This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar. Acts 26:32b

Did Paul know that? Did he know he was winning his case? That he was persuading his judges? That they were about to rule to grant him freedom?

Even if he suspected this to be the case, he could not know for sure. So what were his options?

• Say yes to the request to go to Jerusalem
  • He might have suspected the plot to be ambushed, as there had been when he was moved to Caesarea
  • If he made it to Jerusalem alive, by no means certain, the forum would be hostile. In spite of whatever sincere opinion Festus might have privately reached, he would be in the epicenter of political pressure against Paul. It would have been expedient for Festus to curry political favor with the restless Jewish leaders, at the price of condemning an innocent man, a decision likely of no consequence or matter of conscience to this Roman leader. See Pilate.
• Say no to the request to go to Jerusalem
  • Risk damaging whatever favor he might have had with Festus, reduce his chances of freedom, and increase his chances of immediate execution
• Even if Festus freed Paul, in Caesarea, or Jerusalem, then what? He knew there was a company of opponents dedicated to killing him. Even as a free man, he would not be safe. His mission was to preach the Gospel, worldwide, and in particular, in Rome. The likelihood of pursuing that mission was not necessarily high, even if a free man.
• Appeal to Caesar:
  • First, God had promised that he would go to Rome. He knew this promise. He knew this trajectory.
  • Second, Rome was a much more favorable, more neutral forum. Rome would not be as vulnerable to the political pressure as regional Roman prefects would be, who were prone to grant favors to the Jewish leaders to keep the peace.
  • Third, even if his case was ultimately lost and he was executed, he would have a chance to present the Gospel to Caesar himself, and along the way, who knows how many others.
    • In fact, this is exactly what happened.

The appeal to Caesar was to move from the stage of Judea to the stage of Rome and the political center of the then known western world.

Paul’s plan worked. God’s promise was fulfilled. Paul preached the Gospel in Rome. Whether Paul ever had an audience with Caesar (Nero) himself is unknown. But it does appear Paul had influence with many people from prison guards to high ranking officials. And he had a presence with the burgeoning, struggling, Roman church, albeit from house arrest.

At the cost his life.

But Paul had already counted this cost. Paul had long ago cast aside his reputation, his comfort, his wealth, his status.

Appeal to Caesar? A wise, strategic choice. Not because Paul put his trust in Caesar/Nero. That tyrant would prove to be brutal. This was not about in whom Paul would put his trust to decide his case. Paul’s trust was already in God alone. Now the issue was solely, in the context of God’s promises and call, to carry out his mission.

The appeal to Caesar was strategic. It might have extended his life, but that is uncertain, and in fact, the appeal did not save it.

The appeal to Caesar was not strategic for the sake of saving Paul’s life, it was strategic for the sake of advancing the Gospel.

This is the criterion by which Paul made his decisions. Paul counted his life as no account. He counted his life of purpose and value only for the sake of the Gospel.

My decision making process is too often too needlessly complicated. Too many factors, usually among them my own welfare.

Only one thing chiefly matters: the Gospel. Everything should be measured by its advancement. Even at the cost of my personal convenience and comfort, my reputation, my welfare, my life. Maybe especially at the cost of those transitory, temporary, temporal commodities of flammable wood, hay and stubble.

Paul got it. Festus was bewildered. Festus was perplexed by Paul’s tactic, when to Festus, Festus was about to release Paul. Would that not have been so much better for Paul? Yes, by worldly, temporal eyes.

Paul had longer term vision. Eternal vision. By that vision, and in many ways even by temporal standards, Paul’s appeal was strategic. God honored it. Yes, Paul was executed. Yet he laid the foundation of Christian doctrine and the building of the Church along the way.

This was no mere “appeal.” “Appeal” sounds desperate. An appellant is one who lost in the lower court. Paul was not desperate. He was faith-filled. And he had not lost; no judgment had been rendered.

Paul was presented with an opportunity to advance the Gospel, and he seized it.

You have appealed to Caesar, to Caesar you shall go.

LORD, may I be alert in the circumstances in which I find myself to make wise decisions that will advance the Gospel. May I not be distracted by considerations of personal convenience, comfort or advantage. May I have the clarity of mind to focus on what really matters, what is eternal – people, the Gospel, the Kingdom. May I make wise decisions accordingly.

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