25:1,2
Paul now seems to be doing a tour of various governors and dignitaries. We should bear in mind the comment at the end of the last chapter that he was with Felix for 2 years. So what we read as a few lines is actually taking a significant amount of time. Festus is the new governor, and he travelled to Jerusalem. There he met with the chief priests and Jewish leaders. One might have thought that after two or more years they would have forgotten about Paul, especially as he couldn’t have caused that much trouble while held captive by Felix, but that was not the case. They were as obsessed as ever about doing away with Paul.
25:3-5
The Jewish leaders wanted Paul transferred to Jerusalem, all the easier to kill him! With a new governor they saw a new opportunity. The new governor would be keen to have good relations with the Jewish leaders, making it easier to run the place. If the transfer had taken place the Jews would have ambushed Paul along the way and killed him.
Festus would have had some political nous, and may have been aware of what had gone on before. So he plays for time, inviting the Jewish leaders to come to Caesarea so he can see if there are any valid charges against Paul.
No comments:
Post a Comment