The Bible Says
Acts 25:23-27 Meaning

In Acts 25:23-27, the stage is set for Paul to give his testimony before Festus, King Agrippa II, Bernice, and various military and local officials.

King Agrippa II had requested to hear Paul speak, after learning about the Jewish leadership’s efforts to prosecute Paul and take custody of him. The Roman governor of Judea, Festus, willingly granted this request, arranging that Paul should give an account of himself to the king the following day.

But it is not a private room with only a few people where Paul gives his testimony to King Agrippa. The interview is a spectacle for the elite of Caesarea:

So, on the next day when Agrippa came together with Bernice amid great pomp, and entered the auditorium accompanied by the commanders and the prominent men of the city, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in (v. 23).

This took place on the next day after Festus explained the imprisonment of Paul to Agrippa. Agrippa expressed his interest in hearing Paul speak, and Festus agreed to arrange a meeting with Paul the following day. The venue is the auditorium, which may be a reference to the theater in Caesarea built by Herod the Great. The theater was an out-of-doors amphitheater overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. It could seat up to 4000 people.

Not only are Agrippa and Bernice in attendance. The king of the Jews and his sister came together into the auditorium amid great pomp, meaning they may have been dressed in some of their finest clothes, with musicians and criers announcing their arrival to honor them before the people. The governor Festus is likewise there.

But Agrippa and Bernice, amid the pomp celebrating their presence, are accompanied by the commanders and the prominent men of the city. The commanders were “chiliarchos.” A “chiliarch” was high-ranking military official, perhaps comparable to a colonel, in charge of 1000 Roman soldiers. Claudius Lysias, who kept Paul alive and snuck him out of Jerusalem to Caesarea, was a chiliarch (Acts 23:10, 26). In addition to the top military brass, prominent men of the city of Caesarea also came to hear Paul speak. These prominent men were the wealthy, the powerful, the influential.

It is important to remember the context of this situation. Festus is the brand-new governor of Judea, having only spent a couple of weeks there. He is in the midst of asserting himself as governor. This occasion to hear Paul is not necessarily founded on an interest to hear the truth of God, but seems more to be an event for the elite to amuse themselves with a political prisoner whom the Jewish leadership wish to destroy. Festus might also have had in mind the opportunity to bolster his prestige by demonstrating that he was being visited by a luminary, King Agrippa.

Paul is being treated as a curiosity more than he is being taken seriously as a man who can speak truth about the supernatural. This, of course, does not matter to Paul, who takes every opportunity to preach the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:16, 19, 23, Colossians 4:5-6). In some instances he has preached the gospel to eager listeners and seekers, and in others he has preached it in a dungeon, or to crowds of rioters who want to kill him (Acts 13:42, 16:25, 22:22). At the command of Governor Festus, Paul is brought in.

Festus introduces Paul and announces the purpose of this interview. He wants Agrippa’s help in drafting a message to Caesar Nero, to explain Paul’s imprisonment and the charges against him. Festus is puzzled as to what to write, because the charges against Paul seem to be nothing more than an inconsequential religious spat:

Festus said, “King Agrippa, and all you gentlemen here present with us, you see this man about whom all the people of the Jews appealed to me, both at Jerusalem and here, loudly declaring that he ought not to live any longer (v. 24).

Festus addresses King Agrippa, who is the king of the Jews, of the Herodian dynasty, great-grandson of Herod the Great. He subsequently addresses all you gentleman here present with us-the military commanders and prominent men of Caesarea. There is a great crowd in attendance.

Festus draws their attention to the main attraction: you see this man about whom all the people of the Jews appealed to me. Paul is infamous at this point, because all the people of the Jews-primarily the priests and elders, though a mob of Jewish men also had attempted to kill Paul years earlier-appealed to the new governor to deal with him.

This helps explain why such a crowd of royalty, nobles, and influential men would be intrigued by Paul’s story. The Jews appealed to Festus multiple times, both at Jerusalem and here, loudly declaring that Paul ought not to live any longer. Why would a single man attract an ongoing and passionate campaign to put him to death?

Festus reveals his own conclusion, and Paul’s status as a prisoner: But I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death; and since he himself appealed to the Emperor, I decided to send him (v. 25).

Like Commander Lysias and Felix before him (Acts 23:29, 24:22), Festus found that Paul had committed nothing worthy of death. Despite the Jewish leadership’s insistence that Paul should suffer the death penalty, their charges against him did not make any sense to Festus. A religious debate was not cause for being worthy of death.

Adding to Paul’s notoriety, Paul himself appealed to the Emperor Nero to plead his case. This was not an everyday occurrence. To go to Caesar himself, though it was the right of every Roman citizen, was a novelty. Governors and proconsuls and local courts usually dealt with crimes.

A man who had not committed a crime worthy of death who has appealed to the Emperor was worth listening to. And since Paul appealed to Caesar, Festus is fulfilling his obligation and has decided to send him to Rome.

But here is where the trouble lies for Festus. He does not know how to explain the charges to Nero:

“Yet I have nothing definite about him to write to my lord. Therefore I have brought him before you all and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the investigation has taken place, I may have something to write (v. 26).

As a pagan Roman, Festus has been unable to grasp any material reason to send a man to Caesar who has committed no crime. Festus feels he has nothing definite about Paul to write to his lord Caesar. Perhaps Festus has already attempted to draw up a letter of introduction to explain the case, and finds himself stumped.

Therefore, because of this confusion, Festus has brought Paul before you all and especially before the chiefest of the Jews, King Agrippa. If any of the men in attendance have any insight or understanding after the investigation of Paul has taken place, Festus will welcome it. He wishes that he may have something that is definite and clear to write to the Emperor Nero. It would reflect poorly on him as governor, within his first month in this position, to send a prisoner under appeal without any idea as to why he’s sending him.

Festus remarks on the ridiculous situation he finds himself in:

“For it seems absurd to me in sending a prisoner, not to indicate also the charges against him” (v. 27).

It would indeed be absurd for the governor to send a prisoner without any message describing the reason the prisoner has been brought before the most powerful man in the world-Caesar.

Claudius Lysias, the Roman commander who snuck Paul out of Jerusalem, found it likewise difficult to explain to Governor Felix what the fuss was all about concerning Paul (Acts 23:26-30). He did his best, but to the Romans, nothing about these accusations made sense.

There was merely a disagreement between the Jewish elite and this man. One side kept begging the Romans to put Paul to death, while Paul claimed his innocence, and attested that he believes in the resurrection of the dead, beginning with a Nazarene named Jesus, whom Paul worships as God.

Festus is therefore baffled; it seems absurd to him that he does not yet know what charges against Paul to indicate to Caesar. This is probably why Festus has not yet sent Paul on a prisoner transport to Rome.

In the following chapter, Paul will give his defense, and will tell his personal story of how he came to faith in Jesus, while imploring all who are in the audience at this auditorium listening to him to also believe in Jesus, the Messiah and the Son of God. Paul knows he is bound for Rome, but he has been given a special opportunity to share the gospel with the most powerful men in Judea, so he fully embraces the moment.