Theological Commentary: Click Here
Once more we
see Paul making his defense. Once more,
he tells the story as it happens. This
time, Festus tells Paul that he is out of his mind. Festus, of course, is a Roman unfamiliar with
God. He isn’t familiar with a personal
God who has relationship with His followers.
Of course, Paul sounds insane to Festus.
Notice,
however, that Paul doesn’t let that bother him.
In fact, he doesn’t really even defend himself other than deny the
charge. Paul puts Festus in his place by
turning to and appealing to Agrippa, who is familiar with God. Paul lets Festus know that he’s the only
person in the room who thinks the tale is strange.
I think
there is a piece of wisdom in this story.
How prepared are we to accept and speak to God’s hand in our life? Do we shrink from the amazing nature of it
and assume people will think us crazy?
Or are we willing to speak and send a message to the world that it truly
they who are missing out? Do we
compromise the truth for our public image or are we willing to risk our image
for the sake of truth?
Before I
leave, I have one small comment. I used
to read the conclusion of this chapter and feel sad. It seems like Paul would have gotten free had
he not appealed to Caesar. As I’ve
studied this year, I’ve lost that sensation.
Remember that the Jews wanted to kill him. Festus would have probably put Paul in a
position to be killed by the Jews. In
truth, the only reason that Paul is alive right now is because of his
appeal. Furthermore, Paul’s appeal is
what eventually gets him to Rome, speaking God’s message as he goes along the
way and even into the court of Caesar himself.
There is no reason to be sad that Paul doesn’t go free at the end of
this chapter. Paul is once more on a
mission; that’s a good thing.
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