Paul’s speech before King Agrippa
1 Agrippa said to Paul: “You may speak in your own de fense.” So Paul stretched out his hand and began in this way:
2 “King Agrippa, you have just heard about the accusations of the Jews. I consider myself fortunate in having the opportunity to defend myself against all this before you today,
3 for you are an expert in the customs of the Jews and their disputes. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.
4 All the Jews know how I have lived from my youth, how I have lived among my own people and in Jeru salem.
5 They have always known me and they can tell you, if they wish, that I have lived as a Pharisee in the most rigorous sect of our religion.
6 If I am now tried here, it is because of the hope I have in the promise made by God to our ancestors.
7 The hope of attaining this promise is behind the fervent worship that our twelve tribes render to God night and day. Yet now, O king, the Jews accuse me for this hope！
8 But why refuse to believe that God raises the dead?
9 I myself in the beginning thought that I had to use all possible means to counteract the Name of Jesus of Nazareth.
10 This I did in Jerusalem and, with the authorization of the chief priests, I put in prison many who believed; and I cast my vote when they were condemned to death.
11 I went round the synagogues and multiplied punishments against them to force them to renounce their faith; such was my rage against them that I pursued them even to foreign cities.
12 With this purpose in mind I went to Damascus with full authority and commissioned by the chief priests.
13 On the way, O King, at midday I saw a light from heaven, more brilliant than the sun, that dazzled me and those who accompanied me.
14 We all fell to the ground and I heard a voice saying to me in Hebrew: ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? In vain do you kick against the goad.’
15 I answered: ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said: ‘I am Jesus whom you persecute.
16 Get up now and stand on your feet. I have revealed myself to you to make you servant and witness to what I have just shown you and to what I will show you later on.
17 I will rescue you from all evil that may come from your own people or from the pagans to whom I am sending you.
18 For you shall open their eyes that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God; and, through faith in me, may obtain forgiveness of their sins and a place among those who are sanctified.’
19 Since that time, King Ag rippa, I did not stray from this heavenly vision;
20 on the contrary, I began preaching first to those in Damas cus, then to those in Jerusalem and through out Ju dea, and then to the pagan nations, that they should repent and turn to God, showing the fruits of true conversion.
21 I was carrying out this mission when the Jews arrested me in the Temple and tried to kill me. But with the help of God, I still stand here today to give my testimony both to the great and the small.
22 I do not teach anything other than what Moses and the Prophets announced beforehand:
23 the Mes siah had to die, and after being the first to be raised from the dead, he would proclaim the light to his people as well as to all nations.”
24 As Paul came to this point of his defense, Festus said in a loud voice: “Paul, you are mad; your great learn ing has deranged your mind!”
25 But Paul answered: “I am not mad, Most Excellent Festus, but everything I have said is reliable and true.
26 The king is acquainted with all these things, so to him I speak with such con fidence. I am convinced that he knows everything about this case, for these things did not happen in a dark corner.
27 King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets? I know that you do.”
28 Agrippa said to him: “You al most believe that you have already made me a Christian!”
29 Paul an swered him: “Whether little or more, I would that not only you but all who hear me this day may come to be as I am – except for these chains.”
30 Then the king rose and, with him, the governor, Bernice and all the attendants.
31 When they went out they talked among themselves and said: “This man has done nothing to deserve death or im prison ment.”
32 And Agrip pa said to Fes tus: “Had he not appealed to Caesar, he could have been set free.”
------------------------------------------------------------
Comments Acts, Chapter 26
• 26.1 Paul did not have the best audience for his speech: an operetta king, Agrippa, to whom the Roman governor, the real authority, wishes to make a gesture; the famous Bernice, sister of Agrippa, who is his concubine before going off to make other conquests; and then all those who have come for a moment of relaxation before the cocktail, including the Roman officers who know very little of the religious quarrels among Jews. So we have a third account of Paul’s conversion (see chpts. 9 and 22). This time, Paul shows his conversion is not surprising: he has found what God had for so long promised his people: the resurrection of the dead.
I asked them to repent. It is precisely what the prophets said. It was not enough to proclaim oneself a Jew; all had to convert. And here, Paul speaks openly before this audience who are not outstanding in their moral virtue, except perhaps the Roman Festus.
That the Messiah would rise from the dead. Here again is the decisive point. Paul questions the religion of many Christians, who, according to polls accept Christ as Word of God but do not believe in the resurrection. Something beyond death? Perhaps… “I am not like those who think they know everything, I’m searching…” Precisely, as long as we are searching we have not taken the leap of faith. To accept Christ, is to renounce the totalitarian reason with its proven truths. Reason is at home in science but shortsighted in the face of essential truths. As long as there is no belief in the resurrection, there is no understanding of human destiny: a person may be educated, have a religious culture but be unable to grasp the truth. Even if the words of St. Anselm shock us, they are true: “Believe in order to understand.”
Paul is not so preoccupied about defending himself as he is about convincing others: Agrippa and Festus are people like everyone else and they need Christ. Festus is amazed by Paul’s biblical background and his enthusiasm: Agrippa, moved, says nothing. In fact, if they have been impressed, uneasiness will soon pass: “serious matters” will again take up their time.