Paul Appeals to Caesar

God’s law contains many provisions to protect the rights of an accused person. For instance, a person could be charged or put to death only on the testimony of two or three witnesses; a single witness or accuser would not suffice. This means that a case against the accused had to be conclusively proved (Deut. 17:6; 19:15). The law established cities of refuge where those who had killed someone by accident could flee for protection from family members of the dead person. Such provisions made it plain that Israel was not to tolerate vigilante “justice.” The Jews were to follow proper judicial procedures, not taking matters into their own hands.

The Jewish opponents of Christianity, however, readily disregarded these procedures when they confronted Paul over his purported crime of bringing gentiles into areas of the temple off-limits to non-Jews. The Jews seized Paul and would have killed him without trial if the Romans had not intervened (Acts 21:27–36). Once Paul was in Roman custody, the Jews conspired to have Paul moved so that he could be assassinated in transit. After this plot was uncovered, the Romans sent Paul to Caesarea for his protection (23:12–22). Then, once Festus became governor, the Jews sought to have Paul moved to Jerusalem again to create the opportunity for an ambush. Initially, Festus denied their request (25:1–5).

About ten days later, we see in today’s passage, Festus asked Paul if he wanted to go back to Jerusalem to stand trial for charges that the Jews could not prove. It seems that Festus, a Roman governor not terribly well acquainted with Jewish religious matters, was perplexed by the whole affair and thought that it might be better settled by the Jews themselves. It also gave him a chance to earn some favor with the Jews by granting their request to send Paul to Jerusalem (vv.  6–9). Paul was willing to suffer for any misdeeds or crime, but since he had broken no Jewish or Roman law, he appealed to Caesar for a hearing (vv. 10–12). Roman citizens such as Paul enjoyed the right to a trial before Caesar when they made such appeals.

Paul’s appeal shows us that the Roman government was not always an enemy to the church. Yes, some Roman emperors would persecute Christians, but especially at this early stage in Christian history, Rome was largely neutral toward the church. Paul could have some confidence that he might get a fair hearing before the emperor when it was clear that he would never get one before the Jews.