NOTES for Act 26:1-32
In giving testimony before the court, Paul evidently speaks about what he spoke of throughout his ministry: Christ and the Kingdom. Taking advantage of the fact that at least one of his judges knew Jewish tradition fairly well, he connects his testimony about Christ and the Resurrection with the ideas of universal resurrection already present in Judaism at that time.
It is difficult to say exactly when ideas about the universal resurrection at the end of time took shape. In the Second Temple period, however, they were already widespread and virtually generally accepted, although the Temple elite, for example, and those close to them in outlook—called Sadducees in the New Testament books—viewed this belief with guarded skepticism. Paul links Christ's resurrection precisely with belief in the universal resurrection. For him, the Messiah's resurrection began that process of universal resurrection which everyone had so eagerly awaited. It was not simply an isolated supernatural event, but the beginning of a new life and a new history.
It is precisely this new history, beginning with Christ's resurrection from the dead, that Paul speaks of to the judges listening to him, referring both to the Torah and to the prophetic books. For him, Christianity is the direct continuation of Yahwism: not of Judaism as such, but of Yahwism in its full breadth, which exceeds Judaism and includes it within itself. This is how he presents Christianity to the judges hearing him.
Interestingly, someone such as Agrippa, who knew Judaism and Yahwism but had not taken part in the struggle between Jewish religious parties, found the apostle's words fairly convincing. Although he was hardly entirely serious when speaking of wishing to become a Christian, we may suppose that, at any rate, he certainly did not regard Paul as a frivolous chatterer and disturber of the peace. In fact, none of the judges saw him that way. Yet it was impossible to release a man who had demanded that his case be heard by the emperor. The journey to Rome lay ahead of Paul.