Acts 26:1-3
Agrippa told Paul to give his defense since there were no accusers present. Paul was pleased to stand before another king. He was happy about being able to give his answer to them. He is prepared to tell them about the hope that lies within in him. Paul stretched out his hand revealing he was educated and trained in speaking and rhetoric. Since Agrippa was an expert in the laws and customs of the Jews, Paul was talking to someone that understood what was going on in the Jewish culture. He would know about the law and prophets and the scriptures. The Roman governors wouldn't necessarily understand any of those things.
Acts 26:4-8
Paul begins his story. He returns to his youth, saying all the Jews knew that he grew up in Jerusalem as a Jew. Paul was very religious. He studied under Gamaliel and became a Pharisee. It was serious business to Paul; he followed the strictest sect of the Pharisees. Anybody that knew him would testify to his radical legalism from his youth.
Paul presented his credentials as a devout Jew. Then he said that he's now being judged for the hope of the promise made by God. That promise is of a coming messiah and a messianic kingdom. Paul was saying his faith was a natural progression from his youth and from what he grew up in. It seemed radical to the Jews, but Paul's argument is that it was not.
Some of the promises Paul is talking about comes from Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 9:6; Daniel 7:14; and Micah 5:2. God made many prophecies about the coming messiah. This promise of His coming was given to the Jews and to the 12 tribes. The 12 tribes were seeking God and serving Him day and night. They hoped to see these promises fulfilled. They just didn't see the fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Paul wants to show them that the only difference between those Jews and Paul is that He recognized Jesus as his messiah.
And from the hope that is the Messiah, comes a promise. Paul said he was of accused for speaking of the promise. That promise was the great hope of the resurrection. Paul knew this from the Old Testament scriptures. See Job 19:25-27 and Daniel 12:2 for starters.
Agrippa was an expert in Jewish customs and law yet he didn't believe in the resurrection. Why would it be so incredible to believe such a thing Paul asked? After all, God can do anything.
Agrippa had a low view of God. The God Agrippa knows of has limitations. According to him, God could and would only do certain things. In his mind, God could only do things Agrippa understood. He thought he understood God. In reality, he squeezed God down so he was small enough to fit in his understanding. He had created a god of his own understanding. God is infinitely beyond our understanding. The created cannot comprehend the creator.
Acts 26:9-11
Paul said he thought to himself that he must do many things against the name of Jesus. His actions were thought out, premeditated, based in disbelief of Jesus and the resurrection. The evil he did against Christians wasn't in defense of his own faith. He was on the offense. He felt compelled to do things contrary to Jesus.
Paul started his persecution in Jerusalem. He hunted down the saints and put them in prison. His authority came from the chief priests. Paul said he also voted against Christians. The literal translation of this voting is "throwing your pebble". This was the way they cast their votes back then. You threw a certain color pebble to make your vote known. Paul said he threw his pebble to put the saints to death. What he did, he did in the name of God and his religion. He probably cast these votes when he sat on the Sanhedrin. He voted to put Christians to death and felt perfectly justified doing it. Paul found them in the synagogues and punished them. He forced them to deny Jesus Christ. Paul spent the first part of his life trying to get Christians to deny Christ. Then he spent the rest of his life trying to get believers to trust in him.
Paul used to be enraged at the believers, now he spoke of grace and peace and others were enraged at him. Paul had this zeal to chase down the Christians even to far away cities. This is the same zeal that is driving High priests and other Jews who were wanting him imprisoned or dead. Now his zeal drives him far away to other cities to proclaim the gospel.
Acts 26:12-18
Paul just showed Agrippa, Festus and others that he understood the persecution of Christians – he had done it. He understood the Jews - he was one of them. He used to sit in a seat of judgment - and he had cast his vote against anything Christian. Now he was going to tell them how the change in his life took place. They had to be wondering how he went from that kind of life to where he was now. To them it was a long way down. It was a fall from a place of status and affluence. For Paul, he is following a path of obedience. He didn't lose status, wealth and prestige. He gained an eternity. All the stuff of the world was gone; that was a blessing, not a curse.
These men are standing in their status, wealth and comfort of the worldly things looking at a man who gave it up. This man walked away from it all, for what, stoning, threat of murder, imprisonment, torture and various beatings? All these men saw standing before them was a poor man in chains.
But Paul was free and he was being obedient to his call. He was going to take these guys down the path he traveled. They wouldn't even imagine this. As far as they were concerned, it was a long way from where they were to where Paul was. Paul is going to show them otherwise. It was a short fall to the ground; a short step of faith. And everything had changed. This is the 3rd account of Paul's conversion. He said he was traveling with a commission and with the authority. All was well in his world, when a light from heaven came down all around him.
This was a very real incident in Paul's life. Paul's testimony should make Agrippa understand that it could happen to him also. It was that quick - a light from heaven - and Jesus was speaking to him.
16 But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister (under rower) and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you.
Paul was knocked down. Then the Lord said, "Stand up!" Jesus said he appeared for 2 purposes: to make him a minister and a witness. Paul was called to minister to the people and to the Lord. He was to have a heart of a servant for them. Paul was called to be a witness of all that he had seen and all that was not yet revealed. Imagine if the Lord would have revealed to Paul all the things that were before him.
Paul knew from the beginning that he was called to the Gentiles. He was standing there blinded by this bright light of the Glory of God. One minute he hates the Christians, the next he is one!! His life mission was to turn gentiles from the darkness to the light.
Acts 26:19-23
Paul said he could not be disobedient to his calling; he took his message of good news to the gentiles. His message was to repent, turn to God and live a life that reflects repentance. Because Paul took this message to them, the Jews seized him. Not only did the Jews reject Jesus as their messiah, they also rejected the idea that the gentiles could be in good standing with God by Jesus.
Paul gave the credit to God for standing before them today. God had delivered him from the mob several times, from those that laid traps for him to kill him and from those who sat in judgment against him. Paul stood before small and great, saying nothing different than he had said before, believing the scriptures of the prophets of old. And then Paul preached the gospel to crowd. He declared that Christ was to suffer on the cross and by His resurrection He would be the first to proclaim light to the Jews and then the gentiles.
Acts 26:24-32
Agrippa believes that Paul is out of his mind. He said all his great learning had driven him mad. Paul saw firsthand that the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. Paul had already written that verse to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 1:18).
Paul presented the gospel message. It was based on truth and reason. Faith doesn't require you to cross the boundary of truth. The gospel is reasonable. Paul wasn't speaking unreasonable things. The king knew this. Everything he was saying was verifiable. These things were moving and shaking in the society around them. Jesus had shaken their world. All that He had done was important enough that no king could just ignore Him.
Great mobs had followed Jesus around and now, even more, proclaimed all that He taught. He had healed so many people and done enough miracles all the world had heard about them. Now the world was hearing his message of salvation from his disciples. These things couldn't have escaped Agrippa. I can imagine Paul looking the King in the eye now. He's saying, "You know these things are true!" Paul was going to walk him down the path of reason, one step at a time. If you believe the prophets, then Paul could provide very reasonable and true evidence to back up the prophecies.
Agrippa sarcastically responded that he almost ended up a Christian from Paul's testimony. I imagine he laughed at his own sarcasm here, and everyone laughed along, nervously. The "Almost" might have well been a million miles. You can't be almost a Christian. Agrippa wouldn't step onto the path of reason with Paul. He wanted no part of it. He would only scoff at a distance.
Paul was preaching it here. He wanted them to make the transition from almost to all the way. Agrippa was sitting there as king in a crowd. He's the high and mighty. What's the chance he would humble himself to this gospel message? He's sitting next to his sister/wife. Festus, who already said Paul was nuts, was sitting next to him. There's no way Agrippa would step down from the pedestal he was on. However, Paul gave them the gospel anyway. There were others present and it wasn't Paul's job to make them believe but only to give them the truth.
Festus seems to have forgotten that he had plenty of time to release Paul, but didn't for fear of the Jews. Paul's appeal was after Festus was forcing him back to Jerusalem. The king and governor agree that Paul could have been released had he not appealed to Caesar. There was nothing worthy of holding him. Paul knew this. But his appeal was his ticket to Rome.
©2008, 2014, 2022 Doug Ford, Calvary Chapel Sweetwater
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