Divine Appointment

The final chapters of Acts are concerned with essentially the story of Paul being sent to Rome. (Acts 21-28) It is interesting to note the attitudes of the drivers of his trip. First, Paul was "found" in the Temple by the Jewish sympathizers and they literally started a riot. Paul was rescued  from the crowd by the Commander of the Roman garrison.

More machinations intervene, and he is sent to Caesarea to face the next higher authority. The letter of introduction sent by the commander begins:
    "When this man was arrested by the Jews and was about to be slain by them, I came up to them with the troops and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman." (Acts 23:27)

His memory was a little faulty here. He "learned" that Paul was a Roman after he had arrested Paul and was preparing to beat him. But the key item is that Paul, like a pawn on the board, was moved away from Jerusalem and to his first stop on the way to Rome. He met Felix, the governor of Judea at the time. After about two years, Felix was replaced by Festus. We do not have not record of the conversation as Felix handed off his prisoner.

Then in chapter 25 King Agrippa comes to pay his respects to the new governor. (V. 13) He mentioned a prisoner, left by Felix that Festus did not know how to handle. His introduction to Agrippa was,
    18 "When the accusers stood up, they began bringing charges against him not of such crimes as I was expecting, 19 but they simply had some points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive."

Since the Jews were demanding the death penalty, poor old Festus was placed in a bad place. So he "punted" to the King. His introduction was in v. 26:
    "I have brought him before you all and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the investigation has taken place, I may have something to write."

"How shall I explain to Caesar why I am sending him?" Verse 27 reveals his conundrum.
     "For it seems absurd to me in sending a prisoner, not to indicate also the charges against him."
After the "hearing," even Agrippa agreed that Paul was innocent. His comment is found in 26:32:
    "This man has done nothing wrong. He could be set free had he not appealed to Caesar."
Felix, Festus, and Agrippa actually did not send Paul to Rome. Paul had a divine appointment with Caesar and the Roman government graciously, magnanimously paid his way.

We hark back to Acts 9:15 where the Lord tells Ananias that Paul
    "...is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel."

This account at the end of Acts gives us a glimpse of what the Lord had in mind. Felix and Festus were Gentiles, Agrippa and Caesar were kings, and the Jews instigated this whole shebang. Ananias repeated a true prophesy. And the result? Did Caesar ever believe? We do not know, but Philippians 4:22 recounts the scenario. He was writing from Rome.
    All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar's household.
Somebody heard the message. God's appointments are well worth keeping