26:17,18Paul took every opportunity to remind his audience that the Gentiles had an equal share in God’s inheritance. This inheritance is the promise and blessing of the covenant that God had made with Abraham (see Ephesians 2:19; 1 Peter 1:3, 4). Paul’s mission was to preach the Good News to the Gentiles.
Life Application Study BibleActsChapter 26
Acts 26
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 1882, 1883, 1884
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26Acts 26
1Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You may speak in your defense.” So Paul, gesturing with his hand, started his defense: 2“I am fortunate, King Agrippa, that you are the one hearing my defense today against all these accusations made by the Jewish leaders,?for I know you are an expert on all Jewish customs and controversies. Now please listen to me patiently! 4“As the Jewish leaders are well aware, I was given a thorough Jewish training from my earliest childhood among my own people and in Jerusalem. 5If they would admit it, they know that I have been a member of the Pharisees, the strictest sect of our religion. 6Now I am on trial because of my hope in the fulfillment of God’s promise made to our ancestors. 7In fact, that is why the twelve tribes of Israel zealously worship God night and day, and they share the same hope I have. Yet, Your Majesty, they accuse me for having this hope! 8Why does it seem incredible to any of you that God can raise the dead? 9“T used to believe that I ought to do everything I could to oppose the very name of Jesus the Nazarene.* 10Indeed, I did just that in Jerusalem. Authorized by the leading priests, I caused many believers there to be sent to prison. And cast my vote against them when they were condemned to death. 11Many times I had them punished in the synagogues to get them to curse Jesus.* I was so violently opposed to them that I even chased ther down in foreign cities. 12"One day I was on such a mission to Damascus, armed with the authority and commission of the leading priests. 13About noon, Your Majesty, as I was on the road, a light from heaven brighter than the sun shone down on me and my companions. 14We all fell down, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic,* ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is useless for you to fight against my will.*’ 15““Who are you, lord?’ I asked. “And the LORD replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. 16Now get to your feet! For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and witness. You are to tell the world what you have seen and what I will show you in the future. 17And I will rescue you from both your own people and the Gentiles. Yes, 1 am sending you to the Gentiles ' to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God's people, who are set apart by faith in me.’ 19nd so, King Agrippa, I obeyed that vision from heaven. 2° preached first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that all must repent of their sins and turn to God—and prove they have changed by the good things they do. 21Some Jews arrested me in the Temple for preaching this, and they tried to kill me. 22But God has protected me right up to this present time so I can testify to everyone, from the least to the greatest. I teach nothing except what the prophets and Moses said would happen— 23that the Messiah would suffer and be the first to rise from the dead, and in this way announce God’s light to Jews and Gentiles alike.” 24Suddenly, Festus shouted, “Paul, you are insane. Too much study has made you crazy!” 25But Paul replied, “I am not insane, Most Excellent Festus. What I am saying is the sober truth. 26And King Agrippa knows about these things. I speak boldly, for I am sure these events are all familiar to him, for they were not done in a corner! 27King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do—” 28Agrippa interrupted him. “Do you think you can persuade me to become a Christian so quickly?’”* 29Paul replied, “Whether quickly or not, I pray to God that both you and everyone here in this audience might become the same as I am, except for these chains.” 30Then the king, the governor, Bernice, and all the others stood and left. 31As they went out, they talked it over and agreed, “This man hasn't done anything to deserve death or imprisonment.” 32And Agrippa said to Festus, “He could have been set free if he hadn’tappealed to Caesar.”
Textual footnotes
- to kick against the oxgoads.
- 26:9 Or Jesus of Nazareth.
- 26:11 Greek to blaspheme.
- 26:14a Or Hebrew.
- 26:14b Greek ff is hard for you
- 26:28 Or “A little more, and your arguments would make me a Christian.” 27:1 Greek centurion; similarly in 27:6,
Life Application Notes 5 notes
26:24Paul was risking his life for a message that was offensive to the Jews and unbelievable to the Gentiles. Jesus received the same response to his message (Mark 3:21; John 10:20). To a worldly, materialistic mind, it seems insane to risk so much to gain what seems to be so little. But as you follow Christ, you soon discover that one’s most prized possessions cannot compare to even the smallest eternal reward.
26:26Paul was appealing to the facts: People were still alive who had heard Jesus and seen his miracies; the empty tomb could still be seen; and the Christian message was turning the world upside down (17:6). The history of Jesus’ life and the early church are facts that still confront us today. We still have eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ life recorded in the Bible as well as historical and archaeological records of the early church to study. Examine the events and facts as verified by many wit- Nesses. Strengthen your faith with the truth of these accounts.
26:28,29Agrippa responded to Paul's presentation with a sarcastic remark. Paul didn’t react to the brush-off but made a personal appeal to which he hoped all his listeners would respond. Paul's response is a good example for us as we tell others about God's plan of salvation. A sincere personal appeal or personal testimony can show the depth of our concern and break through hardened hearts.
26:28,29Paul's heart is revealed here in his words: He was more concerned for the salvation of these strangers than for the removal of his own chains. Ask God to give you a burning desire to see others come to Christ—a desire so strong that it overshadows your prablems.
Charts, profiles & sidebars from the printed pages
Personality profile · page 1883
Profile: It
Like great-grandfather, like grandfather, like father, like son—this tells the story of Herod Agrippa tl. He inherited the character flaws of generations of powerful men. Each son followed his father in weaknesses, mistakes, and missed opportunities to know God. Each generation had a confrontation with God but failed to realize the importance of the moment. Herod Agrippa’s great-uncle, Herod Antipas, actually met Jesus during his trial but failed to see Jesus for who he was. Agrippa II heard the gospel from Paul but considered the message mild entertainment. He found it humorous that Paul actuaily tried to convince him to become a Christian. Like so many before and after, Agrippa I! stopped within hearing distance of the Kingdom of God. He left himself without excuse. He heard the gospel but decided it wasn’t worth responding to personally. Sadly, his mistake is not uncommon, Many who read his story also will not believe. Their problem, like his, is not really that the gospel isn’t convincing or that they don’t need to know God personally; it is that they choose not to respond. What has been your response to the gospel? Has it turned your life around and given you the hope of eternal life, or has it been a message to resist or reject? Perhaps it has just been entertainment. It may seem like too great a price to give God control of your life, but the price is minimal compared to living apart from him for eternity because you have chosen not to be his child.
• Last of the Herod dynasty that ruled parts of Palestine from 40 B.C. to A:D. 100
• Continued his father’s success in mediating between Rome and Palestine © Continued the family tradition of building and improving cities
Strengths and accomplishments
• Was not convinced by the gospel and consciously rejected it Carried on an incestuous relationship with his sister Bernice
Weaknesses and mistakes
• Families pass on both positive and negative influences to children;
• There are no guarantees of multiple opportunities to respond to God
Lessons from his life
• Occupation: Ruler of northern and eastern Palestine
• Relatives: Great-grandfather: Herod the Great. Father: Herod Agrippa |. Great-uncle: Herod Antipas. Sisters: Bernice, Drusilla.
• Contemporaries: Paul, Felix, Festus, Peter, Luke
Vital statistics
“Agrippa interrupted him. ‘Do you think you can persuade me to become a Christian so quickly?” (Acts 26:28).
Key verse
Herod Agrippa It’s story is told in Acts 25:13-26:32.
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