Acts 26:24-32

24 At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defense. “You are out of your mind, Paul!” he shouted. “Your great learning is driving you insane.”

25 “I am not insane, most excellent Festus,” Paul replied. “What I am saying is true and reasonable. 26 The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.”

28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?”

29 Paul replied, “Short time or long—I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”

30 The king rose, and with him the governor and Bernice and those sitting with them. 31 After they left the room, they began saying to one another, “This man is not doing anything that deserves death or imprisonment.”

32 Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”





Dig Deeper
I have met with, talked with, and studied the Bible with many people over the years. Many have responded to God’s word in faith and acceptance while others have not. Different people reject the gospel for different reasons but every now and then I have encountered people who seem to know that it is reasonable and even acknowledge the truth of the gospel to varying degrees but they still walk away and refuse to follow Jesus. I think of one young man in particular with whom I studied the Bible. We looked at Jesus’ call to discipleship in light of the fact that the resurrection life had broken into the present age and was now available to those who would enter into the life of Christ through faith. After studying the Scriptures thoroughly and answering many of his questions, the young man told me that he believed that this was all true and that Jesus wanted people to follow him in faith as his disciples. But then he looked at me with a bit of sadness, it seemed, in his eyes and told me that he couldn’t be a disciple. His candidness was surprising, but he went on to tell me that he was too invested into his current life and he just couldn’t give it up. In short, he said “I’m just too selfish to follow Jesus.” He went on to say that perhaps if circumstances in his life had gone differently but he had too many possessions and was having too much fun and just wasn’t willing to give it up even though he knew deep down that he was walking away from the truth and towards his own destruction.

It certainly seemed like I had been witness to a modern day version of the account of the rich young ruler from Luke 18. That is the account of a wealthy young man who sought Jesus out. He was interested in what it took to be numbered among God’s people in the age to come, somehow sensing that all of his wealth was not quite enough and that he needed more. Jesus told him the good news that the resurrection life was available to those who would follow him, but then gave the challenging news that the cost of following him would be a willingness to give up everything he had and share his vast wealth with the poor. The young man knew that Jesus was telling him the truth but he just could not give up what he valued so dearly. We are told that he walked away sad, knowing at some level, that he was so addicted to his life that he was forfeiting a chance at eternal life.

As Paul neared the crescendo of his speech, Festus had heard enough. Had Paul considered Festus his primary audience he would have crafted his speech differently so that Festus could follow what he was saying, but Paul was speaking to Agrippa, a Jew. Agrippa was no friend of the Jewish people as he had jumped into bed with the Roman Empire long ago. But he seemingly continued to keep one foot in the Roman world, where he was successful and had become rich and powerful, and one foot in the Jewish world into which he was born. He knew of the beliefs and hopes of his people and had apparently not completely rejected them. So Paul was aiming his words directly at Agrippa, a knowledgeable Jew who could follow some of his more specifically Jewish points and that’s what lost Festus and caused him to scream out that Paul had lost his mind. Clearly Paul was a learned man but talk of visions, suffering Messiahs, national hopes, prophets predicting all of this, and people resurrecting from the dead. . . this was more than Festus could comprehend and he probably assumed that Agrippa felt the same way. This was just foolishness for this Roman (1 Cor. 1:23) or maybe Paul had read and studied so much that he had gone insane.

But Paul was not insane and said as much, but he never lost sight of the fact that he wasn’t really addressing Festus. He quickly brushed aside Festus’ interruption and went right back to focusing on Agrippa. He wasn’t spouting fantasies. His words were true and reasonable and Paul had good reason to believe that Agrippa knew that, at least at some level. The things he was talking about, well the king could follow him. The king wasn’t completely ignorant of the hopes of his people even if he had turned his back on them in many respects over the years, landing himself in a rather exalted position in the process.

Agrippa, like most Jews of his day, knew well that the prophets had promised that one day the God of Israel would return to be with his people. He knew of the Scriptures that recounted God’s presence leaving his people for their repeated unfaithfulness to their Covenant with God and the resulting exile that began in 586 BC. He knew that the people of Israel had returned to the land and rebuilt the Temple, although it was still just a mere shadow of the former Temple. He also knew that many in Israel believed that they were still in the only exile that mattered even though they were back in the promised land, because the presence of their God had not yet returned. Perhaps in the back of his heart, buried somewhere that Agrippa didn’t like to think about often, he hoped too and wondered what would happen if the prophets had been correct.

Paul either assumed or sensed that something he had said struck a nerve in Agrippa and he put him on the spot. In fact, in asserting that Agrippa surely believed the prophets, he put him in something of a bind. If Agrippa refuted his belief in the prophets he would have forfeited whatever small thread of connection and good will he still had with the Jewish people. But if he admitted that he had believed the promises of the prophets when it came to God’s return and even resurrection, then he was smart enough to see that Paul could easily say “then surely you must believe that Jesus could be the fulfillment of all of that.” Neither position would have put him in a very good political spot with the Jews.

Agrippa was sharp, though, and knew exactly what Paul was up to. His retort about not becoming a Christian so quickly seems whimsical and somewhat witty. Yet, I can’t help but speculate that there was a bit more there. Agrippa could easily have asserted that he did believe in the prophets but that such nonsense about a pathetic would-be Messiah who been put down by the Romans was nothing of what the prophets had in mind. He could have, but didn’t. Something that Paul said seems to have connected with Agrippa. I contend that somewhere deep down, Agrippa knew that what Paul said made sense. He knew it and Paul knew it. His response to Paul was witty but also a bit wistful as though, becoming a Christian was something that had at least passed through his mind. But no, his cooler side had prevailed. Perhaps if things had turned out a bit differently for him. Perhaps if he wasn’t so heavily invested in this life. He just couldn’t. . . could he?

I think if we look closely, we see something of that rich young man in Agrippa. Paul’s words had resonated with him but he just could not give it all up to embrace the truth. For Paul it all seemed so simple and logical if one would but follow the trail that the prophets had opened up but for too many like Agrippa the price to go down that road was just too expensive. Maybe in another life. . .

But Paul’s response to Agrippa’s retort was just as witty and yet compassionate and poignant. Did he want Agrippa to become a Christian? Of course he did. Paul’s whole life was rooted in the desire to see all people come into God’s kingdom through his son. That’s what he wanted for Agrippa and every person. With one exception, of course, said Paul, showing a bit of his wry humor. His hope was that people would be able to follow Christ without the chains that he was currently lugging around. This was not only true, it also gave Agrippa one more look at the unfairness of the situation. Paul had connected with him and he knew in looking at those chains that it was unjust. Paul was not attacking the hopes of the Jewish people, he was boldly declaring the true fulfillment of them.

If Paul hadn’t appealed to Caesar, an act that was apparently not something that could be revoked, he could have been set free. Agrippa knew it and Festus knew it. Both men had been given an opportunity to hear the truth. Paul had declared it earlier to Festus in a way that he could understand and he had now declared it to a Jewish king who well understood the national hope of resurrection. They had stared truth directly in the face and had turned away saddened to walk down the broad road because they found that Paul’s path was just too narrow for them.


Devotional Thought
Paul did not just have a vague hope or wish that all people would come to accept the rule of God’s kingdom in their life, he actively did everything he could to make that happen. What about you? What can you do today to help your friends, neighbors, classmates, or co-workers know about the kingdom of God in their own life?