Acts 26:6 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers,

NIV: And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our ancestors that I am on trial today.

NASB: And now I am standing trial for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers;

CSB: And now I stand on trial because of the hope in what God promised to our ancestors,

NLT: Now I am on trial because of my hope in the fulfillment of God’s promise made to our ancestors.

KJV: And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers:

NKJV: And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers.

For hundreds of years, the Jews had hoped for the promised Messiah who would rescue them from occupying forces and make them a free people again. When the Messiah arrived, however, He did not look like their expectations. He offered them freedom from the sin nature that occupied their hearts, not the Romans who occupied their cities. He offered to free them from slavery to sin and the rigors of the Law, not the swords of the Romans. He offered them the church, not the independent nation of Israel.

Many Jews rejected Jesus as their Messiah because of broken expectations. Others did so because they had carved out a comfortable existence which Jesus' teaching showed to be worthless. That included those who were satisfied through either the Law—the Pharisees—or collusion with the Romans—the Sadducees.

Paul, devout Pharisee, once held the same view. On the way to Damascus, however, the resurrected Jesus revealed the truth about the hope of God's promise to Israel. It began with God's promise to Eve: that God would send her Offspring to destroy the enemy (Genesis 3:15). The focus narrowed to Abraham whom God promised would bless the earth (Genesis 22:18), then to Judah, the father of kings (Genesis 49:10). To Isaiah and Jeremiah, God promised the Messiah would inherit David's throne and rule with justice and righteousness forever (Isaiah 9:6–7; Jeremiah 23:5). To Zechariah, God got so specific as to describe the King riding on a donkey, a promise fulfilled during Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem shortly before He was crucified (Zechariah 9:9; Mark 11:1–10).

Paul explains to Governor Festus, King Agrippa II, and the civil and military leaders of Caesarea Maritima that this hope is why the Sanhedrin hates him. It is not because he broke the Mosaic law or caused riots, but because he believes the risen Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, the hope of God.

Acts 26:1–11 contains Paul's account of his life before encountering Jesus Christ. He speaks to Governor Festus, King Agrippa II, and the military and civil leadership of Caesarea Maritima. Before conversion, Paul absorbed training as a devout Pharisee, including passionate devotion to the Mosaic law. His beliefs led him to zealously hunt Jesus-followers, even voting that they be executed if they did not deny Christ. Everything changed when he tracked Christians to Damascus.

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.