We are granted a fresh retelling of Paul's testimony, from yet another perspective, due to a difference in audience. It would be easy to pick over the differences instead of sensing what the variations tell us about Paul's state of mind, and what he considered important for his hearers. Agrippa was more Jewish than most of the Herods had been. Keeping his oath of loyalty to Rome was hardly at conflict with his record of doing the Jews a favor when possible. Paul had the advantage of addressing someone who did not need convincing on certain fundamentals.
When offered the chance to tell his side in this confusing situation, Paul began with an arm gesture for recognizing he spoke to royalty. His polite introduction established the tone, beckoning Agrippa to put on his best Jewish ears. As with all things Jewish, it would require a bit of telling, and needed the patience of the king.
Who was this man, Paul? Pertinent was the statement he was not some unknown, but his youth and training were public record among the Jewish leadership. He wasn't just a Pharisee, but an exemplary member who had gained renown for his scruples. That had not actually changed, yet somehow he passed from fast-track promotion to murderous persecution. As far as he was concerned, he was pursuing all the hopes of his nation. Oddly, this is what got him in trouble.
Why would anyone with a Jewish background reject the notion God raised the dead? That was the ultimate end of the Covenant and all prophecies. It was pursuit of that hope which drove him to persecute the early Christians. He mentions prison for them, and for the first time remarks more than one was executed by this effort. If anything, Paul was famous as the chief prosecutor in every synagogue, even outside the Jewish lands. Indeed, on his way to one of those places, Damascus, Paul's life changed. Bearing his charge as magistrate of the Sanhedrin, in the broad light of a sunny mid-day, an even brighter light fell upon his party. How could it not be a manifestation of God? They all prostrated themselves. But it was Paul who heard the voice in his native Hebrew, berating him for daring to persecute Him. Was it not painful to reject the goading of his conscience? Paul had to admit right then he had surely been wrong about what God had wanted.
At that point, all he thought he knew about God was clearly false, and it was time to go back and start over. Whomever was addressing him now would be his God; no other options were available. By what name would he know his God now? Jesus Christ. And his new marching orders were a radical change from his past course. While his travel plans were unchanged, his life was beginning anew. He was called to serve Jesus as messenger, telling of things he had already seen, but through the fresh understanding of things he was about to learn. Unspoken was the realization Paul was about to face the same persecutions he had been handing out. Instead, Jesus spoke His promise to deliver Paul from such things because the mission was to take His message to them, and to the rest of the world. Paul would be delivered, and he was to share that deliverance from Satan's kingdom to God's, to offer the gift of repentance, and a holy life and identity as God's People under Christ.
The same zealous Paul now served the Kingdom he had persecuted. This was a command from Heaven's throne. He began with Damascus, and then returned to Jerusalem, and went about the rest of Judea (more the people than the place), and finally the rest of the world. The basic message was a call to repentance. This was nothing different from what Jesus, or John the Baptist before Him, or any of the prophets all the way back, had called Israel to do. Not just in ritual, but in full commitment of the life. Somehow, this became a crime in the eyes of his fellow Jews, who were willing to defile the Temple in trying to kill Paul there.
But Jesus had kept His promise and delivered Paul from their hands. Not only to the common nobodies of the world, but Paul was still around to share the message with rulers, the same message every Jew had been called to share since Moses. He and the prophets had said consistently there would be a Messiah who would pay the price for their sins. Then, He would rise again as the first to open the portal between Eternity and this world, bringing a clear light of heavenly revelation to all.
Most Gentiles in general, and Romans in particular, found the idea of returning from the dead utterly foreign, even frightening. So at this point, Festus burst out with a declaration. Paul, learned though he may be, was surely out of his mind. Romans were always a little suspicious of philosopher types, and Paul seemed like one of them. Given the situation, it is essential we see Paul treading carefully here. Shifting from his typically impassioned explanation to Agrippa, he faced Festus rather mildly, projecting a rational and peaceful mind. Addressing him properly, Paul gently contradicts him. It may sound like madness, but it was surely the truth of things. King Agrippa wasn't shaken by such ideas. Besides, the king surely knew the facts regarding Jesus, since none of it was done in secret. Surely he believed the Jewish prophets regarding the Messiah?
Too many English translations take liberties here. Paul had put Agrippa in a tight spot. Confessing to believe the prophets was what he claimed to curry favor with the Jews. But it would force him to agree with Paul, in general. Yet his host and the other guests would then see Agrippa tinged with the instability Festus alleged was Paul's. He had to stay neutral. What he says amounts to a joke, sarcasm to kill the tension of the moment. What Paul had said was not enough to make Agrippa a Christian. Paul accepted this, and returned to the one thing which depended on no other man: Whether it took a little or a lot, Paul earnestly desired the king and everyone else there that day could share what great things he had, with the exception of the legal hassles.
The show was over. As the guest of honor, it was for the king to say so. When he stood, Bernice and Festus rose with him, then the rest of the guests followed. They retired to a private conference. Festus and Agrippa agreed Paul was harmless, if strange. Had Paul not publicly appealed to Caesar, he could be released that very day. Of course, had he not appealed, he would surely be dead at the hands of the Jews. We can be sure Agrippa then went on to help draft a letter to the Imperial Court, which would recommend Paul be released. But what mattered most was, this would allow Paul to fulfill his mission to see the Christians in Rome.
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By Ed Hurst
24 October 2009
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