An Appeal to Caesar

Acts 25:1-12

¹Now three days after Festus had arrived in the province, he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea.

²And the chief priests and the principal men of the Jews laid out their case against Paul, and they urged him,

³asking as a favor against Paul that he summon him to Jerusalem—because they were planning an ambush to kill him on the way.

⁴Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea and that he himself intended to go there shortly.

⁵“So,” said he, “let the men of authority among you go down with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them bring charges against him.”

⁶After he stayed among them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea. And the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought.

⁷When he had arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and serious charges against him that they could not prove.

⁸Paul argued in his defense, “Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I committed any offense.”

⁹But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and there be tried on these charges before me?”

¹⁰But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you yourself know very well.

¹¹If then I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death. But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar.”

¹²Then Festus, when he had conferred with his council, answered, “To Caesar you have appealed; to Caesar you shall go.”

In Acts 23:11, Jesus Himself has given Paul his marching orders. “Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.” Paul is to get to Rome so that his Gospel witness to reach the highest levels of the Roman Empire. As I was reading through the passage for today I was struck (again) by the actions of the Jews. They are literally chasing Paul to Rome.

Felix has been replaced by Festus as the governor of the region. Felix leaves Paul in prison without deciding his fate as a favor to the Jews so now Paul is Festus’ problem. Festus isn’t in Caesarea three days when the Jews appear in his court and demand a hearing on Paul. They want Paul dragged back to Jerusalem so that they can have him killed on the trip. They have no intention of bringing him to trial. All they want is his death. Jesus’ instructions for Paul are all that he needs. Instead of taking the trip back to Jerusalem he demands to be taken to Caesar, as was his right as a Roman citizen. This demand saves his life – again.

Where the text causes me to marvel today is that God uses the hatred that the Jews feel toward Paul to achieve His holy goals. What we would see as harassment and stalking God uses for the good of the Kingdom. In his flesh Paul may have been tempted to head back to Jerusalem. But his obedience saves him an assassination attempt. It makes me wonder how many times God has used something that is distinctly unpleasant to further His own cause in my life. I can only assume it is more times that I could possibly realize.

In 1994 I was diagnosed with cancer. This was certainly not on my radar as a positive experience at the time. But hindsight has proven that God had all kinds of plans for that event in my life. And while today I have a wicked scar and a few other minor issues I can clearly see that God used that cancer to further His cause in my life and in the lives of those with whom I speak. Ironically, it was oral cancer and my ability to speak at all was in jeopardy. This was not an issue for God and He preserved my ability to speak with His mighty power. While I did not volunteer for cancer it has proven to be a great blessing in my life. While Paul did not volunteer to have the Jews hate and chase him, it still proves to be a blessing to the whole world. His witness spreads across the entire region to all who hear his voice or read the letters he pens from prison which we still cherish today. That blessing will continue to thrive until Jesus returns! You can never dispute God’s economy.