Acts 26:1-32 - Not Disobedient to the Heavenly Vision

Festus has already assembled Agrippa, Bernice, the commanders, and the prominent men of Caesarea. He needs a charge he can write to Caesar, and he has already named the real dispute: questions about a certain Jesus, who had died, whom Paul affirmed to be alive. Now Agrippa permits Paul to speak for himself. Paul stretches out his hand and uses the permission for more than survival. He will tell the hope of Israel, name his own violence, confess the risen Jesus who stopped him on the road, and press a king toward repentance. The burden of Acts 26 is whether a hearer who knows enough will obey the light.

The Hope of the Promise and the Resurrection (Acts 26:1-8)

¹ Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You are permitted to speak for yourself.” So Paul stretched out his hand and answered for himself: ² “I think myself happy, King Agrippa, because today I shall answer for myself before you concerning all the things of which I am accused by the Jews, ³ especially because you are expert in all customs and questions which have to do with the Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently.

⁴ “My manner of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation at Jerusalem, all the Jews know. ⁵ They knew me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. ⁶ And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers. ⁷ To this promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. For this hope’s sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews. ⁸ Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead?

Paul begins with respect for Agrippa’s knowledge, but he does not flatter the king or thin the issue. He frames the whole trial around the hope promised by God to the fathers. This is decisive for Acts. Paul is not presenting the Church as a novelty detached from Israel. He says the case concerns the promise for which the twelve tribes earnestly serve God night and day.

The phrase “accused by the Jews” must be read with that same care. Paul himself is Jewish, the apostles are Jewish, and the Lord according to the flesh is born from Israel. Luke is describing a concrete conflict with particular accusers, not authorizing contempt for Jews as a people. Paul speaks from inside Israel’s hope, and he asks Agrippa to hear him as one who already knows the customs and questions of that hope.

Verse 8 is the hinge: why should it be thought incredible that God raises the dead? He brings the court past procedure into the nature of God Himself. If God is the Creator, if He is faithful to His promises, if He gave life where human hope was exhausted and brought Israel through deathlike bondage, then resurrection is not incredible. Paul will not leave resurrection as a respectable opinion about the future. The living Jesus has spoken to him. Israel’s hope has met him on a road, called him by name, and sent him to the nations. The question before Agrippa concerns what God has done, not merely what a king finds imaginable.

The Light That Stopped the Persecutor (Acts 26:9-18)

⁹ “Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. ¹⁰ This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. ¹¹ And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.

¹² “While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, ¹³ at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me. ¹⁴ And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ ¹⁵ So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. ¹⁶ But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. ¹⁷ I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, ¹⁸ to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’

Paul does not hide what he was. He thought he must oppose the name of Jesus. He imprisoned the saints, voted against them when they were put to death, punished believers in synagogues, tried to force blasphemy, and carried his rage to foreign cities. The mercy shown to Paul is not sentimental. It is mercy that names the violence clearly and still conquers it.

That honesty has a pastoral edge. The Church should tell this conversion without two false uses. One is to soften what Paul did until grace sounds cheap. The other is to treat a later useful convert as proof that the wounded must hurry. Mercy does not require a wounded person to disclose harm, restore contact, or trust someone who has not yet borne the fruit of repentance. Paul names imprisonment, attempted forced blasphemy, and rage. Where repair is possible, repentance will seek it. Where a person remains unsafe, the Gospel never conscripts the injured.

The risen Christ’s word is the center of the conversion: “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” The Lord does not say only, “Why are you persecuting My followers?” He identifies Himself with His members. To wound the Church is to strike at Christ’s own Body. For Paul this is not an abstract doctrine. It is the sentence that breaks his false zeal and remakes him as a minister and witness.

The commission then describes the life mercy opens: eyes opened, darkness turned to light, Satan’s power exchanged for God, forgiveness, inheritance, sanctification, and faith in Christ. The man who had dragged believers out of their homes is sent to announce a home among God’s holy people. Christ does not merely interrupt his violence. He gives its former victims a brother and the nations a witness. This is the grace Paul offers Agrippa: forgiveness that brings a person into a new belonging.

The command to open eyes does not make Paul master of another person’s conscience. He bears witness to Christ, in whom forgiveness and inheritance are received. His own story forbids contempt for those who resist: the light found him while he was resisting it.

Not Disobedient to the Heavenly Vision (Acts 26:19-23)

¹⁹ “Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, ²⁰ but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. ²¹ For these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. ²² Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come— ²³ that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”

Paul’s heavenly vision becomes obedience. He does not treat the Damascus encounter as a private spiritual possession or a story to make himself impressive. He becomes responsible to the command he received. He preaches first in Damascus and Jerusalem, then through Judea, then to the Gentiles. The mission widens, and it remains rooted in the same hope of Israel.

The vision sends Paul into obedient public service; the works that follow repentance show that mercy has been received, and they do not purchase grace. He preaches that people should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. Those works appear in the body: habits, relationships, money, speech, worship, and the day’s actual obedience. A repentance that refuses fruit has not yet obeyed the light.

When Paul later says the Jews seized him in the temple, the same care is required: he names the accusers in a real conflict, while still preaching light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles. He also insists that he says no other things than what the prophets and Moses said would come: the Christ would suffer, rise first from the dead, and proclaim light to both. This is Luke 24 in courtroom form. The risen Lord opened the Scriptures to show that the Christ must suffer and rise, and now Paul stands before rulers preaching the same opened Scriptures.

The heavenly vision is Paul’s apostolic commission, not a permission slip for every private impression. He submits the message to Moses and the prophets and bears its fruit in public service. St. John Chrysostom, in Homilies on Acts, Homily LII, notices that Paul joins the vision to the prophets and its visible results. The witness ascribes his endurance to God rather than making himself the source of the message.¹

The suffering Christ and the risen Christ are one Lord. The incarnate Word willingly suffered in the humanity He made His own; the One whom Paul encountered is that same Jesus alive. His being first to rise does not deny earlier restorations to life. He rises beyond corruption, as Paul has already proclaimed in Acts 13:34. Our hope is therefore more than the survival of an inspiring cause or the soul’s escape from a disposable body. The God who raised Jesus can raise the dead. Repentance begins to order our bodily life toward that promised resurrection.

The Church’s Voice in Worship ⛪

At the Coptic Liturgy on Saturday of the fifth week of Great Lent, the Praxis is Acts 26:1-18. On the following Sunday it is Acts 26:19-27:8, carrying the royal hearing into the beginning of the voyage.² These Lenten hearings bring the same searching movement before the fasting Church: mercy interrupts a life, Christ gives a new direction, and repentance takes visible form. Paul’s confession asks something more searching than admiration for a dramatic conversion: what has changed because Christ has shown us mercy?

Almost and Altogether (Acts 26:24-32)

²⁴ Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!”

²⁵ But he said, “I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason. ²⁶ For the king, before whom I also speak freely, knows these things; for I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner. ²⁷ King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe.”

²⁸ Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.”

²⁹ And Paul said, “I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains.”

³⁰ When he had said these things, the king stood up, as well as the governor and Bernice and those who sat with them; ³¹ and when they had gone aside, they talked among themselves, saying, “This man is doing nothing deserving of death or chains.”

³² Then Agrippa said to Festus, “This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”

Festus interrupts with a loud accusation: Paul is mad, driven out of his mind by too much learning. Paul answers without panic. He is not mad. He speaks words of truth and reason. The Gospel is public truth, testified by Scripture, witnesses, and events that were not done in a corner.

Paul then turns to Agrippa directly: “Do you believe the prophets?” He will not let the king remain a distant observer of an interesting case. Knowledge creates responsibility. If Agrippa knows the prophets, he must face the Christ to whom they bear witness.

The Greek phrase behind Agrippa’s answer, ἐν ὀλίγῳ (en oligō), can mean “in a little” or “with little,” so the verse should not be made to decide his exact tone. Luke records no confession of faith from Agrippa; he gives us neither a measurement of how close the king came nor a secure account of his inward response. Paul answers with holy desire, not resentment. Paul wishes his hearers the life he has in Christ, except for these chains. He wants Agrippa, Festus, Bernice, and everyone present to become as he is, and he refuses to treat imprisonment as a prize they should share.

Paul’s reply is clearer than Agrippa’s tone. He prays for everyone within hearing. A hearing arranged to decide what to write about a prisoner becomes an occasion for the prisoner to seek the life of his judges. He asks no revenge and wishes them no chains. His freedom in Christ makes room even for those who can keep him confined.

The final verdict repeats the theme of innocence. Paul is doing nothing deserving death or chains. Agrippa even says he might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar. In Luke’s story the appeal is not a blunder. The Lord had promised Rome. Legal innocence and continued confinement stand together here; the verse gives no license to romanticize chains.

Gems from the Fathers 💎: Gentleness That Seeks the Hearer

St. John Chrysostom uses this hearing in Homilies on First Corinthians, Homily XXXIII, section 7, to show the strength of gentleness. Paul speaks respectfully because he is “wishing to gain him by his gentleness.”³ Chrysostom describes Agrippa as partly won by that approach; Luke does not record his conversion. The preacher also explains the exception about chains as Paul’s consideration for hearers not yet ready to understand his rejoicing in suffering for Christ. Gentleness attends to the hearer’s weakness without withdrawing the truth.

Gems from the Fathers 💎: Acquittal and the Road Still Opened

In Homilies on Acts, Homily LIII, Chrysostom notices the rulers’ acknowledgment that Paul deserves neither death nor bonds. He reads the continued confinement providentially, as the road by which Paul will reach Rome.⁴ That is the preacher’s interpretation, not the court’s stated motive. It keeps the chapter’s balance. Paul is not a helpless victim of politics, and he is not a self-directed strategist. He is a servant whose truthful witness, gentle courage, lawful appeal, and unjust chains are gathered into the providence of Christ.

Spiritual Fruit 🍇

Do not leave a call to repentance as a private souvenir. Paul received the heavenly vision and obeyed it in Damascus, Jerusalem, Judea, and among the nations. After a liturgy that pierced you, a confession that named a real sin, a retreat that briefly clarified your life, or a verse that stopped you midweek, ask what obedience followed. Write the next concrete act: an apology, a restored fast, a hard conversation, a gift given quietly, a temptation refused.

Name harm truthfully without despair, and without using mercy as a weapon. Paul does not minimize imprisonment, rage, or attempted blasphemy, and he does not let shame silence Christ. If you have done harm, tell it in confession and seek repair where you can. If you have been harmed, this chapter does not require you to disclose, reconcile, or remain near an unsafe person in order to prove that you believe in conversion.

Let repentance become visible in this week’s actual life. Paul preaches repentance, turning to God, and works befitting repentance. If the turn is real, something should begin to change in how you speak at home, forgive a slight, spend money, keep a fast, apologize, and resist a passion you have been protecting. Fruit is the evidence of mercy received, not a wage paid to earn it.

Speak with gentleness that still tells the truth. Paul is respectful before Agrippa and Festus, and he still asks the king whether he believes the prophets. A servant of the Gospel does not have to choose between harshness and cowardice. Truth can be reasonable, public, and full of love.

Do not mistake familiarity for a response. We need not settle Agrippa’s tone to feel the question addressed to us. Hearing, admiring, and knowing the right answers are not yet turning to Christ. Bring Him the obedience you have postponed. Paul wants his hearers to share his life in Christ, not his chains. We may ask for that same gift without pretending that suffering itself is what saves us.

Teaching Notes

The Hope of the Promise and the Resurrection (Acts 26:1-8)

• Ask: Why does Paul make the trial about the hope of Israel rather than only about his legal innocence?
• Emphasize: Paul presents the resurrection as the fulfillment of God’s promise, not as a strange novelty detached from Moses and the prophets.
• Watch for: Do not let the phrase “accused by the Jews” become anti-Jewish rhetoric. Paul is Jewish and speaks from within Israel’s hope.
• Connect: Link Acts 26 to Luke 24, where the risen Christ opens Moses and the prophets around His suffering and resurrection.
• Show: Trace Paul’s argument from personal history to the promise to the fathers to the question of resurrection.

The Light That Stopped the Persecutor (Acts 26:9-18)

• Ask: Why does Paul describe his own violence so plainly?
• Emphasize: Christ identifies Himself with His persecuted Church: “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”
• Watch for: Do not soften Paul’s past, and do not make it larger than Christ’s mercy. Do not use this conversion to press a survivor toward disclosure, contact, or unsafe reconciliation.
• Connect: Acts 9 and Acts 22 retell the same conversion; Acts 26 highlights the mission to open eyes and turn people to God.
• Show: List the conversion movements in Acts 26:18: opened eyes, darkness to light, Satan to God, forgiveness, inheritance, sanctification.

Not Disobedient to the Heavenly Vision (Acts 26:19-23)

• Ask: What does Paul mean by works befitting repentance?
• Emphasize: Works do not buy grace, but real repentance bears fruit in embodied life.
• Watch for: Do not make the heavenly vision about spiritual spectacle. Paul treats it as a command to obey. When teaching verse 21, keep the conflict concrete and refuse any general charge against Jews as a people.
• Connect: The fifth-week Saturday Praxis is Acts 26:1-18; Sunday continues with Acts 26:19-27:8. Draw out repentance as the fruit of mercy, without assigning motives to the lectionary’s selectors.
• Show: Contrast private religious emotion with public obedience to Christ.

Almost and Altogether (Acts 26:24-32)

• Ask: What is the difference between hearing the truth and obeying it?
• Emphasize: Paul wants all who hear him to become Christian, but not to share his chains.
• Watch for: Agrippa’s exact tone and inward response remain uncertain. Luke records no confession; he does not establish that Agrippa was almost converted. Keep Paul’s unmistakable prayer for every hearer central.
• Connect: Chrysostom sees Paul’s gentleness as evangelistic strength and the public acquittal as providence moving Paul toward Rome.
• Show: Compare Festus’s accusation of madness with the rulers’ final admission that Paul deserves neither death nor chains.

Sources

Scripture is from NKJV.

1. St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Acts, Homily LII, on Acts 25:23 and the defense in Acts 26; Homily LIII, opening on Acts 26:30-32. Homily LII; Homily LIII.

2. St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on First Corinthians, Homily XXXIII, section 7, on gentleness before Agrippa. CCEL.

3. Coptic Liturgy Praxis, fifth-week Saturday and Sunday of Great Lent. Lectionary collection.

4. Agrippa’s answer: compare the translation discussion in the Acts 26:28 commentary collection. The brief Greek phrase does not settle his tone.

Footnotes

1. St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Acts, Homily LII, exposition and recapitulation of Acts 26:9-23. ccel.org. ↩

2. Coptic Liturgy Praxis, Saturday of the fifth week of Great Lent, Acts 26:1-18, and Sunday of the fifth week, Acts 26:19-27:8. Date-resolved references: copticchurch.net and copticchurch.net. ↩

3. St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on First Corinthians, Homily XXXIII, section 7. ccel.org. ↩

4. St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Acts, Homily LIII, opening exposition of Acts 26:30-32. ccel.org. ↩