The procurator Festus defined the essence of Paul's conflict with the Jews rather accurately. The issue is worship of God and a certain...
The procurator Festus defined the essence of Paul's conflict with the Jews rather accurately. The issue is worship of God and a certain dead Jesus, of whom Paul says that He is alive. Paul himself says more than once in his letters that he suffers for the name of the Lord Jesus, for the message of His resurrection. Against the background of such a clear understanding of the problem by the procurator, Paul's position, wanting to present this question to Caesar's court, seems somewhat strange. Does the Roman emperor really have, in Paul's eyes, such authority that he can judge whether Jesus is alive or not, whether Paul's faith and the faith of all Christians is vain or not?
Of course, one can say that the imperial court is only a pretext for reaching Rome under the guard of soldiers and preaching the Good News there. If this is so, then we should learn from Paul the ability to use life's circumstances to fulfill our calling. But perhaps the idea of a human court judging the truth of the Gospel is not so absurd after all. After all, only a few years after Paul found himself in Rome, thousands of residents of the capital, from patricians to slaves, rendered their verdict in this case by accepting baptism and martyrdom for the truth of the Resurrection.
The Gospel is still not forced on anyone today. Again and again it demands our judgment on it: a personal, concrete decision about whether the dead Jesus is alive and whether His servant Paul is right.
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25:19 But had certain questions - How coldly does he mention the things of the last importance! And about one Jesus - Thus does Festus speak of Him, to whom every knee shall bow! Whom Paul affirmed to be alive - And was this a doubtful question? But why, O Festus, didst thou doubt concerning it? Only because thou didst not search into the evidence of it. Otherwise that evidence might have opened to thee, till it had grown up into full conviction; and thy illustrious prisoner have led thee into the glorious liberty of the children of God.