Acts 25

13 King Agrippa was the son of the King Herod mentioned in Acts Chapter 12. He was also the brother of Drusilla, the wife of Felix (Acts 24:24). The Roman emperor had given Agrippa a small kingdom¹⁰⁹ north of the province of Judea, and Agrippa ruled there under the emperor’s authority.

Soon after the new Roman governor of Judea, Festus, had arrived at his residence in Caesarea, King Agrippa, along with his sister Bernice, went to Caesarea to welcome him.

14-21 Being a Jew himself, Agrippa knew much more about Jewish customs than Festus did. Therefore, Festus took the opportunity to discuss Paul’s case with Agrippa.

In this section, Festus recounts to Agrippa all that had happened concerning Paul up until that time.

The Jews had spoken such evil things about Paul that Festus supposed he must be guilty of some great crime. But when Festus examined Paul’s case, he could not find any crime that Paul had committed. So he concluded that Paul’s case involved only a dispute over Jewish religious matters (see Acts 18:14-16).

22 When Agrippa heard what Festus had to say, he asked to see Paul himself. Agrippa had undoubtedly heard something about this “dead man named Jesus whom Paul claimed was alive” (verse 19). Now Agrippa wanted to hear more.

23 The next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp. We can imagine the scene in that audience room. On one side was King Agrippa, Governor Festus, and the high ranking officers and leading men—all very important people. On the other side was a single Jewish prisoner bound with chains. Yet who in that audience room, we should ask, was most important in God’s sight?

Today, Paul alone is famous. The only reason we remember Agrippa and Festus at all is because for a few short moments they were together with Paul; otherwise we wouldn’t even recognize their names! God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him (1 Corinthians 1:2729).

24-25 Here again we see that the Roman authorities could find no crime that Paul had committed (see Acts 26:30-32).

26-27 Festus had not been able to understand the charges brought against Paul by the Jews. He needed to send a report of those charges to Rome along with Paul, but he didn’t know what to write. Therefore, Festus asked Agrippa to question Paul, so that he might have something to write to the emperor in Rome.