In a room filled with military tribunes, the civilian leadership of Caesarea Maritima, Paul is calling out King Agrippa II. Also in the audience are Agrippa's sister/lover Bernice and the new governor Festus (Acts 25:23). Paul has presented the gospel in the context of his own conversion story. He has defended himself against charges that he incites riots, profaned the temple, and leads a cult not authorized by the Roman government (Acts 24:5–6; 25:7–8).

During his talk, Paul referenced Old Testament prophecy. Specifically, he quotes Jesus saying Paul needs to go to the Gentiles, "to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me" (Acts 26:18).

The prophecies describing Jesus as a light to the nations are found in Isaiah 42:6 and 60:3, but especially 49:6:

"It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth."

Agrippa was born around AD 27 and didn't move to Judea until around AD 50. As the great-grandson of Herod the Great (Matthew 2:1–4), he has some Jewish blood, and he knows the Jewish culture and religion (Acts 26:2–3). He is in a room filled largely with Romans while Paul, a Jew the Sanhedrin considers apostate, confronts him. He can believe the prophecies, and he likely understands Paul's line of logic, but converting to Christianity is a step too far (Acts 26:28). As with many people, "the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word" (Mark 4:19).

Acts 26:24–32 records Governor Felix and King Agrippa II reacting to Paul's testimony. He has just finished giving account of how he accepted Christ and dedicated his life to spreading the gospel. Festus thinks Paul has gone insane. Agrippa understands Jesus' fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, but he can't accept the personal implications. What they all agree on, however, is that Paul shouldn't be imprisoned. If he hadn't appealed to Caesar, he should have been freed.

Acts 26 records Paul's testimony before the noblemen of Caesarea Maritima, as well as their reactions. He explains that Jewish leaders want him dead because he once persecuted the church, but now believes Jesus rose from the dead and has been spreading that message. Governor Festus thinks Paul has gone mad. King Agrippa II, however, finds his story compelling. They realize that had Paul not appealed to a higher Roman court, they could have let him go.

After being held in custody for two years and, again, hassled by the Sanhedrin who want to kill him, Paul appeals his case to Caesar (Acts 25:7–12). Before he travels to Rome, however, Governor Festus has Paul give his testimony before King Agrippa II and the noblemen of Caesarea Maritima (Act 25:23–27). When Paul is finished, they realize they should have set him free before he appealed to Caesar (Acts 26:30–32). But he must go to Rome, surviving a violent storm and a shipwreck along the way (Acts 27—28).

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.

Accessed 12/4/2024 3:22:11 AM

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