⁹But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, answered Paul and said, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me on these charges?” ¹⁰But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you also very well know. ¹¹If, then, I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die; but if none of those things is true of which these men accuse me, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar.” ¹²Then when Festus had conferred with his council, he answered, “You have appealed to Caesar, to Caesar you shall go.”

The Romans found Jewish people difficult to govern. They were a feisty people, adamantly loyal to their ancestral heritage, and unified. Despite their legalistic hardness in relationship to the Mosaic Law, and in spite of their rejection of Jesus as the Messiah, they were still unified around Yahweh, the God of their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and David. Almost entirely from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, which made up the OT southern kingdom, they forged their identity through continuous wars with surrounding nations. In their minds, Roman rule was a passing situation, to be endured only until the military Messiah came and delivered them once again from enemy oppressors. It would not take much to incite them to riot.

As the new governor, Festus sought to begin his relationship with them on the right foot. His dilemma was that he inherited the problem from Felix. His prisoner, Paul, was a Roman citizen and was not guilty of any Roman infraction. But to let Paul go free would infuriate the Jews. So he appealed to Paul to go to Jerusalem and have the trial there. Whether Festus intended to preside over a Jewish trial that concerned religious matters or whether he wanted the Roman trial to be held more publicly, where the Jewish people could see Paul’s innocence, we don’t know. The governor knew Paul was innocent of all the charges against him. Still, Paul must have realized that regardless of Festus’ assessment of his innocence, a trial in Jerusalem would be fatal.

The apostle’s belief in God’s promise that he would testify in Rome (and therefore not die at the hands of the Jews) led him to assert his right as a Roman citizen. All citizens had the right of appeal to the highest court of Rome, and Paul was going to make full use of his right, as he did at other times. His faith was dynamic, bold, and unshakeable. As a result, he pulled his Roman citizenship card to gain leverage. So Festus had an answer to his dilemma: he had to honor Paul’s demand. To Rome the apostle would go! And Paul would be free of Jewish execution.

Lord, I want to grow in my confidence as I learn more of Your promises to me.