0425 APPEALING TO A HIGHER AUTHORITY

APPEALING TO A HIGHER AUTHORITY

If you have been following the podcasts of the last few days, you will recall my theory that Paul was intending to introduce the good news about Jesus to the leaders of the Roman government, including Caesar himself. So he went to Jerusalem, having been warned in city after city that being bound and imprisoned awaited him there. Once he arrived there, sure enough, trouble arose around him, and Roman soldiers had to whisk him away and then bring him to be questioned by the Jewish high council. From there, he has been taken to three different Roman authorities, defending himself and talking about Jesus to each one. They all have found him innocent, but drama still seems to follow him everywhere he goes. 

And now he has come before Festus, the Roman governor. Festus finds nothing wrong with Paul, and he would be willing to let him go free, but there are mobs of angry Jews who would get all vigilante on him. Festus is walking a fine line here. He thinks maybe the best route is to send Paul back to stand trial in Jerusalem again. This is a religious matter, after all, and there is nothing in civil law that has been broken.

Festus asks Paul, “Are you willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there?”

But Paul replied, “No! This is the official Roman court, so I ought to be tried right here. You know very well I am not guilty of harming the Jews. If I have done something worthy of death, I don’t refuse to die. But if I am innocent, no one has a right to turn me over to these men to kill me. I appeal to Caesar!”

Festus conferred with his advisers and then replied, “Very well! You have appealed to Caesar, and to Caesar you will go!”

We are going to find out that Paul ends up in house arrest for two years, and then when there is a change in government, he is kept in prison indefinitely. Eventually, Paul is beheaded there in Rome, though that occurs after the time covered in the book of Acts. He appeals to Caesar, and it begins the end game for Paul.

It leaves me wondering about my own dedication to the good news about Jesus. Would I be willing to forfeit my freedom, my reputation, and my very life in order to be a witness in Washington, D.C. among staff members and lawyers and political fundraisers there? 

Did it wear on Paul, the human? Yes, it did. While he was in Rome, he wrote “Demas has deserted me because he loves the things of this life and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus has gone to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. . . . The first time I was brought before the judge, no one came with me. Everyone abandoned me. May it not be counted against them.” 

And yet, Paul knew why he was there—in Rome, on earth, among the living—and he did not give in to despair. He kept his eye on the prize and continued without equivocation to view the greater good being to serve a kingdom that is not of this earth.

Here are his next words in that same letter from Rome: “But the Lord stood with me and gave me strength so that I might preach the Good News in its entirety for all the Gentiles to hear. And he rescued me from certain death. Yes, and the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and will bring me safely into his heavenly Kingdom. All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.” 2 Timothy‬ ‭4:9-18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“Lord, help me to live from day to day in such a self-forgetful way that even when I kneel and pray, my prayer will be for others.” (Charles Meigs)