The beloved physician Luke wrote how Paul told Festus, “I appeal unto Caesar. Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered, Have you appealed unto Caesar? unto Caesar shall you go. And after certain days king Agrippa and Bernice came unto Caesarea to salute Festus. And when they had been there many days, Festus declared Paul's cause unto the king, saying, There is a certain man left in bonds by Felix. About whom, when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me, desiring to have judgment against him. To whom I answered, It is not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die, before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and have license to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against him. Therefore, when they were come here, without any delay on the morrow I sat on the judgment seat, and commanded the man to be brought forth”, and in chapter twenty-five and verse eighteen of the book of Acts Luke shared how Festus told King Agrippa, “when the accusers stood up, they brought none accusation of such things as I supposed” where we read:
Against whom when the accusers stood up, they brought none accusation of such things as I supposed:
The verse begins, “Against whom when the accusers stood up, ...” Luke began with the words, “Against whom” which means “about, concerning and on account of Paul” “when the accusers stood up” or “at the time and moment the complainants were fixed and established” and did the following. Luke shared how the “chief priests and elders” appeared and were standing to bring their complaints against “Paul”.
The verse continues, “... they brought none accusation of such things as I supposed:” Luke added the words, “they brought none accusations” which means “the chief priests and elder did not bring forward, impose or superinduce upon Paul any complaints or causes worthy of punishment” “of such things as I supposed” or “similar to and like I, Festus, thought or surmised”. Luke shared how “Festus” told “king Agrippa” the “chief priests and elders” did not “accuse” “Paul” with any charges of wrongdoing like he thought they would.
When we consider Luke's words in this verse, we learn how “Festus” told “king Agrippa” that the “accusers” of “Paul” stood before him but did not complain against him for reasons of criminal activity that he thought they were bringing. We see how this somewhat befuddled “Festus” because he thought “Paul's” accusers were going to charge him with some crime he committed, however, we shall see what the complaints were about in our next verse. All these things were done so “Paul” would have an opportunity to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone who was listening. God's desire is to have a personal relationship with every person through His Son Jesus, and when they surrender to Him, they will be forgiven of their sins and granted everlasting life. Those who are wise will understand even the lack of understanding on the part of “Festus” lead to people hearing the gospel, and anyone is invited to come to Jesus and make Him “Savior and Lord” of their lives.
Next time Luke shares how Festus tells King Agrippa that the Jews, “had certain questions against him of their own superstition”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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