CHAPTER 26
Begin at 2:49:44
PAULS
DEFENSE BEFORE THE KING
Paul once again defends
himself. However this time before
Agrippa II the King.
Summary by Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown and published in 1871.
“This speech, though in substance
the same as that from the fortress stairs of Jerusalem (Acts 22:1-29 ), differs from it in being
less directed to meet the charge of apostasy from the Jewish faith, and giving
more enlarged views of his remarkable change and apostolic commission, and the
divine support under which he was enabled to brave the hostility of his
countrymen.” [4]
Paul’s Defense before Agrippa II
1 Agrippa said to Paul, “You are
permitted to speak for yourself.” Then
Paul stretched out his hand and proceeded to make his defense: 2 “In regard to all the things of
which I am accused by the Jews, I consider myself fortunate, King
Agrippa, that I am about to make my defense before you
today; 3 especially because you are an expert in
all customs and questions among the Jews; therefore I beg you to listen to
me patiently.
We can safely assume Paul was in
chains as he states in ACTS 26:20
Paul waved his hands to show the
King honor as was the custom during that time, (see also Acts 24:2-4).
It was also the custom to praise
rulers as Paul did in verses two and three.
Paul knew the kings father was a
zealous student of the law and so also was his son king Agrippa II.
4
“So then, all Jews know my manner of
life from my youth up, which from the beginning was
spent among my own nation and at Jerusalem; 5 since they have known about me for a long
time, if they are willing to testify, that I
lived as a Pharisee according to the
strictest sect of our religion.
Paul is careful to point out he was
educated as a Pharisee and adhered to this strict compliance of all Jewish law
and customs all his life.
The sect spoken of here was in fact
the section of the Jewish people known as the Pharisee.
6 “And now I
am standing trial for the hope of the
promise made by God to our fathers; 7 the promise to which our twelve tribes
hope to attain, as they earnestly serve God night and day. And
for this hope O King, I am being accused by Jews.
The hope referred to by Paul was
the promises of a messiah and the resurrection of the dead on the day of
judgment.
Paul’s belief that Jesus was the
promised Messiah (Acts 32,33), was the real cause of this legal
action brought against him.
This belief was not necessarily
shared by other Pharisee's.
The pretext of the sedition charge
was not mentioned here by Paul.
8 “Why is it considered incredible
among you people if God does raise the dead?
God raised Jesus from the dead and
he walked the earth again.
Not only the chosen 11 but also 500
people witnessed Jesus after his resurrection.
This event, known by Jews and Romans
alike, should have added credence to Paul’s statement.
However the Romans probably
dismissed these stories as superstitious nonsense.
While his listeners pondered Paul’s
rhetorical question. Paul proceeds with
his argument in verse 9.
9 “So then, I thought to
myself that I had to do many things hostile to the name of
Jesus of Nazareth.
Paul was well known as a hater and
persecutor of those who believed in the resurrection of Jesus.
He, like those who were accusing
him, was a Jew who did not understand who
Jesus was, or the faith of those who belonged to this new religion called the
Way.
Because of this lack of
understanding Paul, and others like him, branded Jesus and His followers as
enemies of the Jewish faith.
10 “And
this is just what I did in Jerusalem; not
only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons,
having received authority from the chief priests, but
also when they were being put to death I cast my
vote against them.
Paul recounts the hatred he held
for Jesus and His followers.
I believe Paul had more than one
purpose for telling the king of the extent of his own actions towards those who
followed Jesus.
At the end of this verse we see
Paul obviously thinking of the stoning
of Steven; where Paul enthusiastically
approved of the stoning.
11 “And as I punished them
often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme;
and being furiously enraged at them, I kept pursuing them even
to foreign cities.
Here we see Paul setting the stage
for his defense.
The phrase “I tried to force them
to blaspheme”, was the very charge which
the Jews now accused Paul.
Telling the king of these things he
had done; Paul was making himself like those who were accusing him.
By doing this he would show the
irony of the charges brought against him.
12 And they stirred up the people, the
elders and the scribes, and they came up to him and dragged him
away and brought him before the Council.
Luke records this story in two
other chapters, Acts 9:1-18 and again in Acts 22:4-16.
Notice Paul did not recount his
encounter with Jesus as he did with his Jewish audience.
Because He was addressing Gentiles
I believe Paul wanted to emphasize what Jesus said, and how is was changed.
Keeping this in mind we can see why
he tells of his encounter with Jesus in verse 13 and following.
13 at midday, O King, I
saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining all
around me and those who were journeying with me. 14 “And when we had all fallen to the
ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you
persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the
goads.’
The
word goads was translated from the Greek word: kentron ken'-tron from kenteo
(to prick); a point ("centre"), prick, sting.
Up to
verse 14 the account was the same as in Acts 9:1-18.
However
In Verse 14 Paul tells of other things Jesus told him.
Why did
Paul wait till now to tell the rest of the story.
Up to this point Paul’s audience
was the Jews now he is addressing the Gentiles.
The latter part of verse 14 Paul
told the king; how Paul’s own stubbornness was actually hurting himself.
Jesus told Paul a popular proverb
about a farmer using a pointed stick to trained a stubborn cow to pull a plow
without kicking.
As the cow kicked, the stick would
prick the cows leg causing pain. because the cow fought against pulling the
plow, it suffered pain. After a few
pricks in the leg the cow learned to obey, and so did Paul.
Often we need to be pricked to
learn to obey.
As we have learned in Acts 9:1-18 Paul heard and understood the voice
but no one else with him understood.
15a indicates to us Paul did not
recognize Jesus, he did, however acknowledged him as a heavenly spirit and
showed respect by calling him Lord.
“The word Lord was translated from
the Greek word: kurios koo'-ree-os from kuros (supremacy); supreme in
authority, i.e. (as noun) controller; by implication, Master (as a
respectful title):-- God, Lord, master, Sir.” [
This would explain why Jesus
introduced himself to Paul.
16 ‘But get up and stand on your
feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you,
to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen,
but also to the things in which I will appear to you;
Jesus was telling Paul to get ready
to serve him as a witness as to what was revealed thus far to him, and to
minister to those things of which would be revealed to him in the future.
Luke 1:2 speaks of the eye witness
accounts of Jesus as revealed to Paul.
Paul would see visions after his
encounter with Jesus.
The following are five such times:
In verses 7-18 Paul quotes what Jesus had told him on
the road to Damascus.
17 rescuing you from the Jewish people and
from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, 18 to open their eyes so that they may
turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God,
that they may receive
forgiveness of sins and an
inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’
Paul could not have given a better
testimony to these Gentile’s.
Paul reveals the assurance given to
him by Jesus.
These promises mirrors Isaiah 61:1 and Luke 4:18.
Let’s take a closer look at these
verses.
The phrase Jesus used was open
their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light.
We know from Acts 9:1-18 Paul was
made blind so he might see.
To open the eyes of those who Paul
was and would be witnessing to is similar in effect as to what happened to
Paul.
Those he ministered to were blinded
to the truth.
Isaiah used the metaphor of
blindness and opening the eyes in Isaiah 35:5; Isaiah 42:7; and Isaiah 42:16.
The Phrase darkness
to light refers to sin and Satan’s domain as darkness and Gods
domain as light.
When a person is blind they see
only darkness.
Satan desires to keep men in
spiritual darkness where he rules.
The phrase sanctified
by faith in Me.’ tells us those who choose to believe with faith in
Jesus are set apart from those who do not, and they no longer live in the
darkness of ignorance and despair but rather bask in the radiance of Jesus’
eternal light.
19 “So, King Agrippa, I did not
prove disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20 but kept declaring both to those of
Damascus first, and also at Jerusalem and then throughout all the
region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they
should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to
repentance.
Paul preached the message
containing four crucial components
1. Stop
sinning.
2. Repent those sins.
3. Turn
away from sin and turn to God.
4. Show
the sincerity of their repentance by a
change in their lives.
(Matthew 3:8 and Luke 3:8 tell us those who repent and accept
Jesus will bear fruit as a sign of their faith.
21 “For this reason some Jews seized me in the
temple and tried to put me to death.
Paul begins his closing
argument before the king in verse 22.
22 “So, having obtained help from
God, I stand to this day testifying both to
small and great,
stating nothing but what the Prophets and Moses said was going to take
place; God had spared Paul’s life on several occasions, enabling him to witness
to the Jews and Gentiles of salvation through Christ Jesus.
Most biblical scholars see Deuteronomy 18:15-22 as the prophesy of the coming Messiah.
Paul spoke of the prophets who
spoke of the coming Messiah.
God spared Paul’s life to carry out
his plan for redemption of the Gentiles
23 that the Christ was to suffer,
and that by reason of His resurrection from the
dead He would be the first to proclaim light both to
the Jewish people and then to the Gentiles.”
Paul states he was teaching only
those things of which Moses and the prophets prophesied.
He spoke of the prophesies being
had occurred in the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus.
24 While Paul was
saying this in his defense, Festus *said in a loud voice,
“Paul, you are out of your mind! Your
great learning is driving you mad.”
Romans believed in many Gods and
when a person was dead that was the end.
The concept of a resurrection of
the dead was not possible in Roman culture.
Therefore when Paul said Jesus was
risen from the dead; Festus thought him to be crazy, driven to insanity by his
studies.
Paul had well over a great many eye
witness to Jesus resurrection to life.
He himself had seen a vision of Jesus on the road to Damascus.
25 But Paul *said, “I am not out of
my mind, most excellent Festus, but I
utter words of sober truth.
Even though Paul was a Jew he also
was a Roman citizen who knew of Roman
culture and beliefs.
Paul knew Festus would find it
difficult to believe Jesus died and lived again.
Paul emphatically told Festus, he
was of sound mind and all that he had told him was the truth.
The word sober was translated from
the Greek word: sophrosune (so-fros-oo'-) literally sanity or
(figuratively) self-control.
26 “For the king knows about these matters, and
I speak to him also with confidence, since I am
persuaded that none of these things escape his notice; for
this has not been done in a corner. 27 “King Agrippa, do you
believe the Prophets? I know that you do.”
The king was there to serve as
counsel to Agrippa II.
In verse 27 Paul spoke very boldly
to the King painting him into a corner to so the king would validate what he
was saying.
A shrewd move by Paul.
28 Agrippa replied to Paul, “In a
short time you will persuade me
to become a Christian.”
This statement could be seen as a
sarcastic remark.
Or is it possible, Agrippa was
telling Paul that he was not easily convinced; it would take much more to
persuade him to believe as Paul did.
29 And Paul said, “I
would wish to God, that whether in a short or long
time, not only you, but also all who hear me
this day, might become such as I am, except for
these chains.”
Picture Paul standing before the
king and important people in what must have looked like rags compared to the
splendor of dignitaries attire; he may have been holding up his hands shaking
his chains.
Whether Agrippa’s remark was
sarcastic or a mild rebuke Paul’s reply was brilliant
Paul didn’t miss a beat and kept
the focus on his mission.
30 The king stood up and the
governor and Bernice, and those who were sitting with them, 31 and when they had gone aside,
they began talking to one another, saying,
“This man is not doing anything worthy of death or
imprisonment.” 32 And
Agrippa said to Festus, “This man might have been
set free if he had not
appealed to Caesar.”
At this point the King realizing
there was no grounds for imprisonment or death; rose and with the governor
privately conferred.
Once the appeal was made to Caesar,
they had no choice but to grant Paul’s request.
CREDITS, LINKS, AND CITATION
[1] –scripture verses from Cross wire
Study Bible
[3] – Commentaries By Marion Adams
[4] – Wikipedia.org
[5] – Jewish encyclopedia
