08/13/2026
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Acts 25:19 has one of those lines that you can read right past because it sounds almost like an insignificant detail in the middle of a complicated legal proceeding: “Rather they had certain points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, who was dead, but whom Paul asserted to be alive.” And I love the way Festus says it because Festus is basically standing there trying to explain Paul's case to King Agrippa, and at this point I imagine even Festus would have appreciated someone handing him a flowchart. Paul has been accused by the Jewish leaders, he's been sitting in prison for two years, Festus inherited the whole situation from Felix, the leaders want Paul sent back to Jerusalem, Paul knows that is an exceptionally terrible idea because there's still a rather enthusiastic group of people interested in making sure he doesn't arrive alive, and now Paul has appealed to Caesar. Festus therefore has the small administrative problem of needing to send a prisoner to Rome while apparently still being a little fuzzy on what exactly the prisoner has done.
And then Festus summarizes the whole disagreement with this almost casual phrase: “a certain Jesus, who was dead, but whom Paul asserted to be alive.” A certain Jesus. That's it. To Festus, Jesus is apparently this guy at the center of a religious argument that has somehow landed on his desk and is now creating a substantial amount of paperwork. He isn't describing Jesus as Lord. He isn't talking about the Messiah. He isn't explaining fulfilled prophecy or the significance of the cross. He's basically saying, “There is this Jesus. He died. Paul keeps insisting He's alive. Anyway, now I have a prisoner I apparently need to mail to Caesar.”
But that little detail Festus doesn't seem to know what to do with is the entire reason Paul is willing to do any of this.
Paul isn't sitting in prison because Christianity gave him some helpful suggestions for becoming a nicer person. He isn't being hauled from one government official to another because he found a religion that makes him feel peaceful when life gets difficult. He isn't willing to risk his life because he enjoys theological debates and apparently wanted to take one on an all expenses definitely not paid trip to Rome. Paul has staked everything on something he believes actually happened in history. Jesus was dead. Jesus was buried. And Jesus is alive.
That's the dividing line.
Because if Jesus stayed dead, Christianity becomes something entirely different. You could admire His teachings. You could study His life. You could quote Him. You could put His words on signs and mugs and bookmarks and probably decorative throw pillows. But Paul wasn't risking ex*****on because Jesus had some excellent quotes. Paul was willing to stand before governors, kings, mobs, soldiers, and eventually Caesar because the tomb was empty. He had encountered the risen Christ, and once you know that Jesus defeated death, suddenly death itself isn't quite the threat everyone else thinks it is.
I also can't get past the contrast between Festus calling Him “a certain Jesus” and the way Paul knew Him. The same Jesus who was basically a confusing footnote in Festus's legal explanation was the center of Paul's entire existence. One man could mention Jesus almost in passing while another had rearranged his whole life around Him. And two thousand years later, people still do exactly the same thing. Jesus can be a historical figure you occasionally hear about, a name attached to Christmas and Easter, someone whose sayings you generally agree with, or someone you actually believe walked out of a grave and therefore has a claim on every part of your life.
And that makes Acts 25:19 a surprisingly uncomfortable question for us too. If someone followed us around for a while and listened to the way we talked about Christianity, what would they decide it was actually about? Would they think Christianity is mostly about behaving correctly? Going to church? Having the right opinions? Avoiding certain things? Trying to be a decent human being and occasionally posting Jeremiah 29:11 over a picture of a mountain?
Or would they eventually realize that everything keeps coming back to Jesus?
Because Christianity isn't ultimately built on the idea that Jesus makes life nicer. Sometimes following Him made Paul's life considerably less nice. Christianity rests on a much bigger claim: the grave could not hold Him. And if Jesus really rose from the dead, then He isn't merely “a certain Jesus” whom we can politely fit somewhere into our lives when convenient. He is exactly who He said He is.
Festus didn't realize how enormous his own sentence was.
“A certain Jesus, who was dead, but whom Paul asserted to be alive.”
That's the case.
That's the reason Paul kept going.
That's the hope Christianity stands on.
Jesus was dead.
Jesus is alive.
And if that is true, it changes absolutely everything.
