If you would take your Bibles, let’s turn back tonight to Acts chapter 25. You can find that on page 934 in the pew Bibles. This is the last of several speeches that Paul makes during the time of his custody, his trial, and his journey in chains from Jerusalem to Caesarea, and then eventually to Rome. And several times throughout this section, including three times in chapter 26, we find that this is Paul making his defense. And the word for “defense” is the Greek word “apologia.” It’s an apologetic. It means to make a reasoned statement or argument, it means to make or to give a verbal argument, a verbal defense. And all throughout this section, the picture that we have of the apostle Paul is almost exactly the same as what we find Peter writing about making a defense in 1 Peter chapter 3. Listen to this. Peter writes, “Even if you should suffer for righteousness sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them or be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense,” an apologia, “to anyone who asks you for reason for the hope that is in you. Yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.” That’s almost an exact summary of what we have with Paul in Acts chapter 21 to 26.
And what we find in these verses tonight is that as Paul makes his defense, his apologia, Luke, the author of Acts, is also making his own defense or apologia of the message about Jesus. And so we’ll look at two things from this passage tonight. We’ll use those verses from 1 Peter 3 for our outline, and we’ll see two things. One, a ready defense. And then number two, a reason for hope. A ready defense and a reason for hope. Before we read, let’s pray and ask God’s help and blessing on His Word.
Father, we give You thanks for Your Word tonight. We praise You as we come together in Word and sacrament, that You accommodate Yourself to our weaknesses and our inadequacies and You come to strengthen our faith, to draw us near to Yourself yet again, and to work in us by Your Spirit to produce fruit in our lives. And so we pray as we open Your Word now, as we hear these verses from Acts 25 and 26, that You would open our hearts to receive what You have for us. Give us Your Spirit, we pray, tonight. Help us to see Jesus. Help us to see our need for Him and His perfect sufficiency for all that we need and desire. And I pray all of this in Jesus’ name, amen.
Acts 25, starting in verse 23:
“So on the next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp, and they entered the audience hall with the military tribunes and the prominent men of the city. Then, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in. And Festus said, ‘King Agrippa and all who are present with us, you see this man about whom the whole Jewish people petitioned me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer. But I found that he had done nothing deserving death. And as he himself appealed to the emperor, I decided to go ahead and send him. But I have nothing definite to write to my lord about him. Therefore I have brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that, after we have examined him, I may have something to write. For it seems to me unreasonable, in sending a prisoner, not to indicate the charges against him.’
So Agrippa said to Paul, ‘You have permission to speak for yourself.’ Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense:
‘I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews, especially because you are familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.
My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee. And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers, to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope I am accused by Jews, O king! Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?
I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.’
And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, ‘Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.’ But Paul said, ‘I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words. For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.’ And Agrippa said to Paul, ‘In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?’ And Paul said, ‘Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains.’
Then the king rose, and the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them. And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, ‘This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.’ And Agrippa said to Festus, ‘This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.’”
The grass withers and the flowers fall but the Word of our God endures forever.
Well, are you ready for your weekly lesson on ancient Middle Eastern history from the time of the Roman Empire? Because each week that we are in the book of Acts it seems like we are introduced to yet another in a long list of historical figures that were on the scene in these days in Jerusalem and Caesarea and then also in Rome. We’ve met Claudius Lysias and Ananias, Felix, Druscilla, Porcius Festus, and even Caesar. We’ve read about how Paul’s case has intersected with military tribunals and centurions and high priests and procurators and even the emperor of Rome. And today we add another one to that list. We have today King Agrippa, or Agrippa II, along with his sister, Bernice. Now King Agrippa wasn’t really a king. He was more of an “air quotes” king. He was the King of the Jews. He was more of a figurehead, someone who served in some ways as a diplomat or an ambassador between the Jewish people and the Roman authorities. His power was limited. It was limited to things like building projects or taking care of the temple, appointing or deposing the high priest who served in Jerusalem. But he was from the family of Herod the Great. Herod the Great, who was the founder of the Herodian dynasty. Herod the Great was the one who had acquired tremendous wealth. He was the one who, under his leadership, they completed the building of the temple in Jerusalem. He was the one who was in power for over 30 years. And Agrippa II, King Agrippa, in Acts 25 and 26, was his great-grandson. He was the great-grandson of Herod the Great.
Do you know the game that we all play around here? The “Do you know…?” game? I think it’s really an original southern artform to be able to make connections with everyone you meet, no matter where they’re from and no matter how random the connection seems to be. And so it’s not uncommon for us to find ourselves in conversations with people that go somewhat like this, “My brother’s sister-in-law’s husband’s family is from Saltillo.” And by the end of the sentence, you find yourself needing a chart or a map to kind of piece it all together. Well there’s a map or a diagram like that in the ESV Study Bible and it’s a diagram of the family of Herod the Great, of the Herodian dynasty. And it has solid lines, it has dotted lines, it has straight lines, it has diagonal lines – it’s really somewhat of a mess. And the reason for that is that this family was a mess.
And I don’t expect you to keep up with all of this, but just to give you an idea of what kind of family this was that we’re talking about here, Herod the Great, he was the one who had ordered the execution of the young boys in Bethlehem at the time of Jesus’ birth. His son, Herod Antipas, was the one who had taken his brother’s wife and then beheaded John the Baptist because of John the Baptist’s rebuke. Herod Antipas was also the one who treated Jesus with contempt and mocked Him before sending Him back to Pontius Pilate in order to be crucified. We heard about this Agrippa’s father, Herod Agrippa I, back in Acts chapter 12 when he killed the apostle James and also when he received the crowd’s praise as a god and God struck him down and he died. And then there’s Druscilla. If you remember Druscilla, back in Acts chapter 24 she was mentioned as the wife of Felix. Well that’s Herod Agrippa II’s sister, this Agrippa’s sister. As was Bernice, and Bernice, at some point, moved to Rome and had an affair with the future emperor of Rome, Titus Caesar Vespasianus. Now all that is to say this Herodian family had points of contact all over the place, with all of the major figures of this time, this part of the Roman Empire. With all of the major events of the Gospels and the book of Acts, with the life of Jesus and with the life of the apostles, the Herodian family had points of contact with all of those things.
What’s the point? Why all this time and focus on the history? Well it’s because these events took place in history. And the reason that Luke is writing these things down for us is to give an orderly account of what had happened. And to give an orderly account of what had happened so that we can have certainty about the things that we have been taught. In other words, the reason Luke’s writing these things down is because they are true. Jesus really was born during the time of Caesar Augustus. He really was crucified, dead and buried at the hands of Pontius Pilate. He really did rise from the grave on the third day with an actual bodily resurrection. It was an historical event. And Paul, Paul really did see the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus. He really was commissioned to be a witness for Jesus to the Gentiles. And the way that he was going to do that, at least in part, was through the command and the instruction of people like Felix and Festus and Agrippa. It’s just like what Paul says to Festus and Agrippa in chapter 26 verse 26. He says, “None of this had been done in a corner.” There were eyewitnesses. There was no shortage of people who could verify both the resurrection of Jesus and the drastic change that had occurred in the life of Paul because of the resurrection of Jesus.
Now you know all of this could have gone away with just a few simple words, all it would have taken for Paul to escape the threats of the Jews, all it would have taken for Paul to escape from the hands of the Roman authorities was to say, “I lied. It’s not really true. It’s a hoax. Jesus didn’t really rise from the dead.” That’s it. That’s all it would have taken, and his trouble would have vanished. It would have gone away. But Paul didn’t do that, did he? Why not? Because it was true, and Jesus really did rise from the dead. As he says in verse 8 of chapter 26, “Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead? Why would you think it impossible that God would be able to raise the dead?” Paul was ready to die, he would die for the sake of this message.
By the way, Paul was not alone in suffering and dying alone for the sake of the message about Jesus, for his message of Jesus’ death and resurrection. And maybe you’re familiar, maybe you’ve seen before those shields or those crests that represent each of Jesus’ apostles. And on each of those shields there is also an instrument of execution that is depicted on them. Why is that? It’s because according to Church tradition, all of the apostles except for John were martyred in distant places because of their faith and their message about Jesus and His death and resurrection. So there was Andrew, crucified in Greece. Thomas, speared in India. The other James, stoned in Egypt. And all that’s according to Church tradition. We don’t know all of the details for certain, but what we can say from Acts 25 and 26 is that these things about Paul took place in real time and among real historical figures. And what Luke is saying is, “It’s true. You can verify it. This did not happen in a corner.” And Paul staked his life on it. Paul staked his life on the truth of the resurrection of Jesus.
But that’s not it – and there are other witnesses. Paul isn’t the only witness to the resurrection in these verses because he also says that the prophets testify to Jesus’ resurrection. Agrippa knew what the prophets said. In fact, there’s a place in Josephus’ autobiography, Flavius Josephus – he was one of the most important historians of this time period, and he was Jewish. His given name was Yosef ben Mattityahu. And one of his books is called, The Antiquities of the Jews, and it traces the story of the Jewish people from the time of creation all the way through to the exile as it is recorded in the Hebrew Bible. But then he picks it up, and the rest of the story continues from the place of the Biblical text to the time of the exile up until the time of the Roman Empire. And in Josephus’ autobiography, he says that he presented his history to King Agrippa, to this King Agrippa, and that Agrippa had written 62 letters to him to attest to the truth of the history. In fact, Josephus included two letters from Agrippa in his autobiography. One of them says this, “King Agrippa, to Josephus, his dear friend, I have read over thy book with great pleasure and it appears to me that thou hast done it much more accurately and with greater care than the other writers.” The other letter said, “King Agrippa, to Josephus, it seems by what thou hast written that thou standest in no need of instruction in ordering our information from the beginning.”
Josephus knew the story of the Jews, and Paul knew that. And Paul says he considered himself fortunate that he was appearing before Agrippa because Agrippa, chapter 26 verse 3, he was familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews. He says in verse 26, “The king knows about these things.” Verse 27, “King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” You see, Paul shared common ground with Agrippa, and that common ground was the testimony of the prophets of the Hebrew scripture. It was, verse 6, “the promise made by God to our fathers.” Verse 22, it was what “the prophets and Moses had said would come to pass.”
Back in 2014, Sports Illustrated had a cover story about the Houston Astros. And the Astros were pretty bad. The previous three seasons they had lost over 105 games each season. That 2014 season wasn’t much better. They finished with another losing record at 70 and 92. But on the cover of the June 2014 Sports Illustrated was a picture of George Springer in a beautiful throwback Houston Astros’ uniform with the headline, “Your 2017 World Series Champs.” And it said, “How a franchise is going beyond moneyball to build the game’s next best thing.” Well guess who won the 2017 World Series? The Houston Astros. Now nevermind the sign stealing and the garbage can and the cheating scandal that came out after the fact, but when they won the World Series that year, don’t you think that it made people look again and read over that article from 2014? And maybe that writer, what he had written about analytics and their draft process had some merit.
Well what Paul says to Festus and to Agrippa and to all the rest of those who are with him, is that the promises made in the Old Testament scriptures had been fulfilled in Jesus. And it’s not just some analytics game. This is a supernatural revelation. And what Paul is saying is that not only did Jesus’ resurrection confirm the truth of the Scriptures, but the Scriptures also confirm the truth of Jesus’ resurrection. And sure, you can point to the over 300 references to the Messiah in the Old Testament that were fulfilled by Jesus. “You shall bruise His heel,” Genesis 3:15. “They made His grave with the wicked,” Isaiah 53:9. “You will not let Your holy one see corruption,” Psalm 16:10. And Jesus was nailed to the cross. He was put to death with criminals. He was not abandoned to corruption but He rose from the dead on the third day.
An interesting thing happened back in the spring. Some of us from the congregation were led on a cemetery tour at the Beth Israel Jewish Cemetery across the street. And Rabbi Rosen was telling us about some of the traditions and the history of a traditional Jewish burial. And in that explanation, he turned to and read from Psalm 16, the verses that day, “You will not let Your holy one see corruption.” And just not more than an hour later, as we gathered together for worship and read from Acts chapter 13, we read Paul’s words of testifying to the resurrection and reading from Psalm 16 – “You will not let Your holy one see corruption.” You see, it was there the whole time, and Jesus fulfilled it all.
And what Jesus says is that it’s not just the most familiar references, those 300 that we could point to. What Jesus says, no, is that all Scripture speaks of Him. All that Moses and the prophets had said would come to pass – that the Christ must suffer, and that by being the first to rise from the dead He would proclaim life not only to their own people but to the Gentiles as well. But they had written it down hundreds of years, thousands of years ahead of time, and don’t you think that if they had said it and that it had happened as they said it would happen, then there must be something to it? That it must be true? Festus says, “Paul, you’re out of your mind.” He said, “Your great learning is out of your mind.” He’s basically calling him a maniac. And the Greek word there is “mania.” But what did Agrippa say? Agrippa basically said, “I’m almost convinced.” Verse 28, “In a short time, would you persuade me to be a Christian?”
Which brings us to our second point – it really brings us to the point of the communion table tonight because the reason that Paul makes a ready defense to this group is to give a reason for hope. And all throughout these verses, Paul talks about the blessings that come from recognizing and believing who Jesus is. Verse 6, He is the fulfillment of the promise made to the fathers. Verse 7, He is the heart of their worship. Verse 18, He is the one who turns them from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God. He is the one who brings the forgiveness of sins and sets them apart to be sanctified by faith. Verse 20, He says this is a whole new way of life marked by repentance and obedience to God. In fact, verse 23, Paul is saying that it is nothing less than resurrection life. In a word, what Paul is preaching is hope. It’s a message of hope. This is the hope of Israel.
And Jesus was no “air quotes” king. He was greater than Agrippa. He was a greater even than Caesar. And He did more than any priest could ever do. He was better than all of the high priests, especially a high priest like Ananias in Jerusalem, like we saw in chapter 23. And Jesus offered a sacrifice which no other sacrifice could ever accomplish. He was the one whom the prophets had long expected, the one who the Spirit revealed about His sufferings and the glory to come. He is the one who fully reveals the way of salvation. This is the hope of Israel. True light, the power of God, forgiveness of sins, holiness, righteousness, new life, resurrection glory, and the whole point of this passage. This is the heartbeat of Paul’s life and ministry. It’s the whole reason that he is standing here on trial and going to Rome. It’s because, you see, the hope of Israel is the hope of the whole world. Jesus is the hope and the salvation not only for the Jews, but for the nations, for the entire world. For all those, He is the hope and the salvation for all of those who turn in faith to Jesus Christ. Verse 29, “I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am, except for these chains.” You see, Paul’s greatest desire was that everyone, everyone who heard his voice would turn and receive Christ by faith.
How do they respond? Verse 30 says, “Then the king arose and the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them, and they withdrew.” They just left. Alexander White calls this one of the most tragic moments in all the world. And White has written a book of sermons, there’s a book of sermons that are collected about Bible characters, different Bible characters. And in the one on Agrippa, Alexander White’s sermon on Agrippa, he preached it on a night like this one when the church had gathered together around the communion table. And he said that this was one of the most tragic moments in all the world. A tragic moment only second to what you would perpetrate tonight if you feel what Agrippa felt and you said what Agrippa said, and then you go away and do what Agrippa did. “You almost persuade me to become a Christian,” Agrippa had said. Almost. Almost. And White says that “both earth and hell are full of the word ‘almost.’” And that there may be some here tonight who are almost persuaded, who have intended to come some time to the communion table and haven’t done it. And what White says is, “Just go ask Agrippa and Bernice. Go and ask Agrippa and Bernice what they would do if they were in your place tonight. What would they say now knowing what they know now?” And White’s encouragement is, “Don’t sleep. No, do not so much as go home till your name has been taken down for the Lord’s table.”
You see, there’s reason to believe, and Paul makes a ready defense. These things did not happen in a corner. Jesus came in real history and He really appeared after His resurrection to the apostle Paul. And it happened as Moses and the prophets had said it would happen, as the fulfillment of Scripture, things written down in ages past. There is reason to believe. There is reason to believe. And that reason is the reason for hope. And as we come to this table tonight, this table, it has been given to us by Jesus in order to strengthen our faith to help us believe and to give us hope. And may by God’s grace it would do those things for us tonight as we turn there now. Let’s pray.
Father, we praise You for Your mercy and Your kindness, for Your goodness and Your grace. We thank You for the good news of the Gospel. And as we now turn to the table to celebrate and to remember what Christ has done for us in His death and resurrection, we pray that You would help us to receive it in faith and that You would work all these things for our good and for Your glory. We pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.