Gtcotr/ws012220
In
order to get the full account of what was going on in Acts 25 with the Apostle
Paul, we must begin our reading with the last two verses of chapter 24.
Acts 24 NKJV
26 Meanwhile he also hoped that
money would be given him by Paul, that he might release him. Therefore he sent
for him more often and conversed with him.
27 But after two years
Porcius Festus succeeded Felix; and Felix, wanting to do the Jews a favor, left
Paul bound.
The
history and the times:
· AD60
· Paul was under arrest
in Caesarea where he had been held for 2 years.
· The Roman governor in
charge of Jewish affairs was named Felix and he had his headquarters in
Caesarea.
· Felix knew there were
no worthy charges against Paul.
o Occasionally he would
send for Paul to talk with him hoping Paul would finally offer him a bribe to
let him go.
o Felix cared more about
money than he did about justice.
· The Jews didn’t like
Felix and complained to Rome about the way he governed.
· The Emperor Nero, in
his 7th year as Caesar, sent Porticus Festus to replace Felix as
governor over the Jewish territories.
· It was a custom in
that day, and indeed in our day as well, for parting governors, presidents, and
kings to pardon people as one of their last official acts before turning over
power to their successor.
· Here is a list of some
of the US Presidents and the number of pardons they
issued. These do not reflect the commutations, clemencies, or
remissions, only the pardons.
o
Franklin D. Roosevelt: 2,819 pardons
o
Harry S. Truman: 1,913 pardons
o
Dwight D. Eisenhower: 1,110 pardons
o
Woodrow Wilson: 1,087 pardons
o
Lyndon Johnson: 960 pardons
o
Richard Nixon: 863 pardons
o
Calvin Coolidge: 773 pardons
o
Herbert Hoover: 672 pardons
o
Theodore Roosevelt: 668 pardons
o
Jimmy Carter: 534 pardons
o
John F. Kennedy: 472 pardons
o
Bill Clinton: 396 pardons
o
Ronald Reagan: 393 pardons
o
William H. Taft: 383 pardons
o
Gerald Ford: 382 pardons
o
Warren Harding: 386 pardons
o
William McKinley: 291 pardons
o
Barack Obama: 212 pardons
o
George W. Bush: 189 pardons
o
George H.W. Bush: 74 pardons
o
Donald J. Trump: 10 pardons
· There have been
several very controversial pardons such as:
o The pardon issued at
the end of his term by President Bill Clinton to
Marc Rich, a wealthy hedge-fund manager who traded
with Iran while Americans were being held hostage, and hid-out in Europe for
two decades while contributing to Clinton campaigns. Rich also faced federal
charges of tax evasion, wire fraud, and racketeering.
o President Clinton
issued 140 pardons on his last day in office. One of those was even to his
brother, Roger Clinton, who had been convicted
of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. This expunged Roger Clinton’s criminal
record but less than a year after being pardoned, Roger was arrested and
charged with drunk driving and disorderly conduct.
o Richard
Nixon
pardoned/commuted the sentence of Jimmy Hoffa, a
tough union boss, in an agreement that Hoffa would return to leading the
Teamsters Union and support Nixon in the next election, as the recorded phone
call verifies. Hoffa later disappeared in what became a very high-profile mystery.
o President
Ronald Reagan pardoned Mark Felt and Edward Miller, two high-ranking FBI
agents who carried out break-ins and information gathering against political
opponents for the Nixon Administration. Mark Felt was later found to be the
well-known “Deep Throat” informant during the famous Watergate scandal which
led to President Nixon’s resignation.
o President
Ford pardoned President Nixon.
o
President Jimmy Carter pardoned all Vietnam draft-dodgers.
o President
Andrew Johnson
finally issued a full and final pardon on Christmas Day, 1868, to every person who fought in the Confederate Army
against the Union during the Civil War.
o And guess what? I
received a pardon. I’ve been pardoned by King Jesus in the last seconds before
His death on the cross … and so were you.
· Felix knew he was
going to be in trouble once he got to Rome and tried to gain favor with the
Jews by not releasing Paul.
· But it didn’t work.
Historians tell us that Jewish leaders followed Felix to Rome and complained to
the Emperor Nero about him. Nero was willing to punish Felix severely but his
brother, who had the favor of the Emperor, spoke on his defense and Felix was
pardoned.
In
all of this, everything that Felix tried to gain, from the bribe he hoped Paul
would give him to the good report he hoped the Jews would give him, were all for
nothing. If he had just been honest it would have helped everyone but instead,
Governor Felix was a man of bad character and it showed.
Acts 25 NKJV
1 ¶ Now when Festus had come
to the province, after three days he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem.
2 Then the high priest and
the chief men of the Jews informed him against Paul; and they petitioned him,
3 asking a favor against him,
that he would summon him to Jerusalem — while they lay in
ambush along the road to kill him.
4 But Festus answered that Paul should be kept
at Caesarea, and that he himself was going there shortly.
5 “Therefore,” he said, “let those who have
authority among you go down with me and accuse this man, to see if there
is any fault in him.”
6 And when he had remained among them more than
ten days, he went down to Caesarea. And the next day, sitting on the judgment
seat, he commanded Paul to be brought.
7 When he had come, the Jews who had come down
from Jerusalem stood about and laid many serious complaints against Paul, which
they could not prove,
8 while he answered for himself, “Neither
against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I
offended in anything at all.”
9 But Festus, wanting to do
the Jews a favor, answered Paul and said, “Are you willing to go up to
Jerusalem and there be judged before me concerning these things?”
10 So Paul said, “I stand at
Caesar’s judgment seat, where I ought to be judged. To the Jews I have done no
wrong, as you very well know.
Paul maintains not only his innocence of the
charges brought against him by the Jewish leaders, but he also asserts that
these Roman governors know very well that he is innocent and that the charges
are bogus. Neither Felix nor Festus argue that point. They are both bound by
two considerations. It seems the truth is not their greatest concern but rather
they are more committed to protecting their political standing. Paul continues:
11 “For if I am an offender,
or have committed anything deserving of death, I do not object to dying; but if
there is nothing in these things of which these men accuse me, no one can
deliver me to them. I appeal to Caesar.”
12 Then Festus, when he had
conferred with the council, answered, “You have appealed to Caesar? To Caesar
you shall go!”
Here
we see the new governor of the province looking like he is taking the easy way
out. However, even though Governor Felix is not judging a righteous judgment,
since he feels Paul has done nothing deserving of punishment under the Roman
law, nonetheless Felix is being used by the Holy Spirit to facilitate God’s
plan for Paul and the Kingdom of Christ. God wants Paul and his witness in Rome
and God is getting the government of Rome to pay for the whole mission trip
including transportation, lodging, food and meeting halls. The Roman government
is going to foot the bill and ultimately give the Apostle Paul audience with
every important ruler of the Roman Empire. In essence, they will even ask him
to give his testimony and he will tell them about Jesus! Nothing beats just
being honest, even when you’re on trial for your very life.
Later
Governor Felix is visited by King Agrippa. When telling King Agrippa what the
argument between the Jewish leaders and the Apostle Paul is, Felix says:
Acts 25
18 “When the accusers stood
up, they brought no accusation against him of such things as I supposed,
19 “but had some questions
against him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, who had died,
whom Paul affirmed to be alive.
This
is still the argument put forth by those who believe in Jesus. The world may
accept Jesus as a historical figure or even as a prophet or religious teacher,
but they all imagine Him dead … we affirm Jesus to be alive!
If
Jesus is alive, all other questions are answered. He is the Son of God, Messiah
of the Jews, Savior of the World and soon coming King of Kings and Lord of
Lords.
Jesus
is alive! And, as King, only Jesus can pardon your sins and save your soul!!!
And
don’t forget … Honesty is the best policy.
