SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/13/2018 7:58 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-2 “The
Consultation Regarding Paul’s Testimony”
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: Acts
25:13-22
Message of the verses: “13 Now when several
days had elapsed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea and paid their
respects to Festus. 14 While they were spending many days there, Festus laid
Paul’s case before the king, saying, "There is a man who was left as a
prisoner by Felix; 15 and when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the
elders of the Jews brought charges against him, asking for a sentence of
condemnation against him. 16 “I answered them that it
is not the custom of
the Romans to hand over any man before the accused meets his accusers face to
face and has an opportunity to make his defense against the charges. 17 “So
after they had assembled here, I did not delay, but on the next day took my
seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought before me. 18 “When the
accusers stood up, they began bringing charges against him not of such
crimes as I was expecting, 19 but they simply had some points of
disagreement with him about their own religion and about a dead man, Jesus,
whom Paul asserted to be alive. 20 “Being at a loss how to investigate such
matters, I asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and there stand
trial on these matters. 21 “But when Paul appealed to be held in custody for
the Emperor’s decision, I ordered him to be kept in custody until I send him to
Caesar." 22 Then Agrippa said to Festus, "I also would like to
hear the man myself." "Tomorrow," he said, "you shall hear
him."
Can you imagine what Festus thought, knowing that Paul was
a highly intelligent and educated man, and yet Paul told Festus that this man
Jesus had been raised from the dead, and is now alive. We have mentioned that Festus did not know
much about what the Jews taught, and so it is no wonder that he wanted to talk
to Agrippa about this. The resurrection
of Jesus Christ is exactly what sets Christianity apart from Judaism, and is
the cornerstone of the gospel.
Perplexed “and being at a loss how to investigate such
matters,” Festus had “asked whether he
was willing to go to Jerusalem and there stand trial on these matters.” We know why Paul refused, and that was
because he knew that the Jews would try and kill him once he got to
Jerusalem. Paul knew that as a Roman
citizen he had the right to appeal to Caesar, which is what he did.
Festus explained to Agrippa “Being at a loss how to
investigate such matters, I asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and
there stand trial on these matters.”
MacArthur adds “Festus’s words put the blame for the present dilemma on
Paul; the implication is that had the apostle been willing to go to Jerusalem,
the matter could have been settled. Yet
it was Festus’s obvious desire to do the Jews a favor (25:9) that forced Paul’s
appeal. Had the governor done what justice
demanded and released the obviously innocent apostle, no appeal would have been
necessary. In God’s providence, Paul was
kept in Roman custody as a protection against being assassinated.”
MacArthur explains that “the term “Emperor” is an
adjective, Sebastos, and literally
means ‘the revered or worshiped one.’ It
is the Greek equivalent of the Latin title ‘Augustus,’
which was commonly applied to the emperor.
Because of Paul’s appeal, Festus was duty-bound to order him ‘to be kept
in custody until’ he could ‘send him to Caesar.’”
Agrippa was no doubt flattered that he was involved in what
was going on with Paul and so Festus tells him after Agrippa desired to hear
from Paul “Tomorrow," he said, "you shall hear him."
Answer to yesterday’s
Bible question: “From evening to evening”
(Leviticus 23:32).
Today’s Bible
question: “What did Paul tell the Philippian
jailer to do in order to be saved?”
Important answer in our
next SD
9/13/2018 11:26 AM
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