21 But when Paul appealed to be reserved for the decision of Augustus, I commanded him to be kept till I could 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.” 23 So the next day, when Agrippa and Bernice had come with great pomp, and had entered the auditorium with the commanders and the prominent men of the city, at Festus’ command Paul was brought in. 24 And Festus said: “King Agrippa and all the men who are here present with us, you see this man about whom the whole assembly of the Jews petitioned me, both at Jerusalem and here, crying out that he was not fit to live any longer. 25 But when I found that he had committed nothing deserving of death, and that he himself had appealed to Augustus, I decided to send him. 26 I have nothing certain to write to my lord concerning him. Therefore I have brought him out before you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the examination has taken place I may have something to write. 27 For it seems to me unreasonable to send a prisoner and not to specify the charges against him.
“This Agrippa was son to Herod Agrippa, whose tragical death is related ch 12. He was by profession a Jew, had the power of the temple and the sacred treasury, and could likewise dispose of the high-priesthood as he thought proper. Bernice, his sister, was the eldest daughter of Herod Agrippa, and had been contracted in her infancy by Claudius Caesar to Mark, the son of Alexander Lysimachus, the Alabarch; but he dying before the marriage was consummated, her father married her to his own brother Herod, king of Chalcis, though that was contrary to the law of Moses. After his death she went and lived with her brother Agrippa, with whom she was suspected of an incestuous commerce; of which Josephus speaks…” (Coke Commentary) But this was only suspect.
“Agrippa II,… had grown up in Rome and was a favorite of Emperor Claudius. He was the last in the Herodian dynasty and was the best of the Herods. At the time he visited Festus, Agrippa was the king whom Rome had appointed over the territory northeast of the Judean province. He lived in Caesarea Philippi (Dan of the Old Testament) that he renamed Neronias in honor of Nero. Agrippa was about 30 years old at this time, and his sister, Bernice (Lat. Veronica), was one year younger. He ruled this region from A.D 50 to 70. Drusilla, Felix’s wife (the prior governor's wife), was Agrippa and Bernice’s younger sister.” (Dr. Thomas Constable)
“Some have supposed that as ‘a king’ Agrippa outranked Festus, but this is not the case. Wesley was correct in the comment that ‘the visit here was a compliment paid by the vassal king to the representative of Rome.’ How long they stayed in Caesarea is not known, but it was evidently quite a while.” (Coffman Commentary) ”Agrippa and Bernice evidently visited Festus on this occasion to pay their respects to the new governor of their neighboring province. Agrippa and Bernice were essentially favorable to the Jews. They both tried to avert the Roman massacre of the Jews in A.D66-70. [Josephus, The Wars . . ., 2:15:1; 2:16:4]” (Dr. Thomas Constable) Moreover, King Agrippa insisted “that the kings who wished to marry his sisters were circumcised. He did, however, offend the Jews by adding height to the palace of the Hasmoneans, in which he lived when in Jerusalem, so that he could see into the Temple area and watch the religious activities in the inner courts. There may have been some piety in this but the priests did not like it, and accordingly built a high wall to block his view. Agrippa appealed against this to Festus, but meanwhile the Jews had appealed to Rome, and they won their case. Agrippa was thwarted….[AND] He did not hesitate to intervene in Temple affairs. He gave the Levites who sang the Psalms the right to wear the priestly linen garments, which again the priests did not like, and later at great expense was ready to strengthen the foundations of the Temple, a process only interrupted by its destruction. He also provided road-building work in Jerusalem once the building of the Temple had been completed in order to prevent unemployment. Thus in his own way he was a thoughtful king. He was also completely loyal to Rome. He was thus able at times to ensure that Jewish affairs, and the affairs of his kingdom, were properly looked after. He was a moderating influence at a time of high tension and sought vainly to prevent the final insurrection that resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem.” (Peter Pett's Commentary)
“Festus' problem was that he had to send Paul to Caesar for trial, but he had no idea what to say to Caesar about the case. He did not know what accusations the Jews brought against Paul or why they wanted him executed (23-27).” (Bridgeway Bible Commentary)
“And as they tarried there many days, Festus laid Paul’s case before the King.’ Festus saw Agrippa as a Godsend. Agrippa was seen by the Romans as an expert on Jewish affairs. Who better then to sort out these problems about the charges brought against Paul?
So while Agrippa and Bernice were staying with him ‘many days’ he took the opportunity of laying the case before the king. His words to Agrippa reveal his puzzlement and the dilemma he found himself in. He wanted to behave justly but he could not understand either party. He had been left by his predecessor with a prisoner that he was finding it difficult to make anything of. On the one hand all the Jews could accuse Paul of were religious matters. On the other Paul, for some reason, did not want to be judged in Jerusalem, and thus had appealed to Caesar. And as he did not really understand what the charges were against the man, he did not know what on earth he was going to give Caesar as the reason why he had sent him to him. We must appreciate that he had not been in his position long enough to understand all the intricacies of current Jewish politics, nor to understand their depth of religious feeling and bigotry. He was a plain, relatively honest man out of his depth.” (Peter Pett's Commentary)