Wednesday, 16th Week of Ordinary Time

Acts 26:22-27:1
Morning Prayer

Most standard translations don’t get Festus’s exclamation right. Why doesn’t anyone want to say that Festus “shouted”? That’s what Luke wrote. Sometimes, translators seem to be in a common conspiracy to drain all human passion out of the Bible. But Paul’s statement in verse 23 was not just offensive, but absolutely shocking to Festus. Remember those Greek and Roman gods you read in Mythology class? Didn’t they sound an awful lot like human beings? Except that they were immortal, and you’re not. Mortality was the one absolute wall dividing the gods from human beings. Think of your mortality as an element of religious faith, then imagine hearing, not just that one man rose from the dead, but that he was only “the first.” Try that thought experiment, and you might understand why Festus reacted with such vehemence.

So, now Paul has succeeded in getting Caesar’s deputy, the man who will explain Paul’s case to Caesar, angry at him. What to do now. Paul expertly plays the Jewish king Agrippa off against Festus. This doesn’t sound crazy to you, does it Agrippa. And if you, a faithful Jew, trust in the Resurrection of the dead, then just believe me when I say that I have seen Jesus, risen from the dead. Agrippa isn’t offended. He’s just cynical. Rather than answer Paul directly, Agrippa deflects Paul’s challenge with wit: So you’re going to make me a Christian now, are you?

Those are two possible responses to the Good News. Which of these responses have you encountered, offense or cynicism? Which would you rather encounter? Offense might get you in a fight. But perhaps offense is more likely to represent the first step toward faith than indifference. At least if someone is offended, they’re engaging you and your words with an open heart; a heart that perhaps got probed deeper than expected. But at least they’re not going to dismiss you with indifference. If they are touched in their heart, then they’ll be thinking about what you said long after you’re gone.

Of course, evangelism, which comes from the Greek for “good news,” needs to actually be good news for the aching heart, not an argument meant to push someone’s button. And it may have been that Agrippa really wanted to believe Paul. But he has very comfortable life, sometimes playing a Roman, other times a Jew. He certainly didn’t want to end up in chains like Paul. We don’t know much about Festus from the secular histories of the time. There’s no way to know what impact Paul’s defense had on him. But I would like to think that it grew on him as he moved on with his life, always nibbling at his heart.