Jesus Is Alive Series

JESUS IS ALIVE!

Text: Acts 25:13-22

Introduction

1. Illustration: So significant is this event that the whole of the Christian faith would fall if the resurrection of Jesus Christ were not true. William Lane Craig suggests that “Without the belief in the resurrection, the Christian faith could not have come into being. The disciples would have remained crushed and defeated men. Even if they continued to remember Jesus as their beloved teacher, His crucifixion would have silenced any hope of his being the Messiah. The cross would have remained the sad shameful end of his career.” Therefore, it is crucial that the events of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection are true and historically accurate.

2. A group of nobles, as flawed as they could be, would stand in judgment on Paul, a man who had done nothing illegal.

3. They basis of the case against Paul was that he believed in a man supposedly dead, who Paul claimed He was alive.

4. That belief is the foundation of our faith, and the center of our witness to the world.

5. Read Acts 25:13-22

Transition: Let’s take a look at the story of the flawed nobles as told by Luke.

I. Those Judging Paul

A. As Paul awaits the result of yet another trial for which he was again found innocent, more nobles come in to hear about him. In vv. 13-15 it says, “A few days later King Agrippa arrived with his sister, Bernice, to pay their respects to Festus. 14 During their stay of several days, Festus discussed Paul’s case with the king. “There is a prisoner here,” he told him, “whose case was left for me by Felix. 15 When I was in Jerusalem, the leading priests and Jewish elders pressed charges against him and asked me to condemn him.”

1. The two nobles who came into town were King Agrippa II and his sister Bernice.

2. Now, I’ve struggled all week trying to think of a nice way to describe them. I want to say that they were high priced trailer trash, but that’s not fair to those who live in trailer parks. To say that they were not nice people is an understatement.

3. Agrippa II was the son of Agrippa I and the great grandson of Herod the Great. All of these people had a hand in trying to destroy Jesus.

4. Agrippa II grew up in Rome and was a favorite of Caesar, and as a result, was appointed ruler of the territories northeast of Palestine.

5. Now, his sister Bernice, the only nice thing I can say about her was she had really bad taste in men.

6. At the age of 13, she married her uncle, and when he died, she became the mistress of her brother.

7. To get away from the rumors and scandal of being with her brother, she married another king, and afterwards became the mistress to his son.

8. They were now going to stand in judgment against Paul, who had done nothing wrong.

9. Festus told them about Paul and how he was left to deal with him after his predecessor left him to deal with the charges against Paul.

B. Then, Festus explained to them how he had dealt with Paul to this point. Luke tells us in vv. 16-17, “I pointed out to them that Roman law does not convict people without a trial. They must be given an opportunity to confront their accusers and defend themselves. 17 “When his accusers came here for the trial, I didn’t delay. I called the case the very next day and ordered Paul brought in.”

1. As usual, Festus did everything possible to make himself look good in his guest’s eyes.

2. He stated that he made it clear to the Jewish leaders that Roman law does not convict people without a trial and giving them a chance to defend themselves.

3. In a roundabout way, he was saying the Jewish leaders wanted to take Paul and kill him, but being the good leader he was, Festus wouldn’t permit that without a trial.

4. He also attempted to make himself look good by saying he heard the case right away, which was actually true.

C. Then in vv. 18-20 he says, “But the accusations made against him weren’t any of the crimes I expected. 19 Instead, it was something about their religion and a dead man named Jesus, who Paul insists is alive. 20 I was at a loss to know how to investigate these things, so I asked him whether he would be willing to stand trial on these charges in Jerusalem.”

1. Here, Festus points out that the accusations against Paul was not what he expected. He was probably expecting to hear that Paul was a thief and a murderer, but that’s wasn’t the case at all!