Then Agrippa said to Festus, “This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.” Acts 26:32

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In the previous verse, those gathered after the trial had said, “This man is doing nothing deserving of death or chains.” In this verse, it starts, “Then Agrippa said to Festus.”

Festus had asked for advice and an opinion on the matter of Paul. That has now been rendered by Agrippa and it will give Festus the statement he needed to include with Paul’s continued evaluation in the Roman court. The mutually agreed decision was that he was innocent. And more, Agrippa next says, “This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”

Paul was innocent and should be walking free at this very moment. That could not yet happen, however. But at least Festus had something to include in the letter that would accompany Paul’s case as it went to Caesar. He could say exactly what Agrippa had stated, thus excusing Paul’s being sent to Rome as a legal technicality based on the appeal to Caesar.

Obviously, the appeal was the right thing to do for several reasons. The first is that it kept Paul from being released and put back in peril of the Jews. Second, it allowed for this very trial of Chapter 26 to have been held. Third, this will now allow for the continued spreading of the gospel along the way to Rome as well as into the areas of Rome by Paul (as will be seen in the next two chapters). Fourth, the trial before Agrippa brought the issue of Christianity to the forefront of the courts in the land of Israel.

No Jew could come forward and accuse the converts of being a subversive heretical sect in a Roman trial. The precedent has thus far been set and the Christian way of faith has found a legal footing in the courts of Rome. It would likewise be found legal in the final court of Caesar.

Any Caesar who came later, and who persecuted the Christians, would be found to be persecuting an established and already accepted faith within the empire. The work of Paul, by the direction of the Lord, ensured that everything was set to proceed in the most marvelous way for the expansion of the faith which is found in Jesus Christ.

Life application: When we see Christians persecuted for their faith, we might ask where the sense in their persecution rests. How could God allow them (or us!) to be treated so shamefully? Although it is a completely different context in which Jesus was speaking, the words remain true in other contexts as well when He said, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.”

In the end, if we are saved, it may be troubling, painful, terrifying, and so forth to see Christians persecuted and tortured, but what happens to our bodies is actually very temporary and passing. In the end, the Spirit has given true believers life. They will be raised, and they will be given eternal joy in the presence of the Lord.

Paul is one such example, but the record of faithful martyrs for Christ has continued on unabated for two millennia. Those who truly are to be pitied are those whose faith is misdirected in heretical sects and false religions who die for their faith. They are the ones who will be eternally separated from God.

When a true Christian is persecuted, we can know that their troubles will be temporary and, in the end, he will be vindicated by the Lord who watches over those who are His. Let us take heart in this and remember that God has a plan that is being worked out. Paul’s trials are leading to a furtherance of the gospel. Ours, if they come, will serve their own purpose in meeting God’s plans and purposes.

Heavenly Father, may our lives be used to glorify You at all times, even if suffering comes. Help us to keep our thoughts on what is eternal as we pass through this troubled and fallen world. We have a job to do in sharing the gospel and in being a witness to Your presence in our lives. Be with us and sustain us through our days. Amen.