Acts 25:13-27

Introduction

[CONTEXT] The Apostle Paul had been a persecutor of Christians until he was transformed by the risen Christ.

He then, as a follower of Christ, made disciples of Christ and planted churches for the glory of Christ.

He was planning to do more of that in Rome and beyond when he was attacked and arrested in Jerusalem.

Paul was attacked by the Jews because he was falsely accused of defiling the temple, and he was arrested by the Romans to keep the Jews from killing him.

After being transferred to Caesarea for his own safety, Paul then spent the next two years under guard.

The Roman governor Felix should have released Paul but feared the Jews and hoped to get a bribe from Paul.

When Felix was replaced by Festus, Paul may have hoped that things would turn in his favor, but Festus seemed more interested in winning over the Jews than doing right by Paul.

He wanted Paul to go stand trial in Jerusalem, which would have surely meant Paul’s death.

Paul only prolonged his life by appealing to Caesar, which was like appealing to our Supreme Court.

Caesar’s ruling would be final.

Festus agreed to send Paul to Caesar, but what would the charges against Paul be when he appeared before Caesar? What would he say Paul had done wrong?

That’s the question that Festus hoped King Agrippa would help him answer.

[READING - Acts 25:13-27]

Acts 25:13–27 NASB95

13 Now when several days had elapsed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea and paid their respects to Festus. 14 While they were spending many days there, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king, saying, “There is a man who was left as a prisoner by Felix; 15 and when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews brought charges against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him. 16 “I answered them that it is not the custom of the Romans to hand over any man before the accused meets his accusers face to face and has an opportunity to make his defense against the charges. 17 “So after they had assembled here, I did not delay, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought before me. 18 “When the accusers stood up, they began bringing charges against him not of such crimes as I was expecting, 19 but they simply had some points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive. 20 “Being at a loss how to investigate such matters, I asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and there stand trial on these matters. 21 “But when Paul appealed to be held in custody for the Emperor’s decision, I ordered him to be kept in custody until I send him to Caesar.” 22 Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I also would like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow,” he said, “you shall hear him.” 23 So, on the next day when Agrippa came together with Bernice amid great pomp, and entered the auditorium accompanied by the commanders and the prominent men of the city, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in. 24 Festus said, “King Agrippa, and all you gentlemen here present with us, you see this man about whom all the people of the Jews appealed to me, both at Jerusalem and here, loudly declaring that he ought not to live any longer. 25 “But I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death; and since he himself appealed to the Emperor, I decided to send him. 26 “Yet I have nothing definite about him to write to my lord. Therefore I have brought him before you all and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the investigation has taken place, I may have something to write. 27 “For it seems absurd to me in sending a prisoner, not to indicate also the charges against him.”

[PRAYER]

Festus was glad to present Paul’s case to King Agrippa—i.e., King Herod Agrippa II, the great grandson of Herod the Great who was king of the Jews by Roman decision.

If anyone could help the Roman Governor Festus word the Jewish charges against Paul, who was a Roman citizen of Jewish descent, it ought to have been one like Agrippa who served Rome as king of the Jews.

Agrippa and Bernice, Agrippa’s half-sister, arrived to hear Paul’s case with great pomp joined as they were by other important men of the city.

Festus said that Paul had been accused by the Jews and examined by him, but he couldn’t identify anything Paul had done deserving of death.

Nevertheless, Paul had appealed to Caesar and to Caesar he must go, but the specific charges against him are still unclear to Festus.

Notice again what Festus says in vv. 18-19…

Acts 25:18–19 NASB95

18 “When the accusers stood up, they began bringing charges against him not of such crimes as I was expecting, 19 but they simply had some points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive.

It’s v. 19 that I want to focus on this morning, where Festus says, “they simply had some points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a dead man, Jesus, who Paul asserted to be alive.”

[CIT] Festus understood the Jewish complaint against Paul as a religious disagreement among Jews concerning the Jewish religion, a religious disagreement among the Jews about a dead Jew named Jesus that Paul said was alive.

In other words, aside from his role as governor, Festus seems detached from the religious conflict surround Paul.

[PROP] But what I hope to show you this morning is that every man is religious and every man either conflicts with Jesus or confesses Him as the risen Savior.

[TS] There are three TRUTHS that I’d like you to grab on to this morning…

Major Ideas

TRUTH #1: All men are religious.

Perhaps you’ve heard someone say, “Oh, I’m not a religious person.” What they likely mean is they do not publically subscribe to any major religion like Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, etc.

But no matter what they may say, all people are ultimately religious because all people are looking to something they consider ultimate.

And whatever that ultimate something is, it usually answers questions like, “Where did we come from? What’s our purpose? And where’s this all headed?”

We know how Paul and his Jewish accusers would have answered these questions.

Paul and his Jewish accusers were in agreement on the question of where we come from.

They both would’ve answered we come from the Creator God, YHWH, who made us in his image.

But Paul and his Jewish accusers would’ve differed in answering the question concerning our purpose.

Paul would’ve said that our purpose is to know God by believing on Jesus of Nazareth whom he sent as the perfect sacrifice for our sins.

But Paul’s Jewish accusers would’ve said that everyone needs to become Jewish and keep the Law of Moses in order to know God.

And Paul and his Jewish accusers also differed on the question of where this is all headed.

Paul would’ve said that all that we are experiencing is headed to a day when the resurrected Jesus who has ascended to heaven returns to earth to rule and reign over creation.

But the unbelieving Jews would’ve said that Jesus wasn’t raised from the dead and didn’t ascend to heaven; they would’ve said that they were still waiting on the true Messiah who would never die but make the whole world bow down to the Jewish people.

But how would Festus have answered these questions as a Roman?

As a Roman, did Festus believe that the Romans descended from Romulus and Remus, the founder of Roman and supposedly the twin sons of Mars, the Roman god of war?

As a Roman, did Festus participate in the rituals and festivals that were meant to encourage positive supernatural powers and ward off negative ones?

As a Roman, did Festus believe that “salvation” was just living successfully while securing the cooperation, benevolence, and peace of the gods?

We don’t know if Festus held to these Roman religious beliefs or not, but it is certain that he was a religious man because all men are.

All people serve something as their ultimate hope and meaning in life.

Thus, all people are religious.

Even atheists are religious. Not all atheists agree with that statement; one said, “Calling an atheist religious is like calling bald a hair color.”

But the atheist has a belief that directs his life, so he is religious.

He believes there is no God and lives his life as if there is no god.

He may not read the Bible or the Quran, but he has sacred texts like the Humanist Manifesto and The God Delusion.

He may not have preachers or imams, but he has authoritative teachers like Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins.

He may not have traditions like gathering for worship or praying five times a day, but he has traditions like advocating for atheistic education in public schools and universities and tearing down any vestige of Christian structure in society.

He may not have commandments from God or Allah, but he has commandments nonetheless; commandments like “Live free from religion,” and “Set other frees from religion.”

He may not think of sin in the same way as a Christian or Muslim does, but being traditionally religious in any way is a ‘sin’ according to the atheist.

And the atheist may not think of salvation in the way a Christian or Muslim does, but he does have idea of what salvation is—it’s human flourishing by way of godless reason.

The atheist may say that he isn’t religious, but I think he is just as religious as the rest of us because he serves something as his ultimate hope and meaning—his ultimate hope is that there is no god, and he lives his life accordingly.

As one brother put it, “Religion is inescapable. If you are a human being then you are religious.”

[TS]…

TRUTH #2: Disagreements between Christianity and other religions are bound to happen because Christianity makes exclusive truth claims (Acts 25:19).

Acts 25:19 NASB95

19 but they simply had some points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive.

The points of disagreement are simple when you see yourself as detached from those points. But when those points of disagreement are near and dear to your heart, when you’re religious identity is wrapped up in those point, it’s a different story.

Festus said that the points of disagreement were between the Jews and Paul, but the Jews had the same points of disagreement with Peter, John, and all the other Apostles.

Despite the fact that previously accused Paul of being a pest, their disagreement with Paul wasn’t about his personality but about the points he made in regard to Jesus.

Festus said that the Jews had some points of disagreement with Paul concerning their own religion (i.e., the Jewish religious or Judaism).

Although today we think of Christianity as distinct from Judaism, early Christians didn’t see their faith in Jesus as a separate religion but rather the fulfillment of what Judaism promised—a relationship with God free from the curse of sin.

Judaism only keeps its promise through the perfect life, sacrificial death, and victorious resurrection of Jesus, the Jewish Messiah.

But it’s at Jesus that the disagreements between Christianity and Judaism exist.

On the person of Jesus…

…the Jews said that He was not the Messiah/the Christ but was rather the emissary of Satan.

…the Christians say that He is the Messiah/the Christ, the anointed Son of the Living God who did all that He did by the power of the Spirit of God.

On the death of Jesus…

…the Jews said that Jesus died as a blasphemous criminal.

…the Christians say that He laid down His life as the sinless sacrifice for our sins.

On the resurrection of Jesus…

…the Jews said that it didn’t happen; they said the disciples stole his body.

…the Christian say that Jesus was raised on the first day of the week after his crucifixion never to die again.

But it’s at Jesus that the points of disagreement between Christianity and the rest of the world also become apparent.

We say, “He’s the Savior, the only way of salvation.”

They say, “No, he’s not. If he existed at all, he was just a Jewish man who caused a minor uproar among the Jews before the Romans crucified him.”

We say, “He died as the sacrifice for our sin.”

They say, “No, he didn’t. He likely died as a victim of his own delusions or the delusions of his followers, swept in circumstances beyond his control.”

We say, “He rose from the dead, the Champion over sin and death, and through faith in him, we can be set free from sin and death and experience eternal life with him!”

They say, “His body was probably cast into a ditch or unmarked grave once it was taken down from the cross. It then like rotted away or was eaten by wild dogs or some other scavenger.”

You see, there are bound to be disagreements between Christianity and other religions because of Christianity’s exclusive truth claims—and all of exclusive truth claims center on the resurrected Jesus.

[TS]…

TRUTH #3: The Living Lord Jesus is a great bother to religious men.

Perhaps you’ve a had a person say to you, “I’m just not religious,” but if you haven’t heard that, perhaps you’ve had someone say to you, “Well, all religions are just the same.”

Let’s think about that for a minute. I once heard the late Tim Keller talk about the differences between the worlds four major religions: Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity.

Buddhism sees everything in the material world as an illusion and reality is this unified all-soul in which everything is one and the same.

The goal of Buddhism then is to detach your heart from the material world—not love to much, not to hate too much, or be grieved too much—and in this way, you arrive at inner peace.

If you achieve this inner peace, you reconnect to the all-soul when you die.

Hinduism is cyclical, which means your soul gets put into a new body every time you die.

Every reincarnation is an opportunity to right the wrongs of past lives.

In Hinduism, suffering is never unjust but is the result of something you did wrong in a past life.

And all suffering must be endured with complete patience and no complaining.

If you live well enough, you will escape the cycle of reincarnation and enter the bliss and joy of eternity.

Islam sees this world as a temporary place where you can show your submission and obedience to the will of Allah.

Right and wrong is defined as behaving according to the will of Allah.

Islam isn’t concerned about your heart or your motives in behaving the way you do just so long as you behave in the right way.

Now, these three religions are different in many respects, but similar in that that they all teach you earn salvation through morality.

Buddhism says if you detach enough, you get inner peace and reattach to the great world spirit.

Hinduism says if you live a good enough life, you escape the cycle of reincarnation and enter eternal bliss.

Islam says, first you submit to and obey the will of Allah, and then you earn paradise.

But Christianity is different. Some even hesitate to call Christianity a religion because it is so different.

In general, religions say, “Here’s what you have to do to be saved,” but Christianity says, “This is what God has done to save you.”

He sent his Son to perfectly obey God’s Law for you.

He sent his Son to pay the price for all you law breaking by dying on a Roman cross.

He sent his Son to live for you, to die for you, and to rise from the dead so that you would know that Jesus really is the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God, the only Savior.

If only Jesus would’ve stayed dead, he wouldn’t have been a bother to the Jews who accused Paul.

If only Jesus would’ve stayed dead, he wouldn’t have been a bother to Festus.

If only Jesus would’ve stayed dead, he wouldn’t be a bother to so many today who can’t stand that he said that he is the only way of salvation and then proved it by rising from the dead.

But Jesus didn’t stay dead.

As Paul said, Jesus is alive.

[TS]…

Conclusion

Jesus is alive and if you want to take of true salvation, true inner peace, true eternal bliss, true paradise, then you must take hold of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, crucified and resurrected.

[ILLUS] When I was in college, I had a professor ask, “What is Christianity?”

One brave student boldly blurted, “It’s a religion.”

Our professor replied, “Wrong. Christianity is a relationship.”

Religions say, “Here’s how you achieve salvation.”

Christianity says, “Jesus achieved it for you.”

[PRAYER]