Acts 25:1-8

As a reminder, Governor Felix left Paul in prison as a favor to the Jews, and now Festus was in charge. While Festus was in Jerusalem, the Jewish leaders, who still had it out for Paul, asked him to transfer Paul to Jerusalem. However, they were secretly planning to ambush and kill Paul along the way. Thankfully, Festus didn’t fall for their plan. Instead, he told their leaders to accompany him back to Caesarea, where they could state their case against Paul.

Mind you, this was two years later...talk about holding a grudge! Paul must have still been making inroads, as were the believers in Jerusalem, for these leaders to still want him dead. You can almost feel the hatred coming from them—and we know where hatred comes from.

It is amazing to me how those who are trying to help people by pointing them to the truth are often villainized by those who don’t want to change. It is like being in a burning building and getting mad at the person showing you the way out. It makes no sense.

What is really egregious is that Paul stood for nothing that the Scriptures had not foretold, and yet they still refused to acknowledge even the possibility that what he was preaching could be true. So sad!

It reminds me of Jesus’ words in Matthew 23:13:

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.”
I guess misery likes company.

How tragic it is when someone’s resistance to the truth not only keeps them from receiving it themselves, but causes them to stand in the way of others who might receive it. These religious leaders were not content simply to reject Paul’s message; they wanted to silence the messenger. Yet no matter how hard they tried, they could not stop the Gospel from moving forward. God simply continued opening another door.