Acts · chapter 26 of 28
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Acts 26 records Paul's defense before King Agrippa and Festus. Paul tells of his life as a Pharisee, his persecution of Christians, his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus and his mission to open the eyes of Jews and Gentiles. Festus calls him mad; Paul answers firmly and asks Agrippa whether he believes the prophets. Agrippa concludes that Paul could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.
This chapter is Paul's last and fullest defense in Acts, and the third time his conversion is told. Before a king who knows the Scriptures, Paul does not only defend himself but preaches and calls to faith. It is one of the clearest presentations of the gospel in the New Testament.
Agrippa permits Paul to speak, and Paul says he counts himself fortunate to make his defense before a king who is an expert in Jewish customs. He recalls his life as a Pharisee, the strictest party, and says he is on trial for the hope of God's promise to their fathers. He asks why it is thought incredible that God raises the dead.
He admits he once opposed the name of Jesus of Nazareth: he locked up many believers, voted against them when they were put to death and pursued them even to foreign cities. On the road to Damascus, about noon, he saw a light from heaven brighter than the sun, and they all fell to the ground. He heard a voice in Hebrew: Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads. It was Jesus, appointing him a servant and witness, sending him to Jews and Gentiles to open their eyes, so that they turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, and receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance by faith in him.
Paul says he was not disobedient to the vision: he declared everywhere that people should repent and turn to God, with deeds in keeping with repentance. For this the Jews seized him in the temple, but with God's help he stands, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: that the Christ must suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, proclaim light to the people and to the Gentiles.
Festus says in a loud voice that Paul is out of his mind. Paul answers that he speaks true and rational words, and asks Agrippa whether he believes the prophets. Agrippa says that in a short time Paul would persuade him to be a Christian. Paul says he wishes that all might become as he is, except for these chains. The king, the governor and Bernice conclude that he is doing nothing deserving death or prison, and that he could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Jesus sends Paul to open people's eyes, to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so they receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance by faith. It sums up in one sentence what the gospel does: it enlightens, frees, forgives and gives an inheritance.
Paul says he was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. When God calls, the natural response is to obey, even when it costs freedom.
Paul affirms that he says nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: that the Christ would suffer and, as the first to rise, would proclaim light to his people and to the Gentiles. The gospel fulfills Israel's Scriptures.
Paul wishes that Agrippa and all who hear him would become as he is, except for the chains. A prisoner in chains offers what he has of most value: faith in Christ, which gives freedom.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: As a Pharisee, of the strictest party, who persecuted believers. — Acts 26:4-5
Answer: Why it is thought incredible that God raises the dead. — Acts 26:8
Answer: A light from heaven brighter than the sun. — Acts 26:13
Answer: To open people's eyes and turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. — Acts 26:17-18
Answer: That Paul was out of his mind and that his great learning was driving him mad. — Acts 26:24
Answer: That he did nothing deserving death or imprisonment, and could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar. — Acts 26:31-32
Paul is not ashamed of his past or his message. He tells who he was, what he saw and what changed. In your group you can practice telling in one minute how you came to know Jesus, and pray for opportunities to share it with someone close to you.
Agrippa came close to believing and stopped at almost. Ask whether there is someone who often hears the gospel but does not take the step, and pray for that person. Ask also whether you yourselves have taken the last step of trust in Christ.
Acts 26 ends with the conclusion that Paul could have been released, but he had already appealed to Caesar. Acts 27 begins the sea voyage to Rome: a storm, a shipwreck and God's faithfulness to his promise.
It was a Greek proverb about an ox that resists the pointed stick used to guide it and only hurts itself. Jesus says that Paul, by persecuting the church, was resisting God in vain. This detail appears only in this account.
The text is hard to translate and is understood in several ways: as a sincere confession, as irony or as a question that deflects pressure. Paul answers with a sincere wish that all would believe. The passage does not say Agrippa converted.
Acts tells it three times (chapters 9, 22 and 26), with different nuances. Here he emphasizes Jesus's commission to the Gentiles and Paul's obedience, before a king who knew the Scriptures.