Unto my lord,— The term, Τω κυριω, plainly signifies to the lord of the empire; a title by which it is well known the emperor was now frequently spoken of. Festus knew very well the account which Felix had left behind him, and the accusations of the leading men among the Jews, both at Jerusalem and Caesarea; yet he was at a loss what to allege against the apostle, because the Romans had then no laws against the Christians. He was therefore in hopes that king Agrippa, who understood the Jewish customs and privileges, would help him out of this difficulty, and teach him how to form his charge against the prisoner, in so uncommon and remarkable a case.
Inferences.—In the conduct of Festus, as well as of Felix, we see what dangerous snares power and grandeur may prove, to a man who is not influenced by resolute and courageous virtue: the liberty of the worthiest of mankind was sacrificed by both, to their political views of ingratiating themselves with the Jewish people. Happy that ruler, who, approving the equity of his administration to every man's conscience, has no need to court popular favour by mean compliances; and whom the greatest eagerness of men's unjust demands can never turn aside from that steady tenor of justice which a righteous God requires, and which will engage that protection and favour in which alone the most exalted creatures can be happy, in which alone they can be safe.
Mysterious as that dispensation was which permitted St. Paul's labours to he interrupted by so long an imprisonment, it is nevertheless very pleasant to trace the manner in which all was graciously over-ruled by a wise and kind providence. On this occasion he had an opportunity of bearing his testimony, first before rulers and kings in Judea, and then in Rome, and in the palace of Caesar.
None of the jewels which these princes might wear, none of the revenues which they might possess, were of any value at all, when compared with the advantage which their converse with St. Paul gave them, for learning the way of salvation: but how shamefully was the advantage neglected, even the price which was put into their hands to get this divine wisdom, (Proverbs 17:16.) Alas! how coldly do they speak of the most important matters, even those relating to the death and resurrection of him, by whose knowledge and grace alone hell was to be avoided and heaven secured! There was a question about one Jesus, who was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive: A doubtful question! But, O Festus, why was it doubtful to thee? Surely, because thou didst not think it worth thy while seriously to search into the evidence that attended it; else that evidence had opened upon thee till it had grown into full conviction, and this thine illustrious prisoner had led thee into the glorious liberty of God's children; had led thee to a throne far brighter than that of Caesar, far more stable than the foundations of the earth.
REFLECTIONS.—1st, No sooner was Festus entered upon his government, than St. Paul's implacable enemies beset him.
1. After three days' stay at Caesarea, Festus proceeded to Jerusalem; where he no sooner arrived, than the high-priest and elders, coming in a body to pay their compliments to the governor, failed not to seize the opportunity to prepossess his mind, informing him against Paul; and, setting the affair in the most invidious light, they besought him to give judgment against the prisoner; and for that purpose, begged the favour of him, that he might be sent for to Jerusalem; resuming the old scheme, to assassinate him by the way. How restless are the struggles of malice! and what wickedness is not the wretched heart of man capable of, when enslaved by envy and revenge?
2. Festus excused himself from granting their request, choosing rather to decide the matter at Caesarea: either he thought their desire unreasonable, or perhaps suspected some design; and therefore, informing them that he should shortly depart thither, he assured them, if they would prepare their evidence, and those who were best able to manage the prosecution would go down with him, and could prove him guilty of any crime or misdemeanour, he would grant them impartial justice.
3. After more than ten days' stay at Jerusalem, Festus went down to Caesarea with those who were to carry on the prosecution against St. Paul; and, without delay, the very next day the prisoner is brought to the bar, and his enemies surrounding the judge, as if to intimidate him into compliance, or by their number to give weight to the cause, laid many and grievous accusations against the apostle, as if he was the vilest of the vile: but when the evidences which should have supported these allegations were required, it evidently appeared that they could not prove one of their charges: while, in his defence, St. Paul confidently denied every accusation, having neither offended against the law, the temple, nor the civil government; and defied them to produce a single instance wherein he had acted unbecoming his profession as a Jew, or his allegiance to Caesar. Note; Nothing is easier than to advance high charges against Christ's people: but accusing and proving are on such occasions very different things.
4. Festus could not but perceive the malice of the accusation and the innocence of the prisoner; but willing, on his first coming to Caesarea, to ingratiate himself with the Jews, by granting them the favour which they desired, of having St. Paul tried at Jerusalem, he asked him whether he would go up thither, and have the cause decided by him in the presence of the sanhedrim? Too well St. Paul knew the designs of his persecutors, to consent to a proposal so dangerous; therefore he wisely pleads his privilege as a Roman, and appeals unto Caesar. I stand, says he, at Caesar's judgment-seat, where I ought to be judged, and am ready to appear: to the Jews have I done no wrong, as thou very well knowest. For if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, according to the laws of the empire, I refuse not to die, content to suffer the desert of my offences: but if there be none of these things whereof they accuse me, and the charge be evidently false and malicious, no man may deliver me unto them, and put me in their power. I claim my right as a freeman of Rome, to be only judged there, and appeal unto Caesar. Note; The wisdom of the serpent is highly necessary, when we have to do with unreasonable and wicked men.
5. Festus acquiesces in his appeal. He conferred with the council, who assisted him in the management of affairs; and as they admitted the right of the prisoner to claim this privilege, he answered, Hast thou appealed unto Caesar? Unto Caesar shalt thou go; not unwilling, perhaps, thus to rid his hands so fairly of a cause which might have involved him in much trouble.
2nd, As Christ had told his disciples that they should be brought before governors and kings, so does he order it in his providence, that their persecutors are made the instruments of leading those great men to hear the gospel, who perhaps otherwise never would have heard it. We have,
1. The visit of Agrippa to Festus, to congratulate him on his coming to his government. Agrippa was the son of that Herod who flew the apostle James: Claudius, the Roman emperor, had given him the title of king and the tetrarchy which belonged to his uncle Philip. Bernice, who accompanied him, was his sister; but was accused of too great familiarity with her brother: such were the great people of those times: when viewing then the present corruptions of the age, say not, the former days were better: the unawakened world was always the same.
2. Agrippa and Bernice were both brought up in the Jewish religion; and after they had been at Caesarea some time, St. Paul's case happened one day to be the subject of conversation; which Festus related to the king, either to entertain him with the account, or to have his advice how to act, as better acquainted with the Jewish rites and customs, than he, a stranger, could be supposed to be. He had found St. Paul in bonds, when Felix resigned the government to him, and had no sooner come to Jerusalem, to take possession of his province, than the chief priests and elders clamoured for judgment against him: but he excused himself from a hasty decision of the matter, alleging the constant custom of the Romans to adjudge no man to death, nor to consign him to destruction, through any favour or partiality; but first to have the person accused, and his accusers, face to face, that he might have liberty to exculpate himself, if he could, from any crime laid to his charge. And to dispatch the matter without delay, the next day after his arrival, the prisoner was brought to the bar; when, to his surprise, he found no one accusation of a criminal nature could be proved, none such as came under his cognizance as a magistrate; but that the charge turned upon certain questions of a religious nature, respecting the tenets that he held contrary to their law, and about one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive. Counting himself an incompetent judge of such superstitious controversies, as he regarded them, he proposed to Paul to have the matter canvassed before the sanhedrim at Jerusalem; but the prisoner, objecting to them, had pleaded his privilege, and appealed unto Caesar: he was therefore still in custody, till an opportunity offered to send him to Rome. Note; (1.) Every man has a natural right to be heard, before he is condemned. To determine a case, where only one side of the question is told, is the sure way to err, and may be the means of irreparable injury to the purest innocence. (2.) They who know not Jesus, speak slightly of him; but to those who feel their guilt and need of a Saviour, whether he be alive again or not is a matter of infinite importance, on which their everlasting hopes depend.
3. Agrippa, curious to know what St. Paul had to say for himself, intimated a desire to hear him: Festus gladly consented to it, and appointed the next day. On the morrow, Agrippa and Bernice in vast pomp, arrayed in gorgeous apparel, attended by their royal retinue, entered the judgment-hall, where all the chief captains and principal men of the city attended, drawn by curiosity, or to pay their respects to the noble personages who were present: when, being seated, the prisoner, at the commandment of Festus, is brought forth, more adorned with his prison-garments and glorious bonds, than they in all their vain splendour and empty magnificence.
4. Festus, with respect, hereupon addressed himself to king Agrippa and the principal men who were present, and opened the occasion of their meeting with an account of the prisoner before them, upon whom he had been solicited with great importunity by all the Jews, both at Jerusalem and Caesarea, to pass sentence of death, as a miscreant unworthy to live. But when on fair trial nothing criminal could be proved against him, and Paul had appealed to Augustus for the final decision of his cause, he was resolved to send him. But as it looked absurd and unreasonable to send a prisoner without signifying what crimes he stood accused of, he had therefore brought Paul forth before that honourable assembly, especially before king Agrippa, who was most acquainted with the Jewish laws and customs, that, after a full discussion of the case, he might have something determinate to write to his imperial master, concerning the prisoner who had appealed to his judgment.