Now that a new governor, Festus, was in charge, he had to make the decision about Paul that Governor Felix would not make himself. He had to determine whether Paul had committed crimes worthy of severe punishment and death as the Jewish leaders claimed. Therefore, he went to the city of Caesarea where Paul was being held prisoner, and there he would hear accusations against Paul from the Jewish leaders and allow Paul to defend himself.
The Jewish leaders made their case but could not prove any of the accusations they made against Paul. Paul, of course, denied everything they said because he had not done anything wrong. He said he had not broken any of the laws of the Jews, nor the laws of the temple, nor any laws of the government. Paul was clearly innocent of all charges against him, but it was basically his word against theirs.
Governor Festus found himself in the same position as Governor Felix; he believed Paul, but because doing what was right would be unpopular, he refused to make the decision.
We all know how hard it is to do the right thing sometimes, but God tells us in Proverbs 3:26-27 that He will be our confidence, so we don’t have to be scared of making hard decisions, and we should do good when we have the opportunity. He also tells us in Proverbs 21:3 that to do what is right is pleasing to Him.
Governor Festus wanted to send Paul back to Jerusalem and let the Jewish leaders handle it, but Paul, remembering that Jesus told him he would testify of Him in Rome (Acts 23:11) and knowing the Jewish leaders had no legal authority to decide his guilt or innocence, asked to be judged by Caesar Augustus who was the emperor of Rome. An emperor is like the boss’s boss; he had more authority than Governor Festus or anyone else in the land.
Governor Festus was all too eager to send Paul away and let someone else make the difficult decision, but to do that he had to write a letter to Caesar explaining the reason Paul was being sent to him. Because it was obvious that Paul had done nothing wrong, Festus had to write something that sounded better than “I’m too much of a coward to do the right thing and make a difficult decision,” so he enlisted the help of King Agrippa to hear the case and come up with something creative to write to Caesar so he didn’t look like he was shirking his responsibilities. Tomorrow, we see how that turns out.
Prayer: Dear God, please help me to find strength in You to make difficult decisions and not to think too much about what others might say or think. Remind me that doing the right thing is always right and good.