Acts 25:11-15
 
Acts 25:11 (KJB)
For 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.
 
Paul here states that if the charges made against him were true, then he is not afraid to face the penalties, even to the point of death. Then he states that if the accusations they made are baseless and none of them have been proven, then neither the Jews nor Festus could pronounce any judgment upon him. So to prevent himself from being unjustly accused and punished for something he has not done, he then appeals to Caesar. As a Roman citizen, he has the right to appeal to Caesar and have his case heard before the Emperor Nero. At this particular time in Nero’s rule, he had good advisers and was not irrational as he later became. This is why Paul appealed to Caesar because he thought he would get this matter completed plus the Lord Jesus Christ did state that he would witness for Him in Rome.
 
Acts 25:12 (KJB)
Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered, Hast thou appealed unto Caesar? unto Caesar shalt thou go.
 
The fact that Paul had appealed to Caesar would mean that the Jews would no longer be able to have any chance to execute him. This would mean disfavor of Festus by the Jews. This is why Festus had conferred with his provincial council. They knew that as a Roman citizen, Paul had every right to appeal to Caesar and there was nothing that Festus could do so he declared that Paul would be sent to Caesar. Citizens of Rome were given the right to appeal as far back as 509 B.C. and then between the years of 449 and 299 B.C., further enactments reinforced this right of appeal.
 
Acts 25:13 (KJB)
And after certain days king Agrippa and Bernice came unto Caesarea to salute Festus.
 
After some time, King Agrippa and his widowed sister, Bernice, to greet the new Governor. This Herod was Herod Agrippa II, also known as M. Julius Agrippa II. In 50 A.D. the Emperor Claudius made him king of Chalcis between the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon mountains. Then in 53 A.D. he was made tetrarch of Philip, east of the sea of Galilee and of Lysanius, and northwest of Damascus. Agrippa II died in Rome in 100 A.D. and was greatly honored as a high officer of Rome. Bernice was first married to her uncle, Herod of Chalcis and then after his death she married Polemon, King of Cilicia. She lived a very immoral life having become the mistress of Emperors Vespasian and Titus.
 
Acts 25:14 (KJB)
And when they had been there many days, Festus declared Paul's cause unto the king, saying, There is a certain man left in bonds by Felix:
 
Agrippa II was educated in Rome but he was still a Jew. In 50 A.D. Claudius had given him the Government of the Temple. Festus had looked upon Agrippa as an expert in the religion of the Jews. Festus then had told the entire story of Paul to Agrippa. He told him about the plot to kill him and the false accusations where they wanted Festus to declare Paul guilty on just the accusations and sentence him to death. He might have thought that Agrippa would be able to help him in writing an opinion. King Agrippa II did not show the coldness of the other Herods and was said to have a good personality. He had helped the Jews whenever he could.
 
Acts 25:15 (KJB)
About whom, when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me, desiring to have judgment against him.
 
After telling Agrippa how Felix had left him in bonds, he then relates the fact that the elders and chief priests had spoken to him about Paul, not requesting a fair trial but desiring to have a summary judgment of death pronounced against him. The Jewish leaders had used the same tactic in the trial of the Lord Jesus Christ. Even though these were new leaders with a new High priest, they learned nothing from the previous generation in the way they treated Jesus. They still believed that the Romans should just take them at their word and hopefully kill Paul and that would stop the gospel from going forth. How foolish they were because the Gospel was not limited to one man and had been spreading for about 30 years already.

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