Acts 25

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Who runs the world? There are times when it may feel that the Lord’s servants are merely the victims of powerful people. Yet all men and angels are ultimately under the authority of one Sovereign, and He does all that pleases Him, even when we may have no sense of His work. We need to believe this as a matter of faith, and not because it feels that way to us at any given moment.

The apostle Paul spent many months under the authority of provincial authorities, first of Felix and then of Festus. These civil rulers seem completely out of their element adjudicating the conflict between Christian Judaism and the Judaism of the ruling council in Jerusalem. There will always be those who hate the Lord and His church. They may attempt to gain the ear of those who have the authority of the sword in society. They hope to use civil power to put away their enemies. No matter how clever their crafty plots may be, they will never be able to silence the Word of the Lord. They imagine that they have accomplished their will when they see one man die on a cross or placed in a tomb, but they have not considered the power of the Resurrection. They think that a servant of God is effectively silenced when he is imprisoned, but consider the mighty work that the Lord has done through men who were trapped in prison cells.

When Festus gives the enemies of Paul an opportunity to make their case, they continue to bring forward accusations that they cannot prove. They want to see this case transferred to Jerusalem because they have a plot in mind that will not require any persuasive evidence or any legal victory. Festus wants to accommodate them, but when he suggests the change in venue to Paul, the apostle does something most unexpected. As a Roman citizen, Paul appeals this matter to Caesar. Even more surprisingly perhaps, Festus immediately agrees to send Paul to Caesar. It is as if we see the hand of the Almighty emerge from some unseen place of power, and we can begin to imagine how this righteous prisoner of the Lord might indeed end up testifying for the Lord Jesus Christ in Rome, as God had promised long before.

Before Paul is sent away to the capital of the Empire, he will have at least one more opportunity to speak for Christ and the resurrection in front of his accusers and others gathered to hear him in this place. This all seems very irregular. Felix, Festus, and soon Agrippa, all agree that Paul has done nothing deserving death or imprisonment. Still he has been under arrest for over two years, and will now be sent to Rome as a prisoner. Yet God has His great purposes in all of this. Those who were planning to kill Paul on the way to Jerusalem have not achieved their goal. It is not ours to be able to reveal all of the fullness of God’s accomplishments during these months of His servant’s detention in Caesarea. To be sure, the mystery of God’s providence is far beyond us. Yet we know that His ways are good, and that He will accomplish all His decrees.

We can observe in these various public hearings that Paul and his detractors have debated about the one whom Festus calls “a certain Jesus, who was dead, but whom Paul asserted to be alive.” A man who was only trying to establish his own innocence might have missed out on many occasions to speak about Jesus and the resurrection. Paul has not made that mistake. Even a man, Festus, who seems to have very little clue about these matters is clear about the fact that Paul is talking about someone other than Paul.

King Agrippa heard about this all from Festus, and would soon have his opportunity to see a civil assembly turned into some strange church court. This was not Paul’s strategy for the progress of the kingdom. If he had been a free man, surely he would have been on his way to Rome and to points further west. He desired, as always, to preach Christ where the Lord was not yet known. Yet in the meantime, Felix did hear the Word, and so would Festus and Agrippa.

Not only would they hear this man’s speech, but they would also observe his demeanor and that of his accusers. This all should have been deeply impressive. Here is one Man who has done nothing wrong to offend civil order. He calmly presents the facts that have brought him to this moment surrounded by a number of grown men, both in Jerusalem and in Caesarea, men who insist that the prisoner should not be allowed to live any longer. The difference between this one man, Paul, and his obvious abusers must have been quite a thing to watch.

We do not see this all with our eyes, but we get to read the account it, an account which is included in Luke’s book for our encouragement. With the eyes of our hearts we see the victory of faith as Paul prepares to make one more defense prior to setting sail toward the western part of the empire. We hear echoes of the greatest victory known to men, which came on a Roman cross near Jerusalem. We feel hope spring up again after months of discouraging inaction, and we remember that we need to believe, and to be faithful. We know that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witness, and that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. And we remember again that God runs the world.