¹⁶“I answered them that it is not the custom of the Romans to hand over any man before the accused meets his accusers face to face and has an opportunity to make his defense against the charges. ¹⁷So after they had assembled here, I did not delay, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought before me. ¹⁸When the accusers stood up, they began bringing charges against him not of such crimes as I was expecting, ¹⁹but they simply had some points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive. ²⁰ Being at a loss how to investigate such a matter . . .”

Governor Festus continues his explanation and appeal for advice to King Agrippa and his wife Bernice. In this brief exchange, we see a semblance of modern jurisprudence. Indeed, our Western legal system today is rooted in the lasting influence of the Roman system of law, which has come down to us through the centuries despite the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. Embedded in it is the basic concept of fairness: the accused individual must be given the opportunity to face his accusers and make a defense.

Actually, Hebrew wisdom points out: “The first to plead his case seems right, until another comes and examines him” (Prov. 18:17). In fact, Nicodemus said to his fellow Jews when they were quick to criticize the Lord Jesus, “Our Law does not judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?” (John 7:51).

Some principles are universal and encoded widely in the law systems of humankind. Although the Romans were quite ruthless in administering their authority over conquered people, they were nonetheless a people of law. And Governor Festus was concerned about keeping his dealings with the apostle Paul above board in the face of Jewish pressure to circumvent the law.

As Festus explains to the king and his wife, the trial had begun in the Roman fashion, but the accusations had turned out to be outside of Roman law. The issues that incited the Jews had to do with internal matters of religion. Festus’ jurisdiction did not extend to such issues. The specific issue in question had to do with the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and Festus seemed to be dumbfounded in a matter like that.

Luke records that Paul was preaching the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as a reality, and this, some thirty years after the fact. While Festus was at a loss as to how to investigate these matters, Luke did investigate the assertions thoroughly (Luke 1:1–4, Acts 1:1–3), concluded them to be true, and recorded the facts in his gospel account and now in the inspired travel log of Paul.

Lord, I too, believe in the death and resurrection of my Savior, Jesus Christ.