Crossing the Rubicon – Acts 25:10-12, 21

What so often happens when a wealthy man loses a court case?

Doesn’t he usually appeal to a higher court?

Sometimes that means a new trial, and sometimes it means that a new court reviews the initial decision.

Good or bad, that is one of the characteristics of American jurisprudence.

The Appellate Court was designed to reach justice,

and for some people I suppose that it has been just that.

But if we only knew, we might decide that it has accomplished more injustice than justice.

For example, appeals are usually expensive,

and this means that the man, or the company, with money can appeal,

while the poor man has to settle for the decision of the first court.

I wonder if they had minor or local courts-of-appeal in the Roman legal system?

Whether they actually had district appellate courts, I couldn’t tell you,

but Roman citizens could demand to be heard in the court-room of Caesar.

But there were conditions:

For example, an appeal to Caesar could be made only in capital cases.

If someone had his property swindled away from him, he had no recourse after his initial trial.

If he had a corrupt judge, that was just the way that it was.

But Paul’s was a very different kind of case, and apparently a different kind of appeal.

First, he had not been found guilty of a crime.

But then, I’m not sure that if after he had been found guilty, he could then make his appeal.

I don’t know if the Roman appellate system was like ours in that respect.

In Paul’s case he had only been charged with capital crimes.

Secondly, it seems that he recognized that another trip to Jerusalem might actually mean his execution.

“If I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die:

but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me,

No man may DELIVER ME unto them. I appeal unto Caesar.”

Festus had said, “Wilt thou go up to Jerusalem, and there be judge of these things BEFORE ME?”

But Paul considered it a delivery into the hands of the Jews, which would have meant his death.

“No man may DELIVER me unto them. ”

Did he know by revelation, or had he surmised, that he would be attacked while on the road to Jerusalem?

“I appeal unto Caesar.”

Now, did anyone’s heart skip a beat when they read or heard verse 21?

Festus said, “When Paul had appealed to be reserved unto the hearing of AUGUSTUS, I commanded him to be kept till I might send him to Caesar.”

If you have been listening carefully, you should have heard me say a couple of times, that Festus had been appointed to the Governorship of Judea by Emperor Nero.

But here Luke clearly quotes Festus saying that he was sending Paul to Augustus.

Is this a reference to Caesar Augustus?

No, it wasn’t.

Have you ever wondered where the title “Caesar” came from?

In the Greek language it is “kaisar” ( kah’-ee-sar ), from which the Germans borrowed the word “Kaiser.”

Much to everyone’s confusion, it doesn’t mean “emperor,” as we might expect.

It was merely the surname, the last name, of the first Roman Emperor – Julius.

Although it doesn’t matter at all, the word “kaisar” means “to separate” or “to sever.”

When the second emperor came along, he borrowed Julius’ name and became known as “Augustus Caesar.”

So through Augustus, “Caesar” became a title rather than a name.

And as more emperors came and went, they used both “Caesar” AND the name of the second Emperor in the much the same way – “Augustus.”

Nero was the reigning emperor; so officially he was “Caesar.”

And as we find it here, sometimes even the word “Augustus” was applied to him, although it was highly, highly inappropriate.

The word “august” speaks about someone who is respectable, venerable, or awe-inspiring.

In the case of Nero, who was despicable and disgusting, the word was completely out of place.

Nevertheless, Festus chose to use it when speaking to Agrippa about their mutual boss.

Now for a few minutes let’s think about Paul’s appeal unto Caesar Nero, alias “Augustus.“

What was it that he appealed?

First, he appealed the SENTENCE of the wicked.

The Jews had charged him with heresy, treason and trouble-making.

Paul was not guilty of these things – he was not guilty of anything worthy of death.

But he considered the trip to Jerusalem as a death-sentence, so he made his appeal.

Second, he appealed the PASSIONS of the moment – both theirs and his.

For two long years he had been cooling his heels in Caesar’s federal prison.

Although charges had been laid, there had not been the speedy trial which our founding fathers considered to be an essential human right.

Festus had inherited a dirty situation, but instead of doing the right thing, he was trying to buy the favor of the Jews.

I don’t see how anyone could blame Paul for being very frustrated at this on-going injustice.

And when it was suggested that he go to Jerusalem for yet another trial, in frustration and probably anger, he appealed to be sent to Rome instead.

Third, he appealed the OPINIONS of others.

What the Jews or the local Romans thought about his religious position was not a legal matter.

That needed to be silenced and stopped.

And last, he appealed against another KANGAROO COURT.

If I have to go over your heads to get a trial that means anything, then I appeal to Caesar.

Now, I need to correct a statement which I have often heard and which I have often repeated.

Coming from the American justice system, we may look at the ancient world differently than it really was.

I have said that this incarceration and its eventual appeal to Caesar meant that Paul was shipped to Rome at government expense.

I have said that the Apostle got an all expenses paid trip to Rome, making this aspect of the trip better than he had ever imagined.

Doesn’t the Lord move in marvelous ways His wonders to perform?

But that may not have been the case at all.

It may have been that if a man demanded to be tried in the Court of Rome, then he had to pay his own expenses in order to get there.

I would also imagine that his accusers would have had to pay their expenses as well.

It might have been decreed, when the trial was concluded, that one man had to reimburse another man for the cost of the trip, but who can even say that.

And there is no reason to think that a long voyage was less expensive in that economy than it would be in our economy.

The small ships in that day could only carry a few passengers,

and I’m sure that the ships’ owners would want it to be as full of paying customers as possible.

He wouldn’t be interested in giving freebies to governmental passengers.

And then there would be the cost of meals for a journey of a couple of weeks.

I would guess that Paul would have had to pay for his passage and that of Luke and whoever else went along.

In fact, he might have had to pay for the passage and board of his guards as well.

This decision and demand to be tried before Caesar was a serious step.

It may have been a very expensive decision.

But that is if we consider this appeal only on an earthly plain.

If we look at Paul’s appeal to Caesar, as if it was an appeal to Christ, then it becomes seomthing different.

Any and every child of God ought to be willing to make his appeal to the Lord.

There is a court which is higher than that of Caesar.

If Paul was appealing to the Court of the Lord rather than the Court of Rome, things intensify.

And in that light this appeal shows us several different things.

For example, it reminds us that Paul had a CONSCIENCE TOTALLY VOID OF OFFENSE.

One of the key ingredients of the American system is the option of a jury trial.

Theoretically, when the facts of a case are presented to 12 thinking people, the truth should be established.

But in some cases, which are especially technical, sometimes a well-trained judge might be better.

In either case, errors can be made and unjust verdicts can be rendered.

However, when we are talking about the Lord’s bema, no mistakes will ever made, and there will never be a misrepresentation presented.

The wicked man will never want to appeal to the Lord’s court, if he knows that the truth will be exposed, and of course, he SHOULD know that.

And then on the other hand, when a man, like Paul, does make an appeal to the Lord like this, you can be sure that he is, or has been made, an innocent man.

As he has told us before, Paul’s conscience is clear.

Second, when Paul made his appeal, it was an ACT OF SUBMISSION to the authority of the Lord.

He had been in Herod’s Judgment Hall for over 24 months.

It may have not been the Ridpath Hotel, but it wasn’t Stalag 13 either.

And he may have been there for another 24 months or 24 years before he got out – who can say.

But if and when he stands before Caesar, there will be decisions made and conclusions rendered.

There will be no appeals at that point.

If Nero says, “Off with his head,” then off will it go.

If Nero tells him to go, he would be free to go and to do whatever the Lord directed.

Paul was casting himself into the hands of Lord, by casting himself into the hands of Emperor Nero.

He was trusting God to turn the King’s heart the direction that the Lord wanted it to go.

And of course, he had no idea that there was Euroclydon awaiting for him out in the Mediterranean.

But even if had known that there was a hurricane out there, it would have made little difference;

Paul was casting his all into God’s care.

And then last, he had an evangelical desire to AVOID MARTYRDOM and to EXTEND HIS MINISTRY in the Lord’s Kingdom.

Paul has already told us that he was “ready not to be bound only, but also to die … for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

He had a “desire to depart, and to be with Christ,”

but at the same time “to abide in the flesh” was more important for the work of the Lord at that point.

This should be the desire, and this should be the reality, for each of our lives as well.

We should have a willingness to leave the world, the flesh & the relatives to begin our eternity with Christ.

But at the same time we should be living lives on earth, useful enough to the cause of Christ,

that to remain here would be a definite blessing to others.

Paul appealed to Caesar because he wanted to jump-start his ministry again.

It was time for him to get out of that already evangelized city and jail house

and move on to some of the uttermost parts of the earth which were still awaiting the gospel.

This appeal was a part of Paul’s desire to be of service to his Lord.