APPEALING TO A HIGHER POWER (PART 1)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?”

Paul answered: “I am now standing before Caesar’s court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!”

After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!”

Acts 25:9-12

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

“I have done nothing wrong against the Jewish law or against the temple or against Caesar.”

Paul had had enough.

He had had enough of being held captive by the Romans when he, a Roman citizen, had done nothing wrong in violation of Roman law or the Emperor Caesar.

He had had enough of being falsely charged by the Jewish religious leaders from Jerusalem when he had already testified once that he had done nothing wrong in violation of Jewish law or God’s sacred temple.

And yet, here Paul was, still on trial although innocent and forced to defend himself against no wrongdoing. It was enough to make the strongest person of faith disgusted and Paul was as strong as they came.

So yes, he was fed up and we see it in his words as we start a series of devotions on Paul’s appeal petitions as he asks for his case to be heard by a higher power than the Roman governors of the province around Caesarea, first Felix and now Festus. Look at our scripture passage again here:

Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?”

Paul answered: “I am now standing before Caesar’s court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!”

After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!”  Acts 25:9-12

You’ll remember the Sanhedrin had decided to dust off an old plan that had been in place back when Paul was in Jerusalem. That plan had the Jews trying to convince the Roman commander protecting Paul to bring him to the Sanhedrin for additional questioning but they had no desire to do any interrogating. For the plot would have Paul assassinated before he even reached the Sanhedrin court but the scheme was thwarted when the son of Paul’s sister got wind of it and went to warn Paul. This is what prompted Paul’s move to Caesarea in the first place.

But now, more than two years later, the Sanhedrin hoped to succeed in eliminating Paul where they had failed before and they had an ace in the hole this time in the Roman governor Festus who we read was “wishing to do the Jews a favor”. And so he asks Paul if he would be willing to “go up to Jerusalem” in order to “stand trial” on the charges made, not with the Sanhedrin presiding but Festus himself.

Huh?

It had to sound so ridiculous to Paul. It would have been like, “Wait a minute. Why would you move the trial location from your own headquarters to Jerusalem and preside over a hearing that could just as easily be done here?” Things just didn’t pass the sanity check and it was very obvious that something fishy was going on.

And so Paul called a spade a spade as he answered Festus’ question with this demand:

“I am now standing before Caesar’s court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!”

Did I mention that Paul had had enough?

The situation in Caesarea was a dead end and Paul needed to get his name cleared so he could get back to his Gospel mission. But he knew that God had it in mind for him to testify in Rome (Acts 23:11) and so he knew the next step was to get there. This is why Paul made it clear that he was appealing to a higher power, the Roman Emperor, Caesar.

How did Festus handle Paul’s request?

Frankly, it was like he was relieved that he could get rid of the matter altogether. For he conferred with his council but he really had his mind up as to what needed to happen next for we find him rendering his verdict by declaring:

“You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!”

Paul was getting what he asked for, an appeal to have his case heard by a higher power but we know that it was at the will of God, the highest Power.

What would happen next?

We’ll see tomorrow as we continue our study of Acts 25.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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