The Honorable Judge Festus Presiding ("On Trial" series pt 5)

But after two years Porcius Festus succeeded Felix; and Felix, wanting to do the Jews a favor, left Paul bound... Now when Festus had come to the province, after three days he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem. Then the high priest and the chief men of the Jews informed him against Paul; and they petitioned him, asking a favor against him, that he would summon him to Jerusalem—while they lay in ambush along the road to kill him. But Festus answered that Paul should be kept at Caesarea... "Let those who have authority among you go down with me and accuse this man, to see if there is any fault in him." ...And when the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood about and laid many serious complaints against Paul, which they could not prove, while he answered for himself, "Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I offended in anything at all."

When God seems silent and the charges pile high, He is still providentially working His plan—so live guilty only of righteousness.

A Tender Box in San Diego and in Judea

This last week we experienced something in San Diego County that, while not unique, feels especially familiar here. Having lived in North County for 34 years, I know that when I wake to a bright, dry, hot day with Santa Ana winds out of the east, at least two things are likely: I'll probably get a bloody nose—it runs in my family—and I'll see dark smoke rising on the skyline. The brush is thick and burns quickly, and when the conditions are right, all it takes is a small spark to ignite a huge blaze. This week was abnormal because it's May; the big fires of 2003 and 2007 came in October.

In A.D. 60, when Festus became governor of Judea, the region was a tender box too—politically and spiritually. The Jews were pushing back against Roman rule harder than ever in their history. For years Rome had given them unusual leeway, even allowing their own coinage in Jerusalem, but now the empire was tightening its grip. Festus came on the heels of Felix, who had ruled about eight years and kept peace mainly through bribes. The Jewish historian Josephus tells us there was a group of religious zealots in Jerusalem called the Sicarii—"dagger men"—assassins trying to inflame an uprising against Rome. Festus pursued them vigorously to protect Rome's interests while trying to appease the religious leaders. He ruled only two years, from A.D. 60 to 62, perhaps worn down by the impossible task of keeping peace.

A New Governor Inherits an Old Problem

Two years before Festus arrived, around A.D. 58, Paul was taken captive in Jerusalem and brought to Caesarea, where he appeared before Felix. Felix didn't know what to do: the Jewish leaders wanted Paul dead, but Paul had done nothing, and he was a Roman citizen. So Felix left him in limbo, hoping for a bribe. When Felix was recalled to Rome to stand trial for his own misrule, he left Paul bound to do the Jews a favor.

When Festus came to the province, he did what any new official would—he evaluated the mess his predecessor had left, including this man Paul stuck in the Caesarean jail. Caesarea was the political capital, but Jerusalem was the religious capital of the Jews, so Festus went up to meet the chief priests and the Sanhedrin. You can sense his desire: to find a bargaining chip, some common ground, some way to cooperate.

The high priest and chief men seized the moment. "Festus, we understand you want to find common ground. Here's an easy win—this man Paul down in Caesarea broke our law. Just summon him up to Jerusalem; do us a favor." But Luke pulls back the curtain: they planned to ambush and kill Paul on the road. Two years earlier they had hatched the same plot, which Paul's nephew exposed. Two years later they are still so indignant that they're still scheming. They had once vowed not to eat until they killed Paul—I imagine they broke that vow, maybe a little thinner than before, but still wanting him dead.

Christ and His Followers Are at the Center of World Conflict

Whether nearly 2,000 years ago in the Middle East or now in 2014, followers of Christ keep finding themselves at the center of world conflict. The animosity makes little sense. This is the same group of people Jesus taught to strive for peace—to turn the other cheek, to go the second mile, to give the cloak as well as the tunic. Paul wrote in Romans 12, "As much as is possible, as it relies upon you, live at peace with all people." To the Thessalonians he wrote that we should aspire to live quiet lives, working with our hands.

So how is it that Christians are so often in the midst of conflict? Jesus answered in John 15:18: "If the world hates you, know that it hated Me before it hated you." Paul is on trial not for anything bad he had done, but because he was a witness for Jesus Christ. The world, because of its opposition to Christ and His kingdom, will oppose you as an ambassador of His rule.

You may not have realized this when you said yes to Jesus, but in that moment you were born again you became an ambassador of His kingdom (2 Corinthians 5) and a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3). Wherever we go, we represent the King of Kings—and since the world hates Him, it will turn its hatred toward us. There are no ifs, ands, or buts. If you were looking for a life without conflict, the way of Jesus is not it. We see this more and more in our nation as the culture shifts; fewer people default to calling themselves Christians, and the distinction grows clearer. Jesus told Nicodemus that men love darkness rather than light, but we carry the light of Christ. Wherever we go, those who hate the light won't like us. Still, as much as it relies upon us, we should seek peace, turn the other cheek, and display the mercy and grace of Christ.

God Providentially Works His Plan in This World

Festus refused the request: "Paul should be kept at Caesarea... I myself am going there shortly. Let those who have authority among you go down with me and accuse this man." For one reason or another—perhaps he knew of the earlier plot, perhaps he simply didn't want the hassle of extradition—Festus would not agree. It's striking that 2,000 years ago people were negotiating peace accords in the Middle East, and it hasn't changed much. I suggest it will not change until the Prince of Peace returns.

This brings us to a vital reminder. It's popular for Christians to quote Romans 8:28—"all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose." We say it at the hospital bedside, at the doctor's bad news. But although we can memorize and quote that verse, many of us don't actually live it. Many Christians live like practical atheists: we say with our lips that God is in control, but we live as if everything depends on us. People even invent verses—"God helps those who help themselves"—which is not in the Bible, yet that's how many live.

James addressed this in James 4:13: "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city... and make a profit'—whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow." How many of you had plans this week disrupted on Wednesday by black smoke in the sky? "What is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.'"

I'm not saying we shouldn't plan—Proverbs urges wise counsel, counting the cost, finishing what we build; Jesus speaks of evaluating before going to war. But while we plan our way, God directs our steps and works sovereignly behind the scenes, often in ways we never see. Paul was human like us—type A, driven, with a clear plan: drop money in Jerusalem, stop in Rome, head to Spain. Yet God said, "No—two years sitting in Caesarea." No letters survive from this period. We can only imagine Paul waiting in that Caesarean purgatory, wondering what God was doing. But God was providentially working behind the scenes the whole time.

God's Timing Is Always Different Than Ours

After more than ten days in Jerusalem, Festus went down to Caesarea, sat on the judgment seat—the bema—and commanded Paul to be brought. Notice how easily we read past it: two whole years pass between Acts 24 and Acts 25 while Paul sits waiting.

How many of you would admit this point bothers you? God's timing is always different than ours. Some of you feel like you're in your own personal Groundhog Day—the same song wakes you, the same coffee in the same cup, the same route, the same seat, the same email coming back when you thought you'd dealt with it. And you're asking, "God, are You doing anything?" Yes, He is—but His time is different, and a day with the Lord can seem like a thousand years.

Galatians 6:9 has an encouragement for you: "Let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." When I was fourteen I took a job at a farm stand down the street. They handed me several acres, plowed the field, gave me a tool to cut furrows, and showed me how to plant and irrigate—tomatoes, beans, and okra, the most disgusting thing I've ever tasted. You plant the seed, you water it morning and evening, you weed it—and as a fourteen-year-old you want it now. But Jesus said, "Do you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the harvest'?" There is time between planting and harvest, and it can try your patience. So it is in our lives.

Be Guilty Only of Righteousness

Now the knock comes. Festus will see you now; the chief priests and the Sanhedrin are here. Court is in session, the honorable Judge Festus presiding. The prosecution states its case: the Jews "laid many serious complaints against Paul." Two years ago they had only three charges—a pestilent fellow, a ringleader of the Nazarenes, a temple-defiler. Now they have had two years to deposition witnesses and build their case, and they unload it all. But Luke writes the words I want you to underline: "which they could not prove."

Be guilty only of righteousness. Then Paul gives the simplest of defenses: "Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I offended in anything at all." After hours of accusation, the defense rests. Two years earlier in Jerusalem Paul had said, "I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day" (Acts 23:1). Before Felix he testified, "I myself strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men" (Acts 24:16)—the Greek means to exercise oneself, to labor. And now, two years later before Festus, the same.

As followers of Jesus, we need to strive to live righteously—it doesn't just happen. We have been made righteous by God, the imputed righteousness of Jesus; Ephesians says God sees us as blameless. But we know we are not, so by the power of God we must exercise ourselves toward righteousness—so that when someone examines our lives, no charge can be brought, because we live with honesty, integrity, self-control, and the fruit of the Spirit. Paul told Timothy, "Bodily exercise profits little, but godliness is profitable for all things, both in this life and the life to come" (1 Timothy 4). In 1 Corinthians 9 he speaks of beating his body and bringing it under subjection—you defining what it does, not it dictating to you.

God Works and We Work

My favorite verses speak to this. Philippians 2:12: "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." Do the right thing whether or not anyone is watching, in reverence toward God. If the verse stopped there, we'd be left only in fear and trembling. But verse 13 continues: "for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure." The NIV says God works in you to desire and to do what pleases Him.

When a baby is born it instantly has new desires—to breathe, to eat—desires that never go away. When you were born again, you instantly had new desires too, one of them to follow and obey God, and He gives you the power to do it. God works, and I work—but I must work. Some say everything depends on me; they're wrong. Some say I do nothing and God does everything; they're wrong. God works and I work. Whether you call yourself a Calvinist or an Arminian, the fact remains: God is sovereign and you are responsible, and we stand in the middle saying, "God, help me to do what is right and honorable before You."

Always Be Ready to Give a Defense

Festus, "wanting to do the Jews a favor," asked Paul, "Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and there be judged before me concerning these things?" He's a new politician needing a bargaining chip, and Paul is all he has. But Paul answered: "I stand at Caesar's judgment seat, where I ought to be judged. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you very well know. If I am an offender or have committed anything deserving of death, I do not object to dying; but if there is nothing in these things of which these men accuse me, no one can deliver me to them. I appeal to Caesar." It was his Roman right—an appeal past the appellate court to the Supreme Court itself. After conferring with his council, Festus answered, "You have appealed to Caesar? To Caesar you shall go."

Always be ready to give a defense—and if you are only guilty of righteousness, this is not hard. We already know going into this life that we will be at the center of conflict, because we represent the King and His kingdom. We know God is providentially working behind the scenes, and that His timing is often not our timing. So as He works, we work—doing what is right and honorable before God—because a day will come when, out of the monotony of everyday life, He calls upon you to give a defense for the hope that is within you, with meekness and fear. Are you ready? Paul certainly was, and this text instructs us to be ready also.

Closing Prayer

God, it is clear that some standing here right now are in the midst of conflict for Your name's sake—not because of anything they did, but because of their representation of who You are. We pray that when someone comes against us, they will be ashamed, because we have lived in all good conscience before You and before humanity. Lord, I pray for my brothers and sisters who feel like You're not keeping up Your end of the bargain—help them not to grow weary in doing what is right, and to trust that at the right time You will bring a harvest. Help us to trust that You truly do work all things together for good, and to walk in that without anxiety, casting our cares upon You because You care for us. And Lord, when the knock at the door comes, when we are called to account, help us to make a defense with meekness and fear, for Your glory. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.