Verses 1-3 Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched forth the hand, and answered for himself: 2 I think myself happy, king Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before thee touching all the things whereof I am accused of the Jews: 3 Especially because I know thee to be expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews: wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently.
Why was King Agrippa an expert regarding the customs and questions of the Jews? Because the nation Edom disappeared into Jewry around 126 B.C., and starting with King Herod the Great, the Jews’ king became an Edomite or Idumean, and not a descendant of King David. This is in direct fulfillment of the prophecy given to Esau by his father, Isaac, after it was discovered that his brother, Jacob, had deceived his father and taken the blessing Isaac was going to give to his first born son, Esau. “And by thy sword shall thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.” Genesis 27:40 So King Agrippa, being third generation royalty governing the Jews and being part of the Jewish culture, would have a very accurate understanding of their customs even though he was genetically from the people of Edom.
Verses 4-5 My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews; 5 Which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
The Apostle Paul begins to repeat his personal history for King Agrippa, a testimony he has had to give to various rulers, soldiers and mobs many times over. Notice that he said regarding the accusing Jews, “which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify. . .”. He was letting King Agrippa know that the Jews were well aware of his early life in which he strictly adhered to Jewish law and customs, but that they would not testify to this fact as they were falsely accusing him of that which he did not do.
Verses 6-8 And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers: 7 Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope’s sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews. 8 Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?
The Apostle Paul focuses on the resurrection of the dead as the main point of contention between himself and the Jews, and which King Agrippa would know was a solid belief of the Pharisees of which the Apostle Paul had been at one time.
Verses 9-11 I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them. 11 And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.
He then goes on to explain how he had done the bidding of the chief priests and the Sanhedrin members by persecuting those who believed in the resurrection of the LORD Jesus Christ.
Verses 12-14 Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, 13 At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. 14 And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
The Apostle Paul continues to give his testimony of how he met Jesus on the road to Damascus.
Verses 15-18 And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. 16 But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; 17 Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, 18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.
And now the Apostle Paul gets down to his calling by the LORD Jesus who had been killed and who then rose from the dead, and who claimed to be God Almighty and who had sent him to preach the good news of the Gospel.
Verses 19-20 Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: 20 But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.
Kings of ages gone by were usually superstitious men who had soothsayers as advisors and who worshipped the sun, moon, and stars and multiple deities. No doubt King Agrippa was no different and would have understood the importance of visions from heaven and the importance of being obedient to the “gods” to do their bidding. So the Apostle Paul obeying whatever God he worshipped would not have been a criminal act worthy of punishment. And the Apostle Paul’s message that he preached would have been beneficial to both the ruling kings of Jewry and the ruling Caesars of Rome as people doing good works are not going to cause the government any trouble.
Verses 21-23 For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple, and went about to kill me. 22 Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come: 23 That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.
Through his testimony, King Agrippa now knew that the Jews had tried to kill the Apostle Paul unlawfully, without due process of any law. And he also knew that during the years Paul had spent in Caesarea under arrest he had continued doing what he had always done, preach the Gospel, proving that what he was doing was not against the Jews, the law or anything Jewish. In fact, he was simply proving that prophecy written by Moses had come to pass.
Verses 24-26 And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad. 25 But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness. 26 For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner.
The Holy Ghost/Spirit was revealing to the Apostle Paul that King Agrippa was under conviction from God and that he was aware of all the events of Jesus’ earthly ministry as it was all public knowledge, and he was also familiar with Old Testament Scripture.
Application: The Greek word translated as “mad” is “mainomai” and it means to be mad, to rave, or one who so speaks that he seems not to be in his right mind. In this present world, anyone who has a narrative contrary to any government or government policy, or contrary to any mainstream establishment religions, or contrary to any of the social distemper being exhibited today is considered to not be in his or her right mind. Instead of calling these people that do not go long with the narrative or with the popular lifestyle mad, they have been labeled as “conspiracy” nuts. As a result, people are unwilling to give ear to anyone who had been labelled as such. The true, converted follower of Jesus Christ is going to be considered, as was Paul by Festus, mad and people will distance themselves from anyone who is not conforming to the status quo. But when witnessing to unsaved people, do not forget that the LORD Jesus Christ and the writer of most of the New Testament, Paul, were not judged to be in their right minds. If they were walking the Earth today, they would be labelled as conspiracy nuts speaking conspiracy theories.
Verse 27 King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest.
King Agrippa would have been very familiar with the teachings of the prophets as he was basically Jewish by upbringing even though his patriarchal father was Esau of old, and he was in charge of the Jewish priesthood. The Apostle Paul was appealing to King Agrippa’s knowledge.
Verse 28 Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.
King Agrippa must have been moved by the Apostle Paul’s words for him to make the statement above. Did he become a Christian? The Bible doesn’t say if he did or did not. But some historians believe that when the Christians fled Jerusalem before its fall in 70 A.D. to the Roman general, Titus, King Agrippa who had left the city around 66 A.D. gave sanctuary to them so that they were not destroyed.
Verse 29 And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds.
The Apostle Paul finishes his defense by showing that, even in this situation where he is having to defend himself before governors and royal elite against false charges of wrongdoing by the Jews, his concern is not for himself, but for the spiritual well-being of those listening to his witness of Jesus Christ and his testimony of being a servant of the Gospel.
Verses 30-32 And when he had thus spoken, the king rose up, and the governor, and Bernice, and they that sat with them: 31 And when they were gone aside, they talked between themselves, saying, This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds. 32 Then said Agrippa unto Festus, This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Caesar. (Acts 26)
Under Roman law, even a king could not release the Apostle Paul from arrest once an appeal had been made to Rome. So both Festus and King Agrippa would have set the Apostle Paul free as he was innocent. But God had told Paul that he was to go to Rome and give testimony there and so all of these events were in the will of God and no man could change them.