26
Paul's defense
1 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” So Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense: 2 “I consider myself fortunate, King Agrippa, in that I am to make my defense before you this day concerning the things of which I am accused by the Jews, 3 especially because you are expert in all the Jewish customs and issues; therefore I beg you to hear me patiently. 4 Really, the Jews all know my way of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation in Jerusalem, 5 since they have known me for a long time, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived as a Pharisee. 6 And now I stand here being judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers, 7 to which our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. It is because of this hope that I am accused by the Jews, King Agrippa. 8 Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?*
How he persecuted Christians
9 “However, I myself thought that I had to perpetrate many things in opposition to the name of Jesus the Natsorean; 10 I actually did this in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. 11 Yes, I punished them often in every synagogue, trying to force them to blaspheme; I was so excessively enraged against them that I persecuted them even to foreign cities.†
How Jesus chose him
12 “It was on one of those journeys, as I was going to Damascus with authority and a commission from the chief priests, 13 at midday, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven brighter than the sun, blazing around me and those traveling with me. 14 Well we all fell to the ground and I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language:‡ ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 So I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And He said: ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 16 Now get up and stand on your feet; because I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and a witness both of the things you have seen and of the things I will reveal to you, 17 delivering you from ‘the people’ and the ethnic nations, to which I am sending you: 18 to open their eyes, so as to bring them back from darkness into light and from the authority of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified, by faith into me.’§
19 Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision 20 —first to those in Damascus and Jerusalem, then to all the region of Judea and to the ethnic nations, I still preach: ‘repent and turn back to God, doing works worthy of repentance.’ 21 That is why the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. 22 So then, having experienced the help that is from God, I stand to this day testifying to both small and great, saying nothing beyond what both the prophets and Moses said would happen 23 —that the Messiah would suffer; that as the first to rise from the dead* He would proclaim light to both ‘the people’ and the ethnic nations.”†
Festus interrupts
24 Well as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice: “Paul, you are crazy! Your great learning is driving you insane!”‡ 25 So he said: “I am not crazy, most excellent Festus; rather I pronounce words of truth and reasonableness. 26 For the king knows about these things, before whom I speak freely; for I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, since it was not done in a corner. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.”§ 28 So Agrippa said to Paul, “You will soon persuade me to become a Christian!” 29 So Paul said, “Whether sooner or later, I would to God that not only you but also all who are hearing me this day may become such as I am, except for these chains.”
30 Upon his saying this, the king stood up, along with the governor and Bernice and those sitting with them; 31 and when they had withdrawn they started talking among themselves, saying, “This man is doing nothing deserving of death or chains.” 32 And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free, if he had not appealed to Caesar.”*
* 26:8 The resurrection was the sticking point. † 26:11 Paul states his blame very plainly. ‡ 26:14 A conversation between two Jews would naturally be in Hebrew. § 26:18 Of specific interest to us here is the missionary commission that Paul (he was still Saul) received. Matthew 28:19, Mark 16:15, John 20:21 and Acts 1:8 took place between the resurrection and the ascension, but to commission Paul Jesus returned from Heaven! One other detail deserves special notice—the responsibility that Paul received was primarily concerned with the ethnic nations (“Gentiles” is a translation of the same word that in Matthew 28:19 is rendered “nations”). For these reasons it seems to me that this missionary commission takes on a special importance for us, and the more so for whoever is going to do transcultural work. So let us consider this commission in more detail. Paul is sent to the nations (defined ethnically), “to open their eyes so as to bring them back from darkness into light and from the authority of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified, by faith in Me.” I rendered the second verb as ‘bring back’ rather than ‘turn’ or ‘convert’ because I take that to be the correct nuance of the Text. It gives the impression that someone is in the wrong place or situation and needs to be brought to the correct one. And now for the main point: the purpose clause introduced by the conjunction ‘that’ is subordinated to the verbal phrase dominated by the verb “bring back”. In other words, before someone can receive forgiveness of sins, even, he must be freed from the power of Satan! Before a person can be saved someone must do something about Satan's influence upon him. The Lord Jesus had already said the same thing in different words during His earthly ministry. We find it in Mark 3:27. “No one can plunder the strong man's goods, invading his house, unless he first bind the strong man; then he may plunder his house.” I have used the definite article with the first occurrence of ‘strong man’ because the Greek text has it, the point being that this particular strong man has already been introduced in the immediate context. ‘The strong man’ here is Satan. (The Jewish leaders tried to explain Jesus’ authority over the demons by saying that He expelled them by the power of Beelzebul, prince of the demons. In His retort Jesus does not waste time with that name but uses the enemy's proper name, Satan.) So then, the Lord Jesus declares that it is impossible to steal Satan's goods unless we bind him first. (From His use of ‘no one’ it seems clear that the Lord is enunciating a general principle or truth.) And what might the nature of those ‘goods’ be? In the context (see Matthew 12:22-24) Jesus had delivered someone from a demon that caused blindness and dumbness, and in their comments the scribes and Pharisees include other instances where Jesus had expelled demons—it seems clear that the ‘goods’ are people who are subject to Satan's power, in one way or another. Thus we have the same essential truth as that declared in Acts 26:18—we have to do something about Satan's power over a person so that he or she can be saved! But what does Satan do to people that makes it necessary to ‘bind’ him? We find the answer in 2 Corinthians 4:4. Let's begin with verse 3. “If our gospel is veiled it is veiled to them who are perishing, in whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers so that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not shine in them.” The Text clearly states that Satan, ‘the god of this world’, is in the business of blinding the minds of unbelievers when they hear the Gospel, so they will not understand, so they will not be convicted, so they will not repent and convert. This is a terrible truth. The enemy has access to our minds, access in the sense that he has the power or ability to invade them, whether by introducing thoughts or by jamming our reasoning. The Lord Jesus had already declared this truth previously, when He explained the parable of the sower. “These are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown; but, as soon as they hear it Satan comes and takes away the word that was planted in their hearts” (Mark 4:15). In the parallel passage in Luke 8:12 Jesus adds the following words: “lest they believe and be saved”. Note that the Word is already in the mind or heart of the person, but then Satan comes, invades the mind and ‘takes away’ that word. I am not sure just how this intrusion by the enemy works, perhaps he causes a mental block of some sort, but the practical effect is that the Word becomes ineffective, as if the person had not even heard it. It seems obvious to me that whoever does not take this truth into account will be condemning himself to produce little effect in the spiritual realm, to work hard and achieve little. * 26:23 Yes, Jesus was the first one out, but only the first! † 26:23 How did Jesus do this after His resurrection? Presumably He did it, and continues to do so, through His followers. ‡ 26:24 Festus in not happy. Paul is talking to Agrippa, not to him. As a ‘son of the disobedience’ (Ephesians 2:2) he was open to demonic interference, and Satan does not like the resurrection. So Paul's mention of Jesus' resurrection is Festus' clue to interrupt, which he does in rather insulting terms. § 26:27 Paul knows that the hearing is over, but he likes Agrippa and nudges him to believe. * 26:32 Of course, but now it is too late.