Paul Witnesses to King Agrippa - Part I - Acts 26

26 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.”

So Paul motioned with his hand and began his defense: ² “King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews, ³ and especially so because you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.

His defense is for any Jew from anywhere that might have something to say against him.

⁴ “The Jewish people all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child, from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem. ⁵ They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I conformed to the strictest sect of our religion, living as a Pharisee. ⁶ And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our ancestors that I am on trial today. ⁷ This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. King Agrippa, it is because of this hope that these Jews are accusing me. ⁸ Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?

He is on trial because of his hope in a promise from the God of the Jews, his God.  This hope is in the resurrection of the dead.  King Agrippa knew the Mosaic Law and the Jewish background.  He knew they were awaiting a Messiah, a Savior. 

⁹ “I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. ¹⁰ And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s people in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.  ¹¹ Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities.

He worked for them and did their work.  They know him well.  He was very diligent in opposing those who follow Jesus.  He was more diligent than even the chief priests were prosecuting those of the Way. 

¹² “On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. ¹³ About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. ¹⁴ We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

¹⁵ “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’

Paul leans in as he tells this part of his testimony.  He refers to “King Agrippa” several times.  He is speaking directly to him and it infers how personal this part of the story is to him.  It is as if he is saying ‘listen closely to this’, it is miraculous.  Paul is also witnessing directly to the king.

“ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. ¹⁶ ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. ¹⁷ I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them ¹⁸ to open their eyes and turn them 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 me.’

Paul centers his testimony on the intervention of Jesus into his life.  He is the center of Paul’s story.

Who is in the center of your testimony?  Is it you?  Is it others?  Or is it Jesus?  If you are a Christian, it should the intervention of Jesus into your life.  He should be at the center of your story.