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Chapter 25, verses 1 thru 12, record what happened when Festus took over. We know very little about Porcius Festus other than he was appointed by Nero to succeed Felix. He proved to be a better administrator than did Felix and did not seek financial gain in the way of bribes as did Felix. He believed that Paul was innocent and would rather have released him to the Jews and let them resolve the problem themselves, but he to was caught up in the treachery of the Jews.
As soon as Festus arrived in the area, the Jews sent for him and in three days he went up to Jerusalem. As soon as he arrived there, the Jews took him aside and informed him of all the trumpeted up charges that they had against Paul. This was contrary to both Jewish and Roman law regarding the ethics of a fair trial.
Notice their treachery. They had succeeded in getting Festus to Jerusalem, hoping that if they could talk him into bringing Paul to trial, that he would send for him and have the trial in Jerusalem. This would have been reasonable, sense Paul was charged with the breaking of Jewish Law and profaning the Temple, what better place to try him then Jerusalem. But Paul would never have gotten to Jerusalem, the Jews had plotted to kill him along the way.
Festus would not be tricked into anything contrary to his position. Paul was a Roman Citizen and Festus was charged with the protection of Roman property, so he reminded the Jews of this and of Paul's imprisonment in Caesarea and if they had something they wished to charge him with they could come to Caesarea as he would be going there in 8 to 10 days.
At the end of his stay in Jerusalem, Festus went back to Caesarea. Again the Jews waste no time or opportunity to place their charges against Paul. They go immediately to Caesarea and the next day after their arrival, Festus convened his court and Paul was ordered to appear before him.
Notice this time Luke does not list all the charges that the Jews brought against Paul but we can assume that they were pretty much the same as they were before. Here Luke simply says that many charges, which they could not prove, were brought against him. Paul, again, defends himself. He pleaded innocent of doing anything wrong against the Law of the Jews, the Temple or against Caesar. He declared that he had offended no one.
Now it was time for Festus to make a decision. I believe, unlike Felix, Festus was a just man and would like to have made his judgment on the basis of the facts in the case, but, he was new in the area, he was charged with keeping the peace at all costs, he had been warned how intolerable the Jews could be and he wanted to get off on the right foot with these people. So he decided, in effect, to do nothing, and to do what he thought would please these Jews, allow them to take Paul back to Jerusalem and resolve the case themselves.
But again, the decision was left up to Paul. Festus said to Paul, "Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and there be tried on these charges?" Notice Jestus would not turn Paul over to the Jews but he would agree to have him escorted to Jerusalem under Roman protection, if Paul desired to do this. But Paul refused for he knew that in spite of the Roman protection, the Jews would find some way to kill before he ever got to Jerusalem. So he exercised his right as a Roman Citizen and appealed to the court of "last appeal" for any Roman, "I appeal to Caesar."
And so, it would appear that no one won. His enemies had hoped for a fast trial that would end in his death. His friends had hoped that justice would triumph and he would be released. Paul had hoped that justice would be served and that Festus would rise above the politics of appeasement and render a just judgment and Festus hoped to sidetrack the issue and let the Jews resolve their own problem, but none of this took place. Most scholars believe that Paul was not asking to be sent to Rome, but rather, was asking Festus to make a judgment under Roman Law and as we shall see later, had he not been on record as having appealed his case to Caesar, might very well have been set free.
Obviously Festus was not sure how he was to proceed from this point, so he retired
to his chambers and sought the advice of his councilors. They determined that they
had no recourse but to grant Paul what they had assumed he had asked for, a trial
before Caesar, the right of every Roman Citizen. Now this was not a very good way
for Festus to start his tour of duty as Rome's Representative, the Procurator of
Judea (Syria), and it troubled him very much, so when King Agrippa II came to
Caesarea to welcome the new Roman representative, Festus discussed the case with
him.
Agrippa II was the seventh and last ruler of the "Herod the Great Family". He was
only 17 at the time of his father's death and remained in Rome until he "attained
his majority", became of age. At that time, Claudius Caesar bestowed on him a
small realm on the Lebanon slopes (Chalcis). Later he was given a larger territory
that had been ruled by Philip the Tetrarch. Later, during the reign of Nero, an
even larger territory was given him which, in effect, made him king of what had
been called Judeah. At the time of his visit to Festus, according to Josephus, he
had created a great scandal because of his indiscreet relationship with his sister,
Bernice. He had set up his Palace in Jerusalem where he ruled until the
destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 by the Romans under Titus, after which he went to
Rome where he spent his remaining years.
Festus and Agrippa
["Click here for Acts 25:13-27"]
Chapter 25, verses 13 thru 27, record the discussion that Festus had with Agrippa. We have recorded a great deal more about the charges that were placed against Paul in the last trial by the Jews, also we see that an attempt was made by the Jews to get Festus to sentence Paul without a trial, but Festus refused and explained that it would be going against Roman Law to sentence a man without a fair trial which included facing the accusers and making a defense.
Notice some of the charges that were made against Paul by the Jews as Festus understood them. To him, they were concerned about certain points of their "superstition" i.e. a man by the name of Jesus whom they said was dead but whom Paul said was alive. There were other charges which, in the eyes of Festus, were not as evil as he had supposed. Not knowing very much about the Jewish religion or about the man called Jesus, he was at a lost as to how to investigate the charges and determine the nature of the guilt.
So Festus, in speaking to Agrippa, told him what he had done. He asked Paul if he wished to go up to Jerusalem to resolve the charges and he said no and then he appealed for the decision of the Emperor. Obviously, Agrippa knew a great deal more about this situation than did Festus. He had heard about Jesus and he had heard about Paul and the missionary work he was doing and the great success that he had had. Now Agrippa would not have gone anywhere to hear Paul, but he was curious and sense he there and Paul was close by, he would take the opportunity to hear him. Now remember that both of these fellows had their jobs by consent of Rome, Agrippa as king and Festus as procurator. Both needed each other and both were charged with keeping the peace, so Festus was more than willing to grant Agrippa his request to hear Paul, hoping to get some assistance in writing up the case to be presented to Caesar. Written charges had to go along with the prisoner.
Verses 23 thru 27 of Chapter 25 record what happened the next day. Festus had planned the day with much pomp and ceremony and many prominent men of the city were in attendance. The meeting was held in a great hall and when all were seated, Agrippa and Bernice made their entry into the hall. Bernice was Agrippa's sister. She had been married twice and was now living with her brother. She, at one time, was mistress to Titus before he became Emperor of Rome. She was an extremely wicked woman.
Agrippa and Bernice were dressed in rich silks augmented by gold and pearls. When all were seated, Festus gave the command and Paul was brought into the hall. He introduced Paul to all assembled and gave this brief resume' of what had transpired up to this point. It would seem that the whole Jewish Nation thought that Paul should not live any longer. They have brought many charges against him, but certainly nothing deserving death. Sense we have not been able to decide his case, he has appealed to the Emperor. Now to send this case to the Emperor, I must write a detailed account of the charges, but I have nothing to write about. My request to all, and especially you, King Agrippa, please examine hum and give me something to write in the way of charges for it seems unreasonable to send a prisoner to Rome and not indicate the charges against him.
And so with this introduction, Festus, at this point, handed over the court to Agrippa. It is not clear who had the power of command here. Both had received their commissions from Rome. But it would seem that sense Agrippa had been there considerably longer and being at least part Jew, he would seem to be the one to hear Paul's defense. So Agrippa now being in charge, he gives Paul permission to speak.
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