1 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You are permitted to speak for yourself.” So Paul stretched out his hand and answered for himself: 2 “I think myself happy, King Agrippa, because today I shall answer for myself before you concerning all the things of which I am accused by the Jews, 3 especially because you are expert in all customs and questions which have to do with the Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently. 4 “My manner of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation at Jerusalem, all the Jews know. 5 They knew me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. 6 And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers. 7 To this promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. For this hope’s sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews. 8 Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead? 9 “Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 This I also did 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 And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities. 12 “While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, 13 at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me. 14 And when we all had fallen to the ground, 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 But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. 17 I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, 18 to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’ 19 “Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20 but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. 21 For these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. 22 Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come—23 that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.” 24 Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!” 25 But he said, “I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason. 26 For the king, before whom I also speak freely, knows these things; for I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe.” 28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.” 29 And Paul said, “I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains.” 30 When he had said these things, the king stood up, as well as the governor and Bernice and those who sat with them; 31 and when they had gone aside, they talked among themselves, saying, “This man is doing nothing deserving of death or chains.” 32 Then Agrippa said to Festus, “This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
Commentary
Vs. 1-3 1 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You are permitted to speak for yourself.” So Paul stretched out his hand and answered for himself: 2 “I think myself happy, King Agrippa, because today I shall answer for myself before you concerning all the things of which I am accused by the Jews, 3 especially because you are expert in all customs and questions which have to do with the Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently.
Having heard why Paul was brought before him, king Agrippa now looks at Paul and says to him that he is now permitted to speak for himself (vs. 1). Paul then says he is most happy to answer for himself since he knows his own innocence of the things he was being accused of by Jews, as well Paul says since king Agrippa is an expert in all customs and questions regarding the Jews, he now believes that he can even more surely make his defense before him and before all, therefore he asks that he hear him patiently, since Paul must recall not only his own upbringing as a Jew, but more importantly his own salvation when he saw the Lord Jesus Christ on the Damascus Road (vs. 2-3).
Vs. 4-5 4 “My manner of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation at Jerusalem, all the Jews know. 5 They knew me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
Paul then begins by saying that his manner of life from his youth was not one of rebellion and evil, but was spent amongst his own people the Jews there at Jerusalem. And thus, they all know what kind of person he was growing up as the son of a Pharisee and being trained at the feet of the respected and revered rabbi, Gamliel right there at Jerusalem according to the strictest sect of their religion. Thus, they all knew Paul, and knew what kind of Godly person he was, if they were now willing to stand up before this tribunal and say as much.
Vs. 6-7 6 And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers. 7 To this promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. For this hope’s sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews.
Therefore, knowing that he was not being accused and judged for moral or legal lapses, Paul now tells Festus that he is being judged for the hope of the promise made by God to their fathers, that is the hope of the resurrection of dead, when God rewards or repays each and every one of us according to what we have believed and what we have done (vs. 6). Thus, it was for this promise that the twelve tribes of Israel earnestly served God night and day in hopping to attain it. Therefore, Paul says to king Agrippa that for this promise he is being accused by the Jews (vs. 7). For Paul’s testimony to them, and to all is the Lord Jesus Christ Crucified and Resurrected from the dead. And thus, through Him, and by faith in Him alone, we can now attain to the Promise which God promised to their fathers long ago.
Vs. 8 “Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead?”
Therefore, the Apostle Paul knowing Festus’ understanding of the Jews faith and religion now asks him why he would think it incredible that God raises the dead. For it was by sin that mankind died, and thus their whole ritual of atoning sacrifices for sins began. And so it was in fulfillment of this, God in the fulfillment of time sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born through the seed of Abraham, the father of the Jews, to be His Sin bearing Servant to bear all of our sins and transgressions of the Cross (see Isaiah 53). So that it would be by Jesus Christ’s Crucifixion Death and His Resurrection from the dead that we who believe in Him are brought to new and everlasting life!
Vs. 9-11 9 “Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 This I also did 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 And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
The Apostle Paul though raised as a Pharisee, now confesses his own ignorance, how he once thought he must do many things contrary to the Name of Jesus of Nazareth, by seeking out and seeking to imprisoned all who were following Him. And in this Paul says he not only sought them out in Jerusalem to arrest them; having received authority from the chief priests there to do so; but also, when they put Christians to death there, Paul being a Pharisee, also cast his vote against them. Such then was Paul’s enragement at them that he even went so far as to go on his own personal mission, seeking them out and punishing them in every synagogue. Now this punishment likely would’ve been public floggings, (i.e., being beaten with whips or rods) and not only that, but Paul goes onto say that he even compelled them to blaspheme, which would’ve ostracized them forever to their Jewish countrymen, as well this would’ve also banned them forever from entering a synagogue again. Now this Paul did even to foreign cities. Therefore, Paul in recalling his past life, is being completely honest about what he did before he himself came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Vs. 12-14 12 “While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, 13 at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me. 14 And when we all had fallen to the ground, 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.’
Paul continues by saying that while thus occupied, (that is obsessed with destroying this new faith), and having with him letters of authority, and while travelling to Damascus to arrest those Jews turning to Jesus Christ there (vs. 12), around midday that a great light from heaven, brighter than the sun, suddenly shone around him and those with him (vs. 13). Now such was the lights intensity that they all fell to the ground, and when they had, Paul then heard a voice from heaven saying to him in the Hebrew language; that is the language of the Jews; ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ Vs. 14 The Lord then knowing Paul, and knowing that what he was doing was not in his heart, but rather was his trying to preserve his own faiths upbringing now says to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ Now goads were rods with sharp points on the end of them, and they were used to make stubborn animals move. And so, the metaphor that the Lord uses is appropriate for Saul (i.e., Paul). For even in his intensifying his own zeal against those who were turning to this new faith, he could never escape his own conscience that what he was doing, and had been doing to them, was wrong. I think Believers Bible Commentary nails it when they say of this, “Paul had been kicking against the goad of his own conscience, but even more important, against the convicting voice of the Holy Spirit. He had never been able to forget the poise and grace with which Stephen had died. He had been fighting against God Himself.”[1]
Vs. 15 So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
When the Lord from heaven spoke to Saul (i.e., the Apostle Paul), his initially response to Him was not only reverent awe, but also ignorance. For he did not know the Lord as He is, and now needs to be known, though Saul who had always believed in God, knew there could be only One who could speak to him from heaven. Therefore, he asks the Lord who He is. And the Lord told him He is Jesus, the very one whom Saul had been persecuting, by persecuting his followers. And with that revelation of God now given him, Saul must have just been stunned! For the very One whom he spent his whole life wanting to, and trying to serve, by living so zealously for the Law, was the One whom he had been persecuting. And so, Saul having seen and heard the Risen Lord Himself was now completely shattered of all that he had been trying to do, in opposing the Lord and His people.
Vs. 16 “But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you.”
Having then brought Saul to his knees, the Lord Jesus Christ now lifts him up to his feet. Commanding him to rise and stand on his feet. For He has appeared to Him to now make him His witness and His minister both of the things he has now seen, but also of things that He will yet reveal to him. Which are the N.T. letters and doctrines within them, for the individual believer and the church, which Jesus by His Spirit brought forth through him. No other person or Apostle then ever had such a dramatic calling come to them or placed upon them as the Apostle Paul did. Now as to any more appearances of the Lord Jesus Christ to anyone else since the closing of the Scripture with the Book of Revelations given by the Lord to the Apostle John, these must all be rejected as demonic in origins, for the next time the Lord Jesus Christ appears to anyone it will not be to just to an individual, but now as the Victorious Lord of heaven and earth coming with His mighty angels and army, not only for His people, but also for this worlds Judgment.
Vs. 17-18 17 I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, 18 to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’
The Lord Jesus Christ having declared to Saul His purposes for him, now promises him that He will deliver him from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to save everyone who will believe in Him through his testimony of Him. Therefore, from the very beginning Saul knew he would be facing an overwhelming opposition, and yet by the Lord’s Promise to save him from them all, he knew he could now go boldly forward in faith declaring the Lord’s Person and Gospel and face whatever opposition or persecution he knew he was going to have to face. And so, having given Saul His assurance that He was going to deliverance Him from them all who don’t believe in Him, the Lord Jesus Christ continues on by telling Paul that He is now sending him to the Gentiles, (for the Jews having rejected Him, the time of the Gentiles has thus begun), in order to open our eyes, (as the Lord opened his eyes to His Person), and thus turn us from darkness, (that is sins darkness and the darkening of one’s person and soul through it), to light, which metaphorically represents God’s Word, for it by God’s Word that the truth is clearly illuminated for us all (Psalm 109:105). Whom itself has been manifested in the flesh in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, who now gives God’s light and everlasting life to everyone who believes in Him, the moment we believe in Him (John 8:12; 12:35; Eph. 1:13-14). And thus, in turning people from darkness to light, people are now being turned away from the power of Satan (which rules in this world) to God who rules inside the hearts of everyone who believes in and obeys His Son. For Jesus Christ has come not only to save us from our sins, and thus the Judgment to come, but also to turn us all from the power of Satan to God. For when people are actively, our even passively under sin, and thus Satan’s influence and control, the world is, and becomes a very dark place. Which is something God never intended for this world or anyone in it, but is what mankind has chosen and created for themselves, in rejecting His Person and Rule for them. Therefore, I urge you all to turn from the power of darkness to light, to repent of your sins and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ so that you too may receive remission of all of your sins (and thus have all of your guilt freely washed away by the blood of Christ shed on the Cross for you) and have eternal life through His Resurrected Person and Life, so that you can have and enjoy and inheritance in the Kingdom of heaven with all those who have been sanctified (i.e., cleansed, renewed, and restored to God by faith in Christ) forever!
Vs. 19-21 19 “Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20 but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.
Having recalled the Lord Jesus’ Appearing to him on the Damascus road the Apostle Paul now tells king Agrippa that having been instructed on what he was to do he did not disobey the heavenly vision and so Saul went out preaching all that he had seen and been told by the Lord, first to those at Damascus (his original destination); then in Jerusalem (the place where he came from, where he grew up and was well known); then throughout the whole region of Judea (the ancient territory of the Jews), and finally to the Gentiles, telling them all that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting of repentance, that is do works befitting of having turned to God and thus having turned from sin to righteousness.
Vs. 21 “For these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.”
The Apostle Paul now tells king Agrippa that it is because he was faithful to the heavenly vision given him that the Jews at Jerusalem seized him and tried to kill him, because he told them all to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Which is neither a crime against them, or anyone else.
Vs. 22-23 22 Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come—23 that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”
Therefore, the Apostle Paul having obtained help from God, that is His enabling and guidance he stands to this day witnessing to both small and great all things that he has seen and been told, but in this saying nothing other than what the prophets and Moses already said would come, that the Christ would suffer, suffer rejection and death by His own people, indeed in Psalm twenty-two and Isaiah 53 we are told not only the manner of is Person, but also of His death. As well through Moses and the prophets the Lord Jesus Christ’s Resurrection from the dead is also foretold, that He would be the first to rise from the dead; which we now know was so that He could replace Adam as the Head of humanity and impart new and everlasting life to everyone who believes in Him. Indeed, there is also foretold in the O.T. Scriptures Christ’s birthplace and upbringing and so much more information about Him that it is impossible to read the O.T. Scriptures and not to find the Lord Jesus Christ extensively in them all, both literally and figuratively. For it is through Jesus Christ alone that salvation comes, and so it is though Him alone that God’s light is proclaimed and brought to every Jew and Gentile who believes in Him!
Vs. 24 Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!”
Though Festus was an “expert” in the Jews religious customs and practices he it seems he new little or nothing of the actual written Word of God. Therefore, when he heard Paul declare Jesus Christ’s Resurrection from the dead he said, “Paul, you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!” Festus’ response then is fully typical of the natural man (or woman) who only lives by his or her own natural senses. That said God can reach even them if they themselves will allow themselves to be reached by Him.
Vs. 25-26 25 But he said, “I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason. 26 For the king, before whom I also speak freely, knows these things; for I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner.
When the Apostle Paul heard that he quickly refuted Festus’ false assumption that he had gone “mad” from much religious study and learning. For nothing that he was saying was irrational, but had happened in the days of Festus, for Paul knew that Festus himself would’ve known of the Lord Jesus Christ’s Crucifixion and all the “rumors” surrounding His Resurrection from the dead.
Vs. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe.”
Knowing than that Festus had heard of Jesus Christ and what had happened to him, the Apostle Paul now urges him to consider this and what he himself has heard from the Law and prophets through his ruling the Jews and make the connection between Christ and what they have said, himself.
Vs. 28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.”
At this then, King Agrippa now speaks up and says to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.”
Vs. 29 And Paul said, “I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains.”
Paul gracious as always now heartfeltly responds to him, saying, that he wishes that not only would king Agrippa repent and believe, but also everyone there, so that they all could become like him, a true Christian (except for his chains). And thus, redeemed from all of their own sins and transgressions.
Vs. 30-32 30 When he had said these things, the king stood up, as well as the governor and Bernice and those who sat with them; 31 and when they had gone aside, they talked among themselves, saying, “This man is doing nothing deserving of death or chains.” 32 Then Agrippa said to Festus, “This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
Having heard Paul’s gracious appeal King Agrippa now rises from his seat; and when he does so do Festus the governor and his wife Bernice along with those officials who had been seated they’re with them. Having then risen from the judgment seat king Agrippa now goes aside with them to discuss privately as to what they should do, for it was clearly evident to them all that Paul had done nothing deserving of chains or death as they discussed his case amongst themselves (vs. 31). And yet Agrippa will be the one to decide to send Paul unto Rome to stand before Caesar in spite of this, for he now says to Festus the governor, “This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.” Vs. 32 Thus in his word we see God’s Word being fulfilled in that Paul would give testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ not only to the Gentiles but also to their kings and rulers with the highest being there seated at Rome (Acts 23:11).
Scripture Quotations
New King James (1982):Thomas Nelson.
[1]
MacDonald, W. (1995). Believer’s Bible
Commentary: Old and New Testaments. (A. Farstad, Ed.) (p. 1660).
Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
No comments:
Post a Comment