Grace Bible Church Gillette, Wyoming

1. Herod Agrippa II was the great grandson of Herod the Great. When we view the historic Herod dynasty, we learn the Herod the Great was not so great. It was a dynasty characterized by harsh and deadly opposition to Christianity, not to mention a part of the crucifixion of Christ

2. As for Herod the Great, he was personally responsible for giving the order to kill “all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under” (Mat 2:16). His great immorality was also observed by the fact that he had seven children from four different wives. Such immorality would characterize the Herodians throughout their history.

3. One of Herod the Great’s sons, Herod Aristobulus (not mentioned in Scripture), had five children before being executed by the his brothers. Those children were Herod of Chalcis, Herodias, and Herod Agrippa I (they were fond of the name Herod), Miriamne, and Aristobulus.

4. Herod’s sister Herodias continued the immorality in the family. First, she married her uncle, Herod Philip I. She later married her uncle Herod Antipas, which subsequently led to the beheading of John the Baptist (Mar 6:17-18). Herodias’ daughter, Salome, played a seductive role in John’s martyrdom (Mar 6:22-24). Incidentally, Salome married her uncle Herod Philip II.

5. Herod Agrippa I was the one who put Peter in prison and had James “put to death with a sword” (Act 12:1-4). Because of his pride, he was struck by an angel and eaten by worms (Act 12:21-23). He had four children, Herod Agrippa II, Bernice, Miriamne (not mentioned in Scripture), and Drusilla.

6. We previously saw Drusilla, who consented to Felix’s coercion to divorce Azizus, king of Emesa and marry Felix. According to the historian Josephus, Drusilla also consented to avoid her sister’s (Bernice) envy and ill treatment.

7. Herod Agrippa II succeeded the death of his uncle Herod of Chacis. Josephus recorded the public opinion that Agrippa had an incestuous relationship with his sister Bernice. Agrippa was mentioned and characterized by Luke as “Agrippa and Bernice” three times (Act 25:13, 23; 26:30).

B. Bernice

1. Bernice had married her uncle Herod of Chalcis until his death in AD 48. When her brother Agrippa II succeeded Herod, Bernice stayed with Agrippa and shared equal power with him over the region, giving way to one of the most infamous couples in Roman history.

2. From time to time Bernice would have liaisons, the most famous being Titus Vespasian. However, when Titus became emperor, his relationship with Bernice ended. Some have maintained that it ended because of the rumors about Bernice’s reputation. She went back to her brother’s side. The fact that Agrippa never married also contributed to the suspicion held toward him and his sister.

3. Both “Agrippa and Bernice” visited the newly appointed Festus in Caesarea to pay “their” respects. They were pleasantly intrigued to hear and preside over Paul’s hearing.

II. ACCOUNT OF FESTUS ON PAUL’S CASE (14-21)

A. Paul Left by Felix (14)

1. Festus correctly placed blame on the procrastinating Felix for Paul’s extended imprisonment. Yet Festus the pragmatist shared part of the blame also by not releasing the obviously innocent prisoner.

B. Jews Asked for Sentence of Condemnation (15)

1. Act 25:3 doesn’t say anything about a “sentence of condemnation” (death penalty). Either these words were not recorded or Festus was informed of the intent of the Jews and knew more than he had let on.

C. Festus Upheld Roman Law (16)

1. Act 25:4-5 doesn’t say anything about Festus’ regard to uphold Roman Law. Either these words were not recorded or Festus was attempting to be pragmatic by lying.

D. Festus Sat over Paul’s Case (17)

1. There appeared to be an urgency of everyone involved to get this trial going and have Paul placed into the hands of the Jews.

E. Jews Brought Up Strange Claims (18)

F. They were Religious Disputes (19)

1. The Jews brought many serious charges against Paul, but they were unable to prove any of them. Evidently, the Jews also began to accuse Paul of not agreeing with them concerning Judaism, resurrection, and especially the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Festus was not expecting to have to judge over details about religion.

2. It included the dispute over Jesus’ resurrection. This was the central issue of all of Paul’s trials.

a) Paul cried out that he was “on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead!” (Act 23:6), which would have referred to Jesus’ resurrection.

b) The Athenians responded to Jesus’ resurrection with ridicule (Act 17:32). The Sadducees responded to Jesus’ resurrection with disbelief (Act 23:8). The Pharisees responded to Jesus’ resurrection with misunderstanding (Act 23:8). Festus revealed the central issue was Jesus’ resurrection, but could not make sense of it (Act 25:19).

c) The confusion was not because of a lack of testifying on Paul’s part, for he faithful to that which he was called to do (Act 9:15-16 cf. Act 25:22; 26:1; 27:23-24).

G. Paul to Stand Trial in Jerusalem (20)

1. It was true that Felix was at a loss how to proceed, investigate, and judge this matter. Had Festus acquitted Paul as he should have, Festus would not have been in his predicament.

2. Festus appealed to Agrippa, a much better judge since he was appointed guardian of the temple.

H. Paul Appealed to Caesar (21)

1. Paul only appealed to Caesar because there was no other recourse for him. He would have ended up in the hands of the Jews and they would have sought to kill him one way or another.

III. AGRIPPA AGREES TO HEAR PAUL (22)

A. One could hardly assess that Agrippa was concerned about justice for Paul. Nor could one barely imagine that Agrippa was interested in hearing more about the resurrected Christ (though he would, Act 26:23). He was merely pleasantly intrigued.

IV. ANNOUNCEMENT OF PAUL’S CASE BY FESTUS (23-27)

A. Paul was Brought before Agrippa (23)

1. In regard to pride and pomp, the apple does not fall far from the tree. Agrippa I was struck by an angel for allowing the people to call him a god (Act 12:22).

B. Jews Desired Death Penalty (24)

1. Festus the pragmatist found it feasible to more or less lay the whole ordeal at the feet of the Jews.

C. Festus Declared Paul Not Worthy of Death (25)

1. Festus found it quite pragmatic to proclaim himself as a wise governor who did not find that Paul committed anything worthy of death. Furthermore, Festus was more than willing to lay at Paul’s feet the entire blame for appealing to Caesar.

D. Festus Did not know how to Address Nero (26-27)

1. However, Festus the pragmatist had one huge problem. If he was sending Paul to Caesar, he had to write his reasons for sending him. But at this point, Festus had no clue for his actions. To put it into Festus’ own words, it was “absurd” (alogos – without reason, illogical) to send a prisoner without any charges against him.

V. OBSERVATIONS AND APPLICATIONS

A. Promiscuous Dynasties

1. The Herodians leave for us an example of a legacy of aggressive rejection of Christianity and a complete disregard for morality. In stark contrast to the Herodians, we see the apostle Paul who stood as a beacon for truth and godliness.

2. Metaphorically speaking, we have Herodians today. They are in Hollywood, they are on reality TV shows, they are in the news, and they are in the world all around us. In stark contrast, we as believers are to stand as beacons for truth and godliness.

3. Unfortunately, in our day we see Christians who will more readily adopt a Herodian lifestyle than one that is biblical.

4. It should not matter if the entire world lives in immorality, the believer must live in stark contrast by being committed to the example of Christ and the Word of Christ (Eph 4:17-20).

B. Pertinent Issue of Apologetics

1. It is the cross that provided salvation. It is the resurrection that gives proof for salvation.

2. This was the teaching of the apostle’s kerygma and is the same message we share today. We did not witness the resurrection, but we have the testimony of those who did found in God’s Word.

a) Christ’s resurrection was part of the kerygma of the apostles preaching (Peter - Act 2:24, 31, 32; 3:15, 26; 4:10; 5:30; 7:56; 10:40; Paul - Act 13:30, 33, 34, 37; 17:3, 31; 26:23).

C. Public Understanding

1. The Athenians responded to Jesus’ resurrection with ridicule (Act 17:32). The Sadducees responded to Jesus’ resurrection with disbelief (Act 23:8). The Pharisees responded to Jesus’ resurrection with misunderstanding (Act 23:8). Festus revealed the central issue was Jesus’ resurrection, but could not make sense of it (Act 25:19).

2. We see in Scripture that people had manifold understandings of the cross and the resurrection. It is the believer’s job to find out the perspectives of the individuals around us. Our task is similar to Paul’s in that we fill in whatever is lacking in their understanding concerning the cross and resurrection.

a) The cross is where Christ took our place, our sin, and our penalty for sin.

b) The resurrection is the proof of who Christ is and what He has done on the cross.

c) The resurrection confirmed the deity of Christ (Rom 1:4), the forgiveness of sins (1Co 15:17; Joh 11:25-26; Rom 10:9), and the resurrection of eternal life (1Co 15:18).

Grace Bible Church · 4000 E. Collins Rd · PO Box #3762 · Gillette, WY · (307) 686-1516