In Acts 22:25 through Acts 25:20, the Apostle Paul defends himself before various Roman and Jewish authorities after being arrested in Jerusalem. Throughout these chapters, Paul is portrayed as steadfast in his faith and confident in God's plan, using his legal rights wisely to ensure his mission continues.
In Acts 21:37 the Roman Commander questions Paul on his citizenship, and Paul explains himself up to 22:21 where the Lord twice instructs Paul to leave Jerusalem. The Jews refuse to receive him – at this point a riot breaks out, so Paul is taken into the military barracks, and the Romans prepare to flog him, but Paul appeals as a Roman citizen. The Commander questions him on this: the Commander had to pay a big sum to buy his freedom, but Paul was born free; Tarsus had become a Roman city with the full privileges that came with this status.
A Roman citizen could not be whipped or bound unless proved guilty, so the Commander releases Paul and convenes the Jews to explain their cause.
‘Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, ‘My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.’ At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, ‘God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!’
Those who were standing near Paul said, ‘How dare you insult God’s high priest!’
Paul replied, ‘Brothers, I did not realise that he was the high priest; for it is written: “Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.”’
Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, ‘My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.’ When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees believe all these things.)
There was a great uproar, and some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up and argued vigorously. ‘We find nothing wrong with this man,’ they said. ‘What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?’ The dispute became so violent that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force and bring him into the barracks.
The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, ‘Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.’ (Acts 23:1-11, NIV.)
In verse 12, there’s a conspiracy to kill Paul. 40 men bind themselves by an oath neither to eat or drink till they have killed him. They set a trap for him. In my own experience, when I was arrested for Bible smuggling, there was an assassination attempt against me on my way to the trial – only the Holy Spirit stopped me from the urge to escape (the communists had set a trap whereby if I had made a run for it, there was a sniper waiting to kill me).
God intervened for me, and in this story from Acts, God warned Paul, through his nephew, that he would be killed. The Commander orders a small army to take Paul to Governor Felix by night.
‘Then he called two of his centurions and ordered them, ‘Get ready a detachment of two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea at nine tonight. Provide horses for Paul so that he may be taken safely to Governor Felix.’
He wrote a letter as follows:
Claudius Lysias,
To His Excellency, Governor Felix:
Greetings.
This man was seized by the Jews and they were about to kill him, but I came with my troops and rescued him, for I had learned that he is a Roman citizen. I wanted to know why they were accusing him, so I brought him to their Sanhedrin. I found that the accusation had to do with questions about their law, but there was no charge against him that deserved death or imprisonment. When I was informed of a plot to be carried out against the man, I sent him to you at once. I also ordered his accusers to present to you their case against him.
So the soldiers, carrying out their orders, took Paul with them during the night and brought him as far as Antipatris. The next day they let the cavalry go on with him, while they returned to the barracks. When the cavalry arrived in Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him. The governor read the letter and asked what province he was from. Learning that he was from Cilicia, he said, ‘I will hear your case when your accusers get here.’ Then he ordered that Paul be kept under guard in Herod’s palace.’ (Acts 23:23-35, NIV.)
In chapter 24 it says that five days later, the High Priest with some of the elders and a lawyer named Tertullus, present their case to Felix. Tertullus accuses Paul of being a vile ringleader of the Nazarene sect. Paul then subsequently presents his defence. Paul is then kept in liberty until Commander Lysias arrives. Governor Felix and his wife listen to Paul’s wife in Christ. But Felix is afraid, hoping for a bribe to set Paul free. Two years later, Felix is replaced by Porcius Festus.
By verse 11 of chapter 25, Paul appeals to Caesar.
A few days later King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to pay their respects to Festus. Since they were spending many days there, Festus discussed Paul’s case with the king. He said: ‘There is a man here whom Felix left as a prisoner. When I went to Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews brought charges against him and asked that he be condemned.
‘I told them that it is not the Roman custom to hand over anyone before they have faced their accusers and have had an opportunity to defend themselves against the charges. When they came here with me, I did not delay the case, but convened the court the next day and ordered the man to be brought in. When his accusers got up to speak, they did not charge him with any of the crimes I had expected. Instead, they had some points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a dead man named Jesus whom Paul claimed was alive. I was at a loss how to investigate such matters; so I asked if he would be willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial there on these charges. But when Paul made his appeal to be held over for the Emperor’s decision, I ordered him to be held until I could send him to Caesar.’
Then Agrippa said to Festus, ‘I would like to hear this man myself.’
He replied, ‘Tomorrow you will hear him.’ (Acts 25:13-22, NIV)