Acts 25:1-12 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Acts 25:1-12. Let’s go!
Acts 25:1-9 (NIV)
1 Three days after arriving in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem,
2 where the chief priests and Jewish leaders appeared before him and presented the charges against Paul.
3 They urgently requested Festus, as a favor to them, to have Paul transferred to Jerusalem, for they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way.
4 Festus answered, “Paul is being held at Caesarea, and I myself am going there soon.
5 Let some of your leaders come with me and press charges against the man there, if he has done anything wrong.”
6 After spending eight or ten days with them, he went down to Caesarea, and the next day he convened the court and ordered that Paul be brought before him.
7 When Paul appeared, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many serious charges against him, which they could not prove.
8 Then Paul made his defense: “I have done nothing wrong against the law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar.”
9 Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?”
On verses 1 to 9: Originally governor Festus rejected the request of Paul’s opponents to have Paul moved to Jerusalem for the trial (verses 4-5). So why in verse 9 is Festus now giving into their request and trying to convince Paul to move to Jerusalem? It’s because of what happened in verse 6: “After spending eight or ten days with them”, Festus was like putty in the hands of Paul’s opponents.
What can we learn from this? Watch who you hang out with. They say that we are the average of the 5 people who are closest to us. If you hang out with the wrong crowd long enough, you will one day become one of them.
Acts 25:10-12 (NIV)
10 Paul answered: “I am now standing before Caesar’s court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well.
11 If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!”
12 After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!”
On verses 10-12: Paul had already been waiting in prison for 2 years for his trial to resume. He could sense that something fishy was going on between Festus and the Jews who wanted to kill Paul. So Paul takes a stand. He wisely rejects Festus’ attempt to move him to Jerusalem and appeals to Caesar.
Likewise, there comes a time when you need to take a stand against whatever is holding you down. Just as Paul appealed to Caesar, one of the most powerful ways you can take a stand is to appeal to a higher power. If you’ve been held down by a tough situation for a while, don’t just sit there and sulk, but take a stand. One way you can take a stand is to appeal to the authorities above you, the greatest of whom is God Himself. Pray to the God of heaven to rescue you and to bring the breakthrough that you need.
Lord Jesus, I look to You today for the breakthrough that I need: [Go ahead and be specific about what breakthrough that is.] Thank You that all authority in heaven and on earth belongs to You and with You all things are possible. So I appeal to You today. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
