As Luke sets the scene, a majestic court in full regalia assembles. In come Agrippa, Bernice, . . . high ranking officers (Festus's tribunes, who commanded the cohorts stationed at Caesarea; compare Josephus Jewish Antiquities 19.365) and leading men of the city, a group mainly, if not entirely, Gentile. What a contrast when prisoner Paul is led in chained! Does Luke want us to look beyond the trappings of earthly, temporal power and see where the real power lay, in the manacled hands of a Spirit-filled witness to an eternal gospel, "the power of God for salvation"?

Festus articulates his dilemma by setting side by side the Jewish and Roman assessments of Paul, including the prisoner's appeal, and then presenting his need (vv. 24-27). Either by command or by exclamation Festus invites all present to consider Paul. As someone observes an unusual sight, whether the supernatural/miraculous (3:16; 4:13; 7:56; 8:13; 10:11; 28:6) or the innocent suffering (Lk 23:35, 48), so the assembled dignitaries should look at this man. This one whom Festus will shortly declare innocent has aroused the hostility of the whole Jewish community. What was previously presented as a request for a change of venue or a statement of charges and request for a death penalty we now learn was a petition delivered with bloodthirsty shouting (boao, "to cry or shout with unusually large volume"; Louw and Nida 1988:1:398) that he ought not to live any longer (compare 22:22). The same zeal for the purity of the temple and the sanctity of Jewish religious identity that fired the arresting mob and the plotters continued unabated throughout Felix's tenure and greeted Festus (21:27-36; 22:22; 23:12-22). Little did Paul's opponents realize that their "ought not" (me dein) stood in direct opposition to the divine "ought" (dei) of Paul's mission to Rome (23:11; 27:24).

All persecution in the final analysis is born of religious, ideological or ethnic pride or fear. It is a blind, irrational hostility against the truth of the gospel, which seeks to frustrate the purposes of God but in the end only finds itself "kicking against the goads" (26:14).

Festus now gives us for the first time his assessment of Paul's status before Roman law: I found he had done nothing deserving of death. Like his Lord, Paul has been declared innocent three times, a full exoneration in a judicial system where the accused was given three opportunities to defend himself (Lk 23:4, 15, 22; Acts 23:29; 25:25; 26:31). Festus fails to mention the political pressure and perplexity that led to his offer of a change of venue and in turn to Paul's appeal to Caesar (25:9-11, 20-21). Rather, he proceeds directly to the matter of Paul's appeal, leaving the impression, which is made explicit at the end of the hearing, that Paul is to blame for his continuing incarceration (26:32). Neither the governor nor the king explicitly takes into account that the decision to send an innocent man to Caesar, once he has appealed, is as much a political as a judicial decision. In Paul's case, not only would Caesar be insulted but the Jews would be infuriated if this prisoner were set free.

When persecutors use the state to further their ends and the result is a failure in the administration of justice, Christians must live in such integrity that even then their innocence before the laws of the state will be apparent to all.

Festus needs to find charges that may accompany the prisoner (Ulpian Digest 49.5-6, cited in Bruce 1990:494). With his search for things definite [asphales] to write, Festus joins Claudius Lycias in the desire to get at the truth about the Jewish opposition to Christianity (21:34; 22:30). He also models the stance that Luke desires all his readers to take toward the Christian gospel (Lk 1:4).

An informal hearing before Agrippa should help. He is well acquainted with Judaism. In a face-saving expression, Festus again affirms Paul's innocence and states his dilemma: it is unreasonable (alogon; Josephus Jewish Antiquities 1.24)—in the sense of "illogical, absurd," not "unfair"—that a prisoner be sent on to Caesar without prosecutable charges. Doing the right thing, even after a failure of judicial administration, will put Festus in a position to hear and respond to the truth of the gospel.