Acts 26:9-15

King Agrippa and Festus had to have taken notice that this man, Saul, later known as Paul, was completely changed after his encounter with the risen Lord. Paul’s testimony was compelling, for what else would cause a man so determined and zealous in his persecution of the Way to suddenly stop and do an about-face? And how sobering it must have been for Paul when the realization hit him that the Man he was persecuting was, in fact, the Messiah—THE Lord, the very One his faith was centered around.

Have you ever been on the wrong side of an issue, only to find out later that you were wrong? It is amazing how passionate and sincere we can be about something, yet be passionately and sincerely wrong. It happens to all of us, but what is important is what we do after we realize it. Do we admit we were wrong and make amends, or do we try to cover our tracks? We must also be prepared for pushback from those with whom we were once aligned.

Paul was faithful to the Lord after this encounter, a response that eventually landed him in prison at the hands of the very religious leaders with whom he had once stood. What Paul did was treasonous in their eyes; they considered him a turncoat. But the truth of the matter was that they could not both be right, and Paul’s testimony forced that reality out into the open. Everyone who heard his testimony was faced with a choice about whom to believe—and, really, whose testimony was more believable.

I believe King Agrippa, Festus, Bernice, and all who were present that day could not simply dismiss Paul as a madman. He was measured, articulate, and truthful in his defense. In fact, Paul was gradually turning the tables on his listeners. The man who stood before them on trial was now presenting them with the evidence, and they were being confronted with a decision of their own. They were now accountable for the truth they had heard.

Paul entered the room as the defendant, but we shall see that before his defense was finished, Agrippa was the one being asked to render a verdict—not merely about Paul, but about Jesus.