The big picture
The Book of Acts, chapter 25, shows how little changes merely because the governor does. Festus inherits Paul's case almost immediately, along with a renewed attempt to move the prisoner toward an ambush. He keeps the hearing in Caesarea, where serious accusations again fail to produce proof. When Festus later proposes Jerusalem, Paul appeals to Caesar rather than accept another transfer. That appeal fixes the legal route toward Rome, but Festus still lacks a coherent charge to send with the prisoner. Agrippa's arrival creates another hearing, and the chapter ends with a striking contrast: great pomp surrounds a man whom Festus has found guilty of nothing worthy of death and about whom he admits he has no certain criminal accusation to write. The ceremonial audience is impressive; the case is not.
Central truth
Paul answers unproved accusations with a consistent witness to resurrection and repentance, while Felix delays, Festus seeks a workable charge, and Agrippa hears an appeal for faith rather than merely acquittal.
The study notes have a page of their own
The movement by movement analysis, the words to trace, the verse by verse notes and where readers differ are written for someone studying alone. They are on the Deep Personal Reflections page for this chapter. This page is the lesson.
A chapter-specific teaching brief
These anchors come from this chapter itself. They help a teacher use the Level 1 overview, the Level 2 study, and the Scripture text as one lesson.
Open with the chapter’s first image
Acts 25:1: “Now when Festus was come into the province, after three days he ascended from Cæsarea to Jerusalem.”
Slow down at the turning point
Acts 25:12: “Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered, Hast thou appealed unto Cæsar? unto Cæsar shalt thou go.”
Keep this word trail visible
Festus, Paul, Jerusalem, Jews, Agrippa, certain
What to explain, in order
Teach the passage in this order. Each step names the verses it rests on, so every point can be shown in the text before it is applied.
Acts 24:1-9
Tertullus makes the case
Begin in Caesarea with the prosecution. The high priest brings a professional orator, Tertullus, who opens with flattery of Felix, a governor known in history for harshness. Then the three charges: a plague and a mover of sedition, a ringleader of the Nazarenes, and an attempt to profane the temple. Explain that the first charge was meant to alarm a Roman governor. Note that the King James includes words in 24:6-8 about Lysias that some ancient manuscripts lack. Teach this first so the class can test Paul’s answers against the charges.
Acts 24:10-27
Paul before Felix
Paul answers calmly and without flattery. He gives the facts: twelve days, no disputing, no crowd, no proof. Then he confesses the way, his belief in the law and the prophets, his hope of resurrection, and his clear conscience. He explains that he came with alms for his nation. Then the private hearings with Felix and Drusilla, where Paul speaks of righteousness, self-control and the judgement to come, and Felix trembles and sends him away. Show the sad end of the chapter: two years, hope for a bribe, and a prisoner left bound.
Acts 25:1-12
I appeal unto Caesar
A new governor, Festus, arrives, and the leaders immediately ask for Paul to be sent to Jerusalem, planning an ambush. Festus refuses at first and hears the case at Caesarea. The charges cannot be proved, and Paul denies offending against the law, the temple or Caesar. Then Festus, wanting to please the leaders, offers a trial in Jerusalem. Explain Paul’s appeal as the right of a Roman citizen to have his case heard by the emperor. Teach that this was how the Lord’s promise of 23:11 would be fulfilled.
Acts 25:13-27
Festus explains to Agrippa
Introduce Agrippa II, great-grandson of Herod the Great, a king with knowledge of Jewish customs, and his sister Bernice. Festus tells him the case, and his summary is telling: the dispute concerns “one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive”. Explain superstition here as religion, said without respect. Festus admits he has nothing to write to the emperor. Then the great pomp of the hearing, chief captains and leading men gathered. Teach the contrast: a prisoner in chains before splendour, and it is the prisoner who has the message.
Acts 26:1-23
Paul’s defence before Agrippa
This is Paul’s fullest account of his calling. He begins with his life as a Pharisee and the hope of the promise to the fathers, and asks why it should be thought incredible that God raises the dead. Then his persecution, the light at midday, the voice in the Hebrew tongue, and the commission. Read 26:18 slowly, the heart of the chapter. Then his obedience to the heavenly vision, preaching repentance with works to match it, and his claim that he says only what Moses and the prophets said: that Christ should suffer and rise and bring light.
Acts 26:24-32
Almost persuaded
Festus interrupts: Paul is mad with learning. Paul answers that he speaks words of truth and soberness, and that this thing was not done in a corner. Then he turns to Agrippa: believest thou the prophets? Explain that Agrippa’s reply in 26:28 can be read as a near confession or as an ironic brush off, and present both readings. Paul’s answer is full of love. Close with the verdict of the officials: nothing worthy of death or bonds, and he might have been freed if he had not appealed to Caesar.
Where learners get stuck
The misreadings this passage tends to produce, and how to answer each from the text.
“Felix trembled, so he must have been converted.”
Felix trembled at the message of righteousness, temperance and judgement to come (24:25), but he sent Paul away for a convenient season, hoped for a bribe (24:26), and left him bound for two years (24:27). The Book of Acts records no turning and says nothing of his end. Teach that being moved is not the same as responding, and avoid speculating about any person’s final state.
“Paul appealed to Caesar because he did not trust God.”
The Lord had promised that Paul must bear witness in Rome (23:11). The appeal was the lawful door through which he went there, at a moment when a transfer to Jerusalem would have meant an ambush (25:3, 25:9-11). Paul says he does not refuse to die if guilty (25:11). He used a legal right without abandoning trust. God’s purposes and Paul’s choices meet in this verse.
“Almost thou persuadest me means Agrippa was nearly converted.”
Agrippa’s words in 26:28 can be read as the King James gives them, a man almost persuaded, or, as many read the Greek, as a question: do you think to make me a Christian so quickly? The Book of Acts does not say what Agrippa meant or what he later did. Paul’s reply in 26:29 shows his longing for every hearer. Present both readings and let the class weigh them.
“Paul was preaching only about forgiveness, not about changed lives.”
Paul summarises his preaching in 26:20: that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance. He spoke to Felix of righteousness and self-control (24:25). Forgiveness of sins comes by faith in Christ (26:18), and that faith turns a life from darkness to light. Traditions describe the relation between faith and works with different emphases; Paul’s own words in this chapter hold them together.
Learning objectives
- Distinguish Tertullus’s charges from the evidence Paul challenges.
- Identify the resurrection hope Paul openly confesses.
- Explain Felix’s delayed response and disclosed financial interest.
- Trace Paul’s appeal to Caesar within the renewed threat.
- Summarize the commission and message Paul presents to Agrippa.
- Separate the hearing’s stated conclusion from guesses about Agrippa’s heart.
Teacher preparation
- Prepare three hearing cards: Felix in Acts 24, Festus in Acts 25, and Agrippa before Festus in Acts 26.
- Read Acts 23:11, 26–35 for the promise of Rome, transfer, and commander’s assessment before the first hearing.
- Gloss “temperance” in 24:25 as self-control, “meet for repentance” in 26:20 as fitting repentance, and “beside thyself” in 26:24 as an accusation of madness.
- Mark the two years in 24:27; do not let a brief classroom transition erase a long detention.
- Retain “Almost thou persuadest me” in 26:28; distinguish possible tones from Agrippa’s unreported inner response.
Evidence and interpretation checks
Explicit
Read Acts 24:12–21, 25:7–12, and 26:31–32: Paul denies provable wrongdoing, appeals to Caesar, and is judged undeserving of death or bonds by the gathered rulers.
Scripture-supported
Compare Acts 26:16–18 with Acts 9:15–16: Paul’s repeated commission concerns witness, Gentile mission, forgiveness, and costly service.
Strong inference
Infer from Acts 24:25–27 that repeated access to teaching does not necessarily produce repentance; Felix’s fear coexists with delay and a hoped-for payment.
Possible or traditional reading
Identify serious, ironic, or evasive readings of Agrippa’s reply in Acts 26:28. Preserve the KJV sentence while admitting that the account does not settle his tone or announce a conversion.
Limit
State that Acts 26:32 does not call Paul’s appeal sinful, prove what would certainly have happened without it, or report the eventual result of his case before Caesar.
Discussion with answer guidance
1. Which parts of Tertullus’s accusation does Paul directly challenge?
What a good answer contains
The charges of sedition and of profaning the temple. Tertullus calls Paul “a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world” and says he “hath gone about to profane the temple” (24:5-6). Paul answers that it is only twelve days since he went up to worship, that no one found him disputing or “raising up the people”, and “Neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me” (24:11-13). He adds that the Asian Jews who started it are not even present (24:19). A good answer names both charges and both replies.
Show teacher guidance
Compare 24:5–9 with 24:11–19: sedition and temple profanation lack the evidence alleged, and the original Asian accusers are absent.
2. What does Paul freely confess rather than deny?
What a good answer contains
His faith. “But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets” (24:14). He hopes for “a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust” (24:15), and strives for “a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men” (24:16). A strong answer sees that Paul denies the crimes but confesses the way, and turns his defence into a witness.
Show teacher guidance
Read 24:14–16. He worships the God of his fathers, believes the law and prophets, and hopes for resurrection of just and unjust.
3. Why is Felix’s trembling not the same as a stated conversion?
What a good answer contains
Because fear is followed by delay, not faith. As Paul reasons “of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled”, but he says “Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee” (24:25). He also hopes for a bribe (24:26) and leaves Paul bound for two years to please the Jews (24:27). A good answer sees conviction resisted. A weak answer invents a conversion or settles Felix’s final destiny, which the text leaves alone.
Show teacher guidance
Use 24:25–27. Follow fear with postponement, hoped-for money, and continued imprisonment; do not invent a later repentance or final destiny.
4. Why does Paul appeal to Caesar when Festus offers Jerusalem?
What a good answer contains
Because going back to Jerusalem would mean an ambush and a biased court. The leaders had asked Festus to send Paul to Jerusalem, “laying wait in the way to kill him” (25:3). The charges “they could not prove” (25:7). When Festus, “willing to do the Jews a pleasure”, offers Jerusalem, Paul says “no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Cæsar” (25:9-11). A good answer sees a citizen using a lawful right to escape an unjust transfer, without imagining a modern appeals system.
Show teacher guidance
Read 25:3, 7–12. Include the renewed ambush, unproved accusations, and Paul’s refusal to be handed over; avoid importing a complete modern appeals process.
5. What does Paul say his commission produces in those who respond?
What a good answer contains
A turning that changes a life. Jesus sends him “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me” (26:18). Paul preached “that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance” (26:20). A strong answer keeps forgiveness by faith and changed conduct together. A weak answer keeps one and drops the other.
Show teacher guidance
Use 26:16–20: turning from darkness and Satan to God, forgiveness, inheritance by faith, repentance, and fitting conduct. Keep message and changed life together.
6. What does Paul wish for Agrippa and everyone listening, and what does he exclude?
What a good answer contains
That all of them would become Christians like him, without his chains. Agrippa says “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian” (26:28), and Paul answers “I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds” (26:29). A good answer sees his love for his hearers, even for the powerful who hold him. He wishes them his faith, not his suffering.
Show teacher guidance
Read 26:27–29. He desires them to become as he is, except for his bonds; notice concern for his hearers rather than a demand that they share his suffering.
Responsible application
Heart and habits
Evaluate a fictional listener who repeatedly postpones a serious moral response while enjoying discussion; use Felix without predicting the person’s final outcome.
Relationships and community
Draft a support plan for a person enduring a long unresolved case, taking seriously the time marker and permitted assistance in 24:23, 27.
Defense without dehumanizing
Prepare a factual response to a false accusation that corrects the charge while retaining Paul’s stated concern for the hearers’ good.
Session plans
Two timings of the same lesson. The shorter keeps the reading, the central discussion and one response; the longer gives the confusions and the application their own time.
45 minutes
The charges
Read 24:1-9 and list Tertullus’s charges on the board.
Paul before Felix
Read 24:10-27. Take questions one, two and three, and the confusion about Felix.
The appeal
Read 25:1-12 and take question four.
Festus and Agrippa
Read 25:13-22, noting the phrase one Jesus, which was dead.
The defence
Read 26:1-23 and take question five, reading 26:18 twice.
Almost persuaded
Read 26:24-32. Take question six and the confusion about Agrippa. Read the key verse together.
90 minutes
Opening
Ask the group what they would say about their faith if they had five minutes before a powerful official.
The charges and the answer
Read 24:1-21. Take questions one and two.
Felix trembles
Read 24:22-27. Take question three and the confusion about Felix.
The appeal
Read 25:1-12 with 23:11. Take question four and the confusion about trusting God.
Festus and Agrippa
Read 25:13-27. Ask what Festus understood and what he missed.
The defence
Read 26:1-23. Take question five and the confusion about changed lives.
Almost persuaded
Read 26:24-32. Take question six and the confusion about Agrippa, presenting both readings.
Handout and prayer
Read the key verse together and pray for leaders and officials to hear the gospel.
Adapting the lesson
Children
Set up a pretend courtroom with a chair for the governor and a crown for King Agrippa. Let Paul, in paper chains, tell how Jesus met him on the road and changed his life. Explain that Paul wanted everyone, even the king, to know Jesus. Children can practise saying in one sentence what Jesus has done for them.
Youth
Ask what they would say if they had to defend their faith before people with power over them. Show how Paul is respectful but not flattering, and how he tells his own experience. Discuss Felix, who put off a decision for a convenient season. Ask what makes people put off responding to God, and what Paul’s wish in 26:29 says about how to treat people who disagree.
Adults
Work through the three hearings and compare how each official responds to Paul: Felix delays, Festus is puzzled, Agrippa deflects. Give time to 26:16-20, Paul’s own summary of his calling and message. Discuss when believers rightly use legal protections. Present the readings of 26:28 fairly. Ask how members can speak of their faith at work with the clarity and courtesy Paul shows here.
One to one
Ask the person how they would tell their own experience of God in three minutes, and let them try. Read 26:12-18 together as Paul’s pattern. If they are putting off a decision about faith, read 24:25 gently and ask what a convenient season would look like. If they are waiting for something unjust to be resolved, talk about Paul’s two years in 24:27.
Song and video learning lab
A song or video may interpret, compress, or dramatize the text. Its value becomes clearer when its choices are compared with Scripture.
- Before the media: the exact passage and its central movement.
- During the media: the words, people, events, and emotions the artist emphasizes.
- After the media: what it clarifies, what it leaves out, and what belongs back in the biblical text.
Handout
One page for learners to take home. The print button prints this section alone.
Acts 24–26
The passage in brief
Paul is put on trial before the Roman governor Felix, who hears false charges. Paul shows they cannot be proved and tells of his hope in the resurrection. Felix is afraid when Paul speaks of judgement, but he keeps Paul in prison for two years. When the new governor Festus wants to send him back to Jerusalem, Paul appeals to Caesar. Before King Agrippa, Paul tells how Jesus met him and sent him to turn people from darkness to light, and he wishes everyone listening would believe.
A verse to keep
To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.
Acts 26:18 · King James Version
Questions to take home
What did Paul confess about his faith in 24:14-15?
Why did Felix tremble in 24:25, and what did he do next?
What did Paul wish for everyone listening in 26:29?
This week
Write down in three sentences how Jesus has changed you, and be ready to share it this week.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
