David Bahn – Reflections

Acts 25:1-12

Now three days after Festus had arrived in the province, he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea. 2 And the chief priests and the principal men of the Jews laid out their case against Paul, and they urged him, 3 asking as a favor against Paul that he summon him to Jerusalem—because they were planning an ambush to kill him on the way. 4 Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea and that he himself intended to go there shortly. 5 “So,” said he, “let the men of authority among you go down with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them bring charges against him.”

6 After he stayed among them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea. And the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought. 7 When he had arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and serious charges against him that they could not prove. 8 Paul argued in his defense, “Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I committed any offense.” 9 But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and there be tried on these charges before me?” 10 But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you yourself know very well. 11 If then I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death. But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar.”12 Then Festus, when he had conferred with his council, answered, “To Caesar you have appealed; to Caesar you shall go.”

There comes a time when you simply have to move forward. Sometimes it’s because it’s too dangerous to stay in place (like those who had to leave their homes because of raging wild fires a couple of years ago). Other times it’s because there is great hope and anticipation of good (as when a family leaves for vacation in the mountains). But sometimes it is because opportunity and desire align. Such seems to be the case with Paul after two years in prison in Caesarea. It was time to go. Paul’s missionary travels had been brought to a halt. He yearned to go to Rome (cf. Romans 1:15).

Rather than give himself up to the evil desires of his enemies in Jerusalem, Paul seeks justice at the hands of Caesar. He will go to Rome, but not as a free man. He would not be able to stop along the way to visit the churches he had planted. He would not be free to change his plans according to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. But he would go to Rome. And he would be safe.

Two years of conversations, limited access, visits from friends, witnessing to guards and others no doubt, are coming to an end. Paul will go to Rome. And with him will go the Gospel message of salvation. The thoughts and desires he expresses in his letter to the Romans are beginning to come true:

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. (Romans 1:8-15)

It is a beautiful thing when a godly desire is given opportunity to be fulfilled.