Assignment 10.18 to 10.24.09

[Irving]

Assignment
10.18-10.24.09
THE BOOK OF ACTS, CHAPTER 26.

PREFACE: Under Roman guard Paul had been taken from Jerusalem to
Caesarea in order to foil an assassination plot against Paul by
hostile Jews. The commander of the Roman garrison in Jerusalem
arranged the trip for Paul’s safety but also to have him tried before
Governor Felix. Members of the Sanhedrin came with their lawyer,
Tertulius to press charges. Paul made his defense. Felix didn’t want
to displease the Jewish religious leadership, but he also didn’t want
to unjustly sentence a Roman citizen, so he returned Paul to prison,
with concessions to ease the severity, until the commander Lysias
should come from the Jerusalem garrison. He never came ( undoubtedly
never invited by Feiix ), and Paul languished for two years in prison
until Felix was removed from his position for incompetence. He was
replaced by Festus.

Festus conferred with the Sanhedrin within 3 days of arriving in
Caesarea. The Sanhedrin renewed the charges against Paul, but Festus
would not accede to their wishes to have Paul retried in Jerusalem,
but said he would retry him in Caesarea. At that trial the Jews made
charges they could not prove, and Paul pleaded innocent. Festus, to
favor the Jews, asked Paul if he would consent to another trial in
Jerusalem, to which Paul said ,”no”, and exercised his right as a
Roman citizen to appeal to Caesar. Festus consulted King Agrippa II,
the reigning puppet of Rome. Agrippa II said he wanted to hear Paul
himself, and Paul then made his case before him. It was not a trial,
but an attempt on Festus’ part to get some help in making a decision.
Now we turn to Chapter 26, where Paul addresses Agrippa II.

Chapter 26.
verses 1-3. Festus has given Agrippa II control of the hearing. Paul
gives due respect to the King .

verses 4,5 Paul speaks of his own upbringing and states that he
belonged to one of the strictest sects of his Jewish religion, the
Pharisees.

verses 6, 7. Paul presents the case against him as ironic. The very
promise that the twelve tribes have looked forward to for its
fulfillment is the basis of their accusations against him !

verse 8. Paul, speaking to Agrippa II, uses the plural “you” to
include Agrippa and Festus when he says, “ Why should any of you
consider it incredible that God raises the dead?”

verses 9-11. Paul admits that he , too, was opposed to the teachings
and the very name of Jesus of Nazareth, and he recounts all of his
activity as he zealously sought to exterminate His followers, even
going to foreign cities to persecute them.

verses 12-14. In this description by Paul of his miraculous conversion
on the road to Damascus, we learn, for the first time, that the the
voice he heard of Jesus, was speaking to him in Aramaic.

verse 15-18. These verses summarize what Jesus told Paul as he gave
him his new assignment. 1) He was to be a servant and a witness to
what he had seen of Jesus and still more that he would be shown by
Jesus. 2) He was to be rescued from his own people, the Jews, and from
the Gentiles. 3) Jesus was sending Paul to Jews and Gentiles to open
their eyes , to turn them from darkness into light and from the power
of Satan to God. All three tasks having the objective that they might
receive the forgiveness of sins and membership in the Holy Christian
Church, the communion of saints.


verses 19-23. Paul enumerates all that he has done in response to
these tasks that he had been given by Jesus. He said that he preached
to the Jews in Damascus and then in Jerusalem that they should repent,
turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.
Paul explains that this is why the Jews seized him and have tried to
kill him, and he continues by testifying that he has God’s help to
this very day that he is talking to Agrippa II. Then Paul repeats the
theme that nothing he is preaching and teaching contradicts what the
prophets and Moses said would happen , that the Messiah would suffer ,
would rise from the dead as the first of all those who would believe
in Him, and that this Messiah would proclaim light to His own people
and to the Gentiles.

verse 24. Festus is obviously disturbed, probably because he felt the
compelling power of Paul's preaching. To back away from the pull of
Paul’s words – of God’s Word – he demeans them by declaring that Paul
has been driven insane by his own great learning.

verse 25. Paul protests to the “most excellent Festus” that he is not
insane, that what he has been saying is true and reasonable.

verse 26. Paul then states that the King is familiar with these
things, and that he can speak freely to him. Here Paul is depending
upon the Jewish background of Agrippa II , of the partially Jewish
lineage of the Herods, and of the long association of this royal
dynasty with Judaism. He reminds his hearers that what the Christians
have done was not done in a corner.

verse 27. Then Paul asks – and answers – the question of Agrippa II,
“ King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets?. I know you do.” This
is courageous talk for Paul to King Agrippa.

verse 28. Now it is Agrippa’s turn to be more uncomfortable, and he
finds a way to relieve the pressure by saying: “ Do you think that in
such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?”

verse 29. This is a Christian statement by Paul that we all might
commit to memory:
It is the way every Christian should feel about anyone he or she
meets. “ Short time or long – I pray God that not only you but all who
are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these
chains.”

verse 30. Agrippa II, Bernice, Festus and others sitting with them get
up and leave the room. They said to each other, “This man is doing
nothing that deserves death or imprisonment.” Agrippa said to Festus,
“This man could have been free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”

Study Questions for Chapter
26

1. Consider the impact of Paul’s decisions regarding (1) his own
choices for travel destinations, in rejection of the advice of his
friends and associates; (2) His exercise of Roman citizenship rights
to trial outside of the Jewish religious leaders sphere of control;
and (3) The content and tenor of his words spoken to authority. How
would you describe the impact and its results in terms of God’s
commands to Paul?

2. Paul asked a bold question of Agrippa II, and even went so far as
to answer his own question: “King Agrippa, do you believe the
prophets? I know that you do.” Do you think it significant that
although Agrippa’s response may display mild sarcasm and perhaps mild
irritation, it was not a rebuke?

3. Bear in mind what we learned in Chapter 25, verse 23, that the
hall in which the audience before Agrippa was held ( a hall,
incidentally, that was in the one-time palace of his father, Herod
Agrippa I ) was full of important people from the surrounding city of
Caesarea. Do you think that Paul’s choice of words to Agrippa was
influenced by this fact?

4. What emotions do you think Agrippa II experienced as he spoke the
words, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to
Caesar”?