(A) Introduction (Read the reference.)

Bruce Milne in his commentary on the Gospel of John writes: We shall have cause again in the course of the gospel to observe John's recognition of the complexity and mystery of salvation which is both 'willed by man, and worked by God.'

It is equally mysterious and complex why some reject the gospel! In the Parable of the Sower Jesus does not attempt to explain how the different types of soil got the way they were. Nor does he offer an explanation of how the different kinds of hearer got the way they were. He simply graphically highlights what all Christians know by experience: people who hear God's word react in very dissimilar ways to it. But why do they?

I think it is very difficult for God to both prepare men for salvation and leave them free to believe or disbelieve. If men are left free it is inevitable that some like Agrippa and Festus will disbelieve. It is important to remember that they were given an opportunity to believe. In the end they will be held responsible for their decision.

(B) Festus: the reaction of an irreligious man to Paul's testimony.

Festus thought that Paul was talking nonsense, utter rubbish, and so he shouts out: "You are out of your mind, Paul! You're great learning is driving you insane." Why did he react like this? There are at least four possible reasons:

(1) He was at a great disadvantage. Festus did not have Paul's experience. Paul had been educated as a Pharisee. He had a thorough knowledge of the Old Testament. He knew that God intervened in a miraculous way at certain times in the history of the Jews. Paul had been in contact with Christians. He had witnessed their courage and confidence in Jesus even as, like Stephen, they faced death. Festus had not encountered a light on the road to Damascus or heard Christ speaking to him.

It is easy to get cross with our acquaintances and friends for not believing in Jesus. We should remember that many of them have not had our advantages. They have not been brought up in a Christian home, attended Sunday school, been prayed for and surrounded from their early years by devotees of Jesus.

(2) He did not make the best use of the evidence he had. Festus had not thought deeply about the origin of the universe, the remarkable diversity and complexity of living things or the nature of man. He could have done! Paul writes to the Romans: For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - has been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Romans1v20.

Festus might have complained, along with many people today, that God was hidden. He was inaccessible and unknowable, remote and unreal. However, Paul argues that this is not a good reason for disbelieving in God's existence any more than the absence of an artist from an exhibition of his work is a sound reason for disbelieving in the artist. Festus was without excuse.

(3) He may have thought that the evidence for God's existence was inconclusive. Festus might have noticed that good people suffer and bad people live a charmed life. He could have pointed out to Paul that God did not seem to make special efforts to protect his own. Bad things happened to Christians. Peter escaped from Herod's dungeon but James the brother of John was beheaded.

This remains an argument used by non-believers against the existence of God. Why didn't God take steps to protect the children of Christians from the awful consequences of the Beslan school disaster? When God is really needed he seems to be inactive.

(4) He did not want God to exist. This is the ultimate expression of man's rebellious heart. This explains the outburst of Festus. There was nothing reasonable in the words Festus shouted out. He could have asked Paul questions if he was genuinely puzzled. Festus did not wish to hear any more about God. It was a subject that held no appeal for him.

There are lots of influential individuals who object to God's existence and who are unwilling to reconsider their position. An editorial appeared in the Daily Telegraph the day after the Beslan massacre in Southern Russia in which the writer quoted the bleak words of Psalm 77:

Will the Lord reject for ever?
Will he never show his favour again?
Has his unfailing love vanished for ever?
Has his promise failed for all time?
Has God forgotten to be merciful?
Has he in anger witheld his compassion?


The editorial congratulated the psalmist on his realism and went on to assert that there was no good and able Being in control of our world. This was a very unfair comment because it ignored the remainder of Psalm 77. The ancient poet took himself in hand and wrote:

I will remember the deeds of the LORD;
yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
I will meditate on all your works
and consider all your mighty deeds.

With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,.....

The psalmist then describes in vivid detail the Israelite crossing of the Red Sea to escape from Pharaoh before concluding:

You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

The psalmist addresses his despair by considering God's redemptive purpose; God's great and abiding purpose to save for himself a people. God leaves men free to do wicked deeds because he wants them to freely believe in his son and be saved. I accept that all the pain and misery suffered by men since the fall has been a terrible price to pay for redemption. It is also a price God has paid. It is a price God knew he must pay before the foundation of the world. God was incarnate and suffered and bled and died so that a redeemed people might enter the Promised Land.

My old friend Peter Chaffey would undoubtedly conclude by quoting a hymn:

Thy ways, O Lord, with wise design,
Are framed upon Thy throne above;
And ev'ry dark and bending line
Meets in the centre of Thy love!

Agrippa had advantages that Festus never had. He was born and bred a Jew. He was, in the words of Paul, "Well acquainted with all Jewish customs and controversies." Agrippa knew something of Jewish History - of God's numerous interventions on behalf of his people. He had been told the story of the Exodus, the Exile, Esther's saving intervention and the Return. Agrippa believed in God - like 70% of Britons today. Yet, as Agrippa makes plain, he is not going to become a Christian. He responds to Paul's testimony by saying ironically: "Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?" v28. In this respect Agrippa is like so many bought up in a Christian environment who end up refusing to accept Jesus. There are at least three possible reasons for Agrippa's decision:

(1) He had intellectual problems with Christianity. He may have found it hard to believe that God became man and died on a cross. Agrippa probably considered it unlikely that God demanded a human sacrifice as Old Testament Scriptures prohibited it. The king knew that Christ's life, death and resurrection was not done in a corner but nevertheless most Jews did not believe in Jesus.

Many still have intellectual problems about aspects of Christianity. I read recently the obituary of an Australian philosopher. He rejected the Roman Catholicism of his youth because if salvation depended upon belief in Jesus it seemed very unfair that the Australian Aborigines had to wait 2000 years before they so much as heard of him.

I think Christians should address intellectual problems like this. I would say that the only effective way for Aborigines to learn about Jesus is through men. God could have sent angels to Australia with the message. He didn't because angels frighten men. We do not relate very well to them. Think of the very different reaction of Mary Magdalene to the two angels in white seated in the tomb and the human voice that said to her: "Mary." I would also argue that some Aborigines will be in the same category as Abraham who never had an opportunity to believe in Jesus but whose faith in God was credited to him as righteousness. Rom4v23. For a much fuller treatment of this see the section on The Last Judgment in my article on Heaven and Hell.

(2) He didn't see any necessity to change and become a Christian. He was all right as he was. Agrippa might have thought: there's nothing wrong with me. I respect the Jewish customs, I observe the festivals and I watch my diet.

It is amazing how many people think like this. I said to my old friend Tommy recently, "You need to repent of your wicked ways." As quick as a flash he retorted, "What wicked ways?" The strange thing is nearly everyone who knows me well would agree that I need to repent of my wicked ways. There would be unanimous agreement that I was flawed and failing - a sinner if ever there was one.

Jesus said: "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. For I have not come to call the righteous but sinners." Mk2v17. Jesus came to our world to save sinners. Unless a man or a woman see themselves for what they truly are they cannot be saved.

(3) He didn't want to change. Agrippa wanted to live life his way. He realised, like the rich young ruler before him, that he had much to lose by becoming a Christian. Jesus said to a would be follower who had not counted the cost: "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." Luke9v58.

There is usually a price to pay for changing to conform with the will of God. Last week the Daily Telegraph contained an obituary of Beyers Naud. He was a highly respected pastor of a Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa during the apartheid era. Naud was shaken by the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960. He turned to Scripture to re-examine his church's teaching on apartheid. He changed his position. It was very painful for Naud as he dearly loved his Afrikaner people and culture. Eventually he was forced to leave his church and was ostracised by the majority of Afrikaners. Beyers Naud paid a high price for changing. But there were compensations. He was welcomed into the black equivalent of the Dutch Reformed Church!

There is a price to pay for being a Christian but Jesus also said: Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Mt11v28to30.

(D) Paul is seen in a good light as he finishes his testimony.

(1) He kept his cool.
Festus accused Paul of being crazy. He shouted out what was no more than an unjustifiable insult. But Paul kept calm. He didn't lose his temper and shout back at Festus.

I find it difficult to keep cool when I am contradicted. I find it very hard to discuss controversial religious topics about which I feel strongly without getting heated. I don't like it when the opponents of Christianity make stupid remarks about the faith. It makes me cross!

Paul replied to Festus, "I am not insane, most excellent Festus. What I am saying is true and reasonable." v25. Paul was an able and effective controversialist because he could remain calm and collected under fire. I cannot .

(2) He was content.
Paul was pleased to be what he was. He said: "I pray God that ...... all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except these chains." v29. What on earth had Paul to be pleased about? He wasn't a handsome man - something I have found to be a serious drawback. He had no home, wife or children - three blessings many Christians could not be without. Paul was in poor health. I would hate to be in poor health. He wasn't rich. He lived a hand to mouth existence. Paul had no official status and had been rejected by his own people. Why should his listeners want to be like him?

Paul said in his letter to the Philippians: "I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things." Phil3v8. When you count your blessings what do you start with? I often commence by thanking God for my good health then go on to food and clothing, my home, my excellent education, being able to complete my career, receiving help when caring for my father, interesting books, the beauties of nature, a good eye for a ball..... . Then, almost as an after thought, I add to the end of the list - oh, and thank you for Jesus. Paul had a short list. He had lost all things! But he still had Jesus. Jesus is the pearl of great price he wished all his hearers to possess. Remember the parable? The merchant sold all that he had to buy the pearl of great price.

(3)He was challenging.
Paul challenged Agrippa, and all those who listened, to become what he was - a Christian. He challenged everyone, from the highest to the lowest, to turn from: darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Jesus. See v17.

Paul was never, never, afraid to challenge men with the gospel. It was a matter of life and death to him. Who knows what affect his testimony had. Perhaps, Julius the centurion who accompanied him to Rome was amongst his hearers. We know that he proved a real friend to Paul on the traumatic voyage from Syria to Italy. We can deduce that the apostle had some supporters close to the governor because Luke is able to report the conversation that Festus and Agrippa had about Paul. Some one must have told the apostle what the two men said for Luke to record: They left the room, and while talking with one another, they said, "This man is not doing anything that deserves death or imprisonment." v31.

A direct challenge can sometimes produce spectacular results. My brother, Paul, became a Christian because a worker at Pioneer Camp asked him, "Paul, are you saved?" D.L. Moody became a Christian because his Sunday school teacher, Mr Kimball, went into the boot store in which Moody worked to talk to him about Jesus. Mr Kimball said: "I made what I felt afterward was a very weak plea for Christ. I don't know just what words I used, nor could Mr. Moody tell. I simply told him of Christ's love for him, and the love Christ wanted in return. That was all there was. It seemed the young man was just ready for the light that then broke upon him, and there in the back of that store in Boston, D.L. Moody gave himself and his life to Christ."

It is a scandal if we never challenge any one to put their belief in Jesus for eternal life.