Acts chapter 26

vs 1

Paul's sweeping hand gestures will be with us forever. Remember, Paul has already appealed to Caesar, so there's really no reason to defend himself to King Agrippa. Except, of course, that his defense includes the gospel.

vs 2

Start off with a bit of flattery. For Paul to think he's fortunate, that he had to wait 2 years under arrest before being able to speak to someone different than a roman governor, is surely a bit of flattery. But also, it means that God has given Paul the chance to reach out to a king - doesn't happen every day.

vs 3

I'm not exactly sure why Agrippa would be. Perhaps because of his father? Anyway, Paul is going to say a lot more to King Agrippa than he is to Festus.

vs 4

Not because of who he is, I am guessing, as much as they know how people like him are born and raised.

vs 5

But when he did become an important and well-known figure, he was well known for being a pharisaical Pharisee.

vs 6

Paul isn't yet talking about Christ and the Damascus road, you notice - he takes the Christian faith way back into Israel's history. Christianity didn't start around AD30 when Christ died. For Paul, it started when God created the earth. Christianity is a continuum, not a new creation.

vs 7

Paul sees Christianity as the fulfilment of the hope of Judaism. And fair enough, Jesus saw it that way too. That such a hope extends beyond the borders of Israel is hardly surprising. But it has its roots, and it springs from Israel, and that is also entirely to be expected. This makes the accusations against Paul sound like sectarian arguing about interpretation, rather than the idea that he's starting a new religion.

vs 8

Well, anyone who's a Saduccee already thinks it incredible. But the Pharisees believe it.

vs 9

So Paul has been there, on both sides of the coin. He started out in agreement that those preaching Christ were damaging Israel's faith.

vs 10

Paul repeats that the actions he took were on authority of the chief priests - the same people who have turned against him today (well, today and for the past few years). So they know full well who he is and who he was. Such a transformation speaks volumes in itself. But there's more.