Study From the Book of Acts,25

Study From the Book of Acts,25

Today we study the twenty-fifth chapter of the Book of Acts and we choose two biblical principles and their lessons which are useful in Biblical Counselling.

The Jews hated Felix, and they wrote letters to Rome detailing their outrage over his brutality against them. As a result, Felix was replaced as governor by Porcius Festus. Festus learned from the mistakes of Felix. Three days after arriving in Caesarea, Festus headed to Jerusalem to meet with the Jewish leaders to establish some sort of working arrangement with the high priest and the Sanhedrin. The Jewish leaders pressured Festus not for a concession or a favour. They wanted to send Paul back to Jerusalem for trial. Their plan was to assassinate Paul on his way to them.

Festus reopened Paul’s case in an attempt to appease the Jewish leaders.  Paul knew that as a citizen of Rome, he could insist on a trial before the Roman judgement seat, and not the Jewish Sanhedrin, where he would find little justice. The appeal to Caesar was the right of any Roman citizen. If  a citizen thought he was not getting justice in a  provincial court, he could appeal to the emperor himself. If the appeal was declared valid, all other proceedings in the lower courts ceased and the prisoner was sent to Rome for disposition of his case.

However, Festus had a problem: a letter had to be written providing the details of the case. Festus did not understand what was going on with Paul or why the Jewish leaders hated him. When King Agrippa arrived to bring his official greetings, it gave Festus an opportunity to get an opinion from one who might have understood such things.

Structure:

Verses 1-12: Paul appeals to Caesar

Verses: 13-27: Paul before Agrippa.

Principle 49: verse 25:19  ”------they ---had some questions against him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, who had died, whom Paul affirmed to be alive.”

Lesson 49: To the Roman governor Festus, the gospel story was nothing but the religious fantasy of a superstitious and contentious people. We should not feel surprised or offended when secularized people treat it as myth.

Principle 50: verse 25:27: ----” For it seems to me unreasonable to send a prisoner and not specify the charges against him ..”

Lesson 50: Festus had no interest in violations, real or imagined, concerning the Jewish law. He hoped that Agrippa, who knew the Jews well, could help him formulate some kind of legal charge against Paul that would make sense to the Romans. 3/8/2025.