Acts 26:30-32 (NIV)
The king rose, and with him the governor and Bernice and those sitting with them. They left the room, and while talking with one another, they said, “This man is not doing anything that deserves death or imprisonment.”
Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
Some people read the words of the governor and the king as indicating that Paul had made a tactical error in appealing his case to Caesar. After all, if he had not done that, he could have been set free. Some have even opined that Paul had jumped the gun and had made that decision in the flesh instead of waiting for God’s guidance.
But nothing could be further from the truth. Even though, after fully hearing Paul’s case made from his own lips the two leaders realized fully that the case against him did not arise from just accusation, and that Paul had done nothing deserving of condemnation, let alone death, there was much more at play here.
Just a few days earlier, when the indications were that Festus was leaning toward granting the Jewish leaders their requested change of venue to Jerusalem for Paul’s trial, there were already assassins waiting along the road ready to kill him soon after he left Caesarea, regardless of the personal cost (Acts 25:1-3). Paul’s appeal to Caesar was the simplest, most direct way to foil that plan, as well as a very simple and direct way to get Paul to Rome so that he could do the work God had planned for him there, to strengthen the Roman Church (Romans 1:11-12), and to carry the gospel into the very household of Caesar (Philippians 1:12-14). And all at the Roman government’s expense!
In evaluating Paul’s actions, and indeed the actions of all others who have a proven track record of following God’s commands closely, it must always be remembered that God’s ways are not the ways of people. God makes His decisions, not on the basis of what seems right, safe, or expeditious, but on the basis of what will glorify His name and move His kingdom agenda forward most effectively. That often means that His most faithful followers will do things that seem risky, dangerous, and even impractical at times. But if that way will accomplish His purposes most effectively, that is what He will command. And those faithful followers, like Paul, will obey, regardless of the personal cost.
Father, it is easy for us to forget that the primary consideration in all Your guidance is not our convenience, not our comfort, and not our safety. It is Your kingdom agenda of making disciples of all nations continually. And often that requires Your people to do things that entail discomfort, danger, and even sacrifice and death. Give me a servant’s heart like Paul’s, so that in everything I am willing to follow Your direction to the letter, so that Your glory is enhanced and so that Your kingdom continues to grow. Amen.
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