Plan and Outline
Luke weaves together different interests and emphases as he relates the beginnings and expansion of the church. The design of his book revolves around
(1) Key persons: Peter and Paul;
(2) Important topics and events: the role of the Holy Spirit, pioneer missionary outreach to new fields, conversions, the growth of the church, and life in the Christian community;
(3) Significant problems: conflict between Jews and Gentiles, persecution of the church by some Jewish elements, trials before Jews and Romans, confrontations with Gentiles, and other hardships in the ministry;
(4) Geographical advances: five significant stages Peter and the Beginnings of the Church in the Holy Land (chs. 1-12)
- Introduction (1:1-2)
- Christ's resurrection ministry (1:3-11)
- The period of waiting for the Holy Spirit (1:12-26)
- The filling with the Spirit (ch. 2)
- The healing of the lame man and the resultant arrest of Peter and John (3:1;4:31)
- The community of goods (4:32;5:11)
- The arrest of the 12 apostles (5:12-42)
- The choice of the Seven (6:1-7)
- Stephen's arrest and martyrdom (6:8;7:60)
- The scattering of the Jerusalem believers (8:1-4)
- Philip's ministry (8:5-40)
ACTS 25 NLT
1 Three days after Festus arrived in
Caesarea to take over his new responsibilities, he left for Jerusalem,
2 where the leading priests and other
Jewish leaders met with him and made their accusations against Paul.
3They asked Festus as a favor to transfer Paul
to Jerusalem (planning to ambush and kill him on the way).
4 But Festus replied that Paul was at
Caesarea and he himself would be returning there soon.
5 So he said, “Those of you in authority
can return with me. If Paul has done anything wrong, you can make your
accusations.”
6 About eight or ten days later Festus
returned to Caesarea, and on the following day he took his seat in court and
ordered that Paul be brought in.
7 When Paul arrived, the Jewish leaders
from Jerusalem gathered around and made many serious accusations they couldn’t
prove.
8 Paul denied the charges. “I am not
guilty of any crime against the Jewish laws or the Temple or the Roman
government,” he said.
9Then Festus, wanting to please the Jews, asked
him, “Are you willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial before me
there?”
10 But Paul replied, “No! This is the
official Roman court, so I ought to be tried right here. You know very well I
am not guilty of harming the Jews.
11 If I have done something worthy of
death, I don’t refuse to die. But if I am innocent, no one has a right to turn
me over to these men to kill me. I appeal to Caesar!”
12 Festus conferred with his advisers and
then replied, “Very well! You have appealed to Caesar, and to Caesar you will
go!”
13 A few days later King Agrippa arrived
with his sister, Bernice, to pay their respects to Festus.
14 During their stay of several days,
Festus discussed Paul’s case with the king. “There is a prisoner here,” he told
him, “whose case was left for me by Felix.
15 When I was in Jerusalem, the leading
priests and Jewish elders pressed charges against him and asked me to condemn
him.
16 I pointed out to them that Roman law
does not convict people without a trial. They must be given an opportunity to
confront their accusers and defend themselves.
17 “When his accusers came here for the
trial, I didn’t delay. I called the case the very next day and ordered Paul
brought in.
18 But the accusations made against him
weren’t any of the crimes I expected.
19 Instead, it was something about their
religion and a dead man named Jesus, who Paul insists is alive.
20 I was at a loss to know how to
investigate these things, so I asked him whether he would be willing to stand
trial on these charges in Jerusalem.
21 But Paul appealed to have his case
decided by the emperor. So I ordered that he be held in custody until I could
arrange to send him to Caesar.”
22 “I’d like to hear the man myself,”
Agrippa said. And Festus replied, “You will—tomorrow!”
23 So the next day Agrippa and Bernice
arrived at the auditorium with great pomp, accompanied by military officers and
prominent men of the city. Festus ordered that Paul be brought in.
24 Then Festus said, “King Agrippa and all
who are here, this is the man whose death is demanded by all the Jews, both
here and in Jerusalem.
25 But in my opinion he has done nothing
deserving death. However, since he appealed his case to the emperor, I have
decided to send him to Rome.
26 “But what shall I write the emperor? For
there is no clear charge against him. So I have brought him before all of you,
and especially you, King Agrippa, so that after we examine him, I might have
something to write.
27 For it makes no sense to send a prisoner
to the emperor without specifying the charges against him!”
ACTS 26
1 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You may
speak in your defense.” So Paul, gesturing with his hand, started his
defense:
2 “I am fortunate, King Agrippa, that you
are the one hearing my defense today against all these accusations made by the
Jewish leaders,
3 for I know you are an expert on all
Jewish customs and controversies. Now please listen to me patiently!
4 “As the Jewish leaders are well aware, I
was given a thorough Jewish training from my earliest childhood among my own
people and in Jerusalem.
5 If they would admit it, they know that I
have been a member of the Pharisees, the strictest sect of our religion.
6 Now I am on trial because of my hope in
the fulfillment of God’s promise made to our ancestors.
7 In fact, that is why the twelve tribes
of Israel zealously worship God night and day, and they share the same hope I
have. Yet, Your Majesty, they accuse me for having this hope!
8 Why does it seem incredible to any of
you that God can raise the dead?
9 “I used to believe that I ought to do
everything I could to oppose the very name of Jesus the Nazarene.
10 Indeed, I did just that in Jerusalem.
Authorized by the leading priests, I caused many believers there to be sent to
prison. And I cast my vote against them when they were condemned to death.
11 Many times I had them punished in the
synagogues to get them to curse Jesus. I was so violently opposed to them that
I even chased them down in foreign cities.
12 “One day I was on such a mission to
Damascus, armed with the authority and commission of the leading priests.
13 About noon, Your Majesty, as I was on
the road, a light from heaven brighter than the sun shone down on me and my
companions.
14 We all fell down, and I heard a voice
saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is useless
for you to fight against my will. ’
15 “‘Who are you, lord?’ I asked. “And the
Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting.
16 Now get to your feet! For I have
appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and witness. Tell people that you
have seen me, and tell them what I will show you in the future.
17 And I will rescue you from both your own
people and the Gentiles. Yes, I am sending you to the Gentiles
18 to open their eyes, so they may turn
from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will
receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who
are set apart by faith in me.’
19 “And so, King Agrippa, I obeyed that
vision from heaven.
20 I preached first to those in Damascus,
then in Jerusalem and throughout all Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that all
must repent of their sins and turn to God—and prove they have changed by the good
things they do.
21 Some Jews arrested me in the Temple for
preaching this, and they tried to kill me.
22 But God has protected me right up to
this present time so I can testify to everyone, from the least to the greatest.
I teach nothing except what the prophets and Moses said would happen—
23 that the Messiah would suffer and be the
first to rise from the dead, and in this way announce God’s light to Jews and
Gentiles alike.”
24 Suddenly, Festus shouted, “Paul, you are
insane. Too much study has made you crazy!”
25 But Paul replied, “I am not insane, Most
Excellent Festus. What I am saying is the sober truth.
26 And King Agrippa knows about these
things. I speak boldly, for I am sure these events are all familiar to him, for
they were not done in a corner!
27 King Agrippa, do you believe the
prophets? I know you do—”
28Agrippa interrupted him. “Do you think you can
persuade me to become a Christian so quickly?”
29 Paul replied, “Whether quickly or not, I
pray to God that both you and everyone here in this audience might become the
same as I am, except for these chains.”
30 Then the king, the governor, Bernice,
and all the others stood and left.
31 As they went out, they talked it over
and agreed, “This man hasn’t done anything to deserve death or
imprisonment.”
32 And Agrippa said to Festus, “He could
have been set free if he hadn’t appealed to Caesar.”
