Acts 25: the gospel - just an internal religious squabble?
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Acts 25: read the passage here.
At the end of Chapter 24, things had reached a bit of an impasse between Paul, the Jewish authorities, and Felix, the Roman governor. Although Felix could find nothing legally with which to charge Paul, he kept him in prison in order to placate the Jewish authorities, whilst also talking regularly with Paul himself, in the hope that the man might offer him a bribe. This situation goes on for two years, until Felix is succeeded by a new Governor - Festus. which brings us up to the end of Chapter 24 and into the beginning of Chapter 25.
With Festus coming to power and visiting Jerusalem, the Jewish authorities take a fresh attempt to having Paul moved back to Jerusalem to be tried so that they can ambush him and kill him on the way. We see God's hand work through Festus, who refuses to have Paul moved, but instead asks his accusers to come to Caesarea (where Paul is being held) to make their case, and through the Roman law, which enables Paul to demand to be tried in Caesar's court (rather than being 'freed' only to be killed by the Jewish authorities). It may seem like Paul is just a pawn between various squabbling factions with their own interests and politics, but God is in control: this is not just meaningless being passed around from pillar to post.
But what of these various factions - what do they tell us about human mind's understanding of Jesus and the human heart's response to him.
First, in Festus, rather like Felix before him, we have someone who is puzzled but Paul, does not know what to do with him, and can't quite see what everyone is making a fuss about. See how he puts it to King Agrippa whom he consults on the matter:
‘I told them that it is not the Roman custom to hand over anyone before they have faced their accusers and have had an opportunity to defend themselves against the charges. When they came here with me, I did not delay the case, but convened the court the next day and ordered the man to be brought in. When his accusers got up to speak, they did not charge him with any of the crimes I had expected. Instead, they had some points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a dead man named Jesus whom Paul claimed was alive. I was at a loss how to investigate such matters; so I asked if he would be willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial there on these charges. But when Paul made his appeal to be held over for the Emperor’s decision, I ordered him to be held until I could send him to Caesar.’ (Acts 25:16-21, emphasis mine)
In the eyes of the law, Festus finds Paul to be innocent (e.g. verse 25). You can imagine the scene today: one religious group accusing another over points of belief, and the judge naively saying: 'but don't you all believe the same thing? Why is this important?
To Festus, Paul's teaching is of no eternal consequence - all he wants is to follow the Roman law and preserve peace and order in the region under his jurisdiction. There is nothing important and life-changing in it, and notably, nothing that means he needs to change his beliefs. He does not realise that Jesus was, in the famous words of C. S. Lewis, either liar, lunatic or Lord. He doesn't realise that what Paul has been preaching about is something that has consequences for everyone - that Jesus Christ is Lord and that salvation from sin and death (something under which we all are) is only found in him.
Those who are indifferent to Christianity are those who have not grasped it's message; those who have not heard that Jesus said: I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6).
I suspect that the Jewish authorities, however, realise that these are important matters. They realise that God is Holy and that humans are separated from him by sin and death - they know their scriptures and the picture of atonement and sacrifice given to them by God through the Levitical laws. Jesus' teaching, and death on the cross, which Paul is preaching, has implications for them. They know that if Paul's teaching is true, that Jesus did rise from the dead and is truly God (and therefore his judgement is true and correct), then the things they have put their hope in - their own self-righteousness and ritual - will count for nothing. And if Jesus was not God (which is what they believed), then he was wrong and blasphemous - the claims he made about himself were not inconsequential.
But Jesus rose from the dead, he conquered sin and death, so that no one need feel guilt and shame and so that whoever believes in him will have eternal life, but whoever does not will but cut off from God forever, for that is their choice. This is not just an internal squabble amongst Jews and Christians, but a question for everyone.
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