Remember when Felix was a cat and Festus was a deputy to Marshall Matt Dillon? In Paul’s day they were Roman governors of the Judean province. Festus succeeded Felix and heard Paul’s case in court. When he offered to send Paul back to Jerusalem where Paul’s enemies had planned an ambush, Paul instead appealed to Caesar. In the thought of the day, the Roman government held the power of life and death.
Imagine a court in Rome trying to adjudicate Paul’s case. What had he done wrong? Was he a murderer, or a thief? No. He had the audacity to talk about a man named Jesus who had died and was now alive. What is a court to do with that?
To this day the story of Jesus is evaluated daily in the court of public opinion. Some think Christians are holding on to a myth. Another group gives a tepid nod to Christianity as a way to connect with others and realize their own life goals. Still others have built our lives on the truth of the resurrection. When we come to the gospel, we are not just offering a simplified way to get to heaven. Instead, we are saying that God sent his only Son to die for us and that he rose again on the third day. When we believe in him, we become his followers. As we learn about him we begin to live like he lived. We die to sin and self, and with Christ we rise to a new way of life. His story becomes our story, and we tell it, even though we know many will disagree. Why? Because our God is the final judge and he holds the power of eternal life or eternal death. Which will we choose?
