Journey Through The Bible
     Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 24-27
     New Testament Reading: Acts 25

The accusers stood up but brought no charge against him of the evils I was expecting. Instead they had some disagreements with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, a dead man Paul claimed to be alive (Acts 25:18-19).

By all rights, they should have released Paul after his first trial under Felix. However, Felix probably heard of the large offering from the Macedonian churches Paul brought to the Jerusalem believers and kept dragging him into court, hoping for a bribe. Now, after two years in prison, Felix turns Paul over to the new governor Festus.

Festus seemed convinced that Paul was innocent, and the charges were trumped up. But being a shrewd politician, he did not want to start his term in office offending the Jews. Paul’s appeals to Caesar gave him an out. But now he needed some explanation of the charges brought against Paul to send with him to Rome.

When King Agrippa arrived a few days later, it gave Festus the perfect way out. He explained to Agrippa how Felix left Paul in prison, and that the charges against Paul were some disputes over points of religion. Festus showed his ignorance by claiming that the resurrection was some small matter.

The death and resurrection of Jesus is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. It is central to our hope for today and our promise for the future. The points of disagreement that Festus casually mentioned formed an enormous division between Judaism and Christianity. Festus is one of many throughout history who mistakenly oversimplifies matters of faith.

It is popular today to believe that there are many paths to God. All we have to do is choose one that sounds good to us. There is no right or wrong path. But this is far removed from the message of the Bible, which proclaims there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).

There is no pick-and-choose buffet for would-be believers. There is no room to claim that Jesus was just an excellent teacher or great moral man buried in some unknown grave. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is central to our faith. It is the key emphasis of the witness of the church in the book of Acts. As the Apostle Paul told the church at Corinth, if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins (1 Cor 15:17).