NOTES for Act 26:1-32
Paul's speech before Agrippa can also be called his confession. Paul sets out the story of his conversion, which he has already set out more than once before different audiences, but here it sounds in a special way. One can feel Paul's firmness, hardened by persecutions and by the mortal danger he had endured more than once, a danger that still had not passed.
Christ's words came true: "...you will be delivered up to councils and beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, to bear witness before them" (Mark 13:9). These words will come true more than once over the course of millennia, but now they came true in the man who himself had been a persecutor.
Festus's reaction to Paul's speech probably did not surprise the apostle, who wrote to the brothers: "...we preach Christ crucified... folly to Gentiles" (1 Cor. 1:23). Agrippa, however, behaves more properly, preserving his royal dignity. He does not accept Paul's words, but he also does not abuse his position in order to deal with him or crush him morally.
It is hard to imagine what was happening in Agrippa's heart after the apostle's preaching. But in any case, we see that Agrippa does not intend to violate the law and wants justice. What if this showed his heart's response to Paul's preaching?