Acts 25:6-12 (NIV)
After spending eight or ten days with them, he went down to Caesarea, and the next day he convened the court and ordered that Paul be brought before him. When Paul appeared, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many serious charges against him, which they could not prove.
Then Paul made his defense: “I have done nothing wrong against the law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar.”
Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?”
Paul answered: “I am now standing before Caesar’s court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!”
After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!”
Even after more than two years, the Jewish leaders were intent on taking Paul down. They showed up at Caesarea and, as soon as the trial convened, they immediately began hurling accusations against him, charges which had grown in number and seriousness over the time span.
As Luke points out, none of the charges that they leveled against Paul came with any proof. Instead, they seemed to hope that by the sheer volume of accusations they would find something that would resonate with governor Festus.
But Festus was more frustrated than convinced. Everything about this case was very irregular. There seemed to be no logic or reason going on, but simply emotion, which, in the Roman legal system, was not the way things were done.
Festus wanted the situation to be resolved as quickly as possible consistent with Roman law. He was unwilling to either condemn Paul unjustly, or to release him and spark a rebellion among the Jewish leaders. So, instead of judge, he suddenly found himself cast in the role of diplomat.
Festus could simply have ordered Paul to stand judgment in Jerusalem, but instead, he asked Paul if he were willing for the court venue to be moved there, a clear sign that he knew that this whole thing really had no merit. If they could move the venue, the Jewish leaders would be placated. And then, after hearing the evidence, which all seemed spurious at this point, he could declare Paul not guilty, and release him. Everybody could win.
But Paul knew that there was still a plot against his life boiling away in the background. He realized that as soon as he was outside the walls of the governor’s estate, he would be vulnerable. So, he did the most logical thing he could think of: he appealed to Caesar.
An appeal to Caesar meant that he would be shipped off to Rome, which would serve a double purpose. It would get him to Rome, where he wanted to go anyway (Romans 15:23-29), and it would immediately put him out of the reach of the Jewish leaders and whatever assassins were lurking in the shadows.
It didn’t take a long conferral for Festus to determine that Paul’s request was a real godsend. He could wash his hands of the whole mess simply by granting the perfectly legal request of the accused to stand trial in Rome!
Father, Your hand is powerfully evident in this whole event. You had kept Paul safe for more than two years. Now, when it would have been very easy for him to fall victim to the plots of the Jewish leaders, You inspired him to appeal to Caesar, which would not only provide continued safety, it would move the kingdom agenda forward as well. Lord, when I am in any troublesome spot, help me to hear Your voice just as clearly as Paul did, so that I can follow Your guidance with all my heart. Amen.
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