Acts 25:19Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

“About a certain,” he says, “Jesus who had died.” He rightly said, “about a certain,” as a man who, though a ruler, had no concern for this.

He naturally says, “about a certain Jesus,” since he was a man in authority and paid no attention to the Lord.

King Herod Agrippa was Herod Agrippa II, son of Herod Agrippa I; see Acts ch. 12. He possessed, with the title of king, the tetrarchies of Philip and Lysanias; Lk 3:1. He was the last king of the Herodian family, with whom that royal line came to an end.

Being in a vassal relationship to Rome, he considered it his duty to congratulate Festus on his new appointment. For this purpose he came to Caesarea soon after Festus entered upon the office of procurator of Judea.

During this visit of Agrippa, Festus brought to the attention of his distinguished guest the difficult case of the prisoner Paul. He told Agrippa about the fury aroused throughout the Jewish people at the mere mention of this man’s name, and about the fruitlessness of the trial just concluded. However much the Jews tried to distort the essence of the matter, it was clear that it consisted in subtleties of the Mosaic law. It also concerned the question of “a certain Jesus who had died, whom Paul affirmed to be alive,” and, in general, matters that did not fall under Festus’s jurisdiction.

Disputes concerning their worship of God: the expression chosen can be understood either in a good or in a bad sense, as in Acts 17:22 and the note, just as the king might wish.

Concerning their own worship: Festus seems not to regard Agrippa as professing the Jewish religion. He seems to regard Jewish worship as foreign to him. From the standpoint of a pagan high official, he naturally thought it incredible that a king reared at the Roman emperor's court should adhere to these "Jewish superstitions," as pagans called the revealed Hebrew religion.

In Festus's report on Paul's case, the new and most interesting point is the mention of Jesus Christ and the fact that the Apostle Paul taught His resurrection. Although Festus, according to the custom of noble Romans of that time, treated Jesus Christ with some disdain, he nevertheless made Agrippa understand that the essence of Paul's case lay precisely in this Jesus and His resurrection.