The Romans Got This Right
Acts 25:14-16 NKJ
When they had been there many days, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king, saying: “There is a certain man left a prisoner by Felix, about whom the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me, when I was in Jerusalem, asking for a judgment against him. To them I answered, ‘It is not the custom of the Romans to deliver any man to destruction before the accused meets the accusers face to face, and has opportunity to answer for himself concerning the charge against him.’
You have to give Paul credit. He was a prisoner because of the Jews. And they would not leave him alone. They wanted him dead, not just locked away. Hatred is never satisfied. The Jews wanted a judgment against Paul, but he was not having it. I love what he said in verse eleven, “For if I am an offender, or have committed anything deserving of death, I do not object to dying…” How do you stop someone with that mentality? Dying wasn’t a problem for Paul, but he was not going to die at the hands of unjust men when he had done nothing wrong.
When Festus presented Paul’s case to King Agrippa, he mentioned a practice of the Roman justice system. The Jews had appealed to Festus and wanted him to judge Paul and sentence him to death. What Festus told these spiteful Jews is a good lesson for us. “To them I answered, ‘It is not the custom of the Romans to deliver any man to destruction before the accused meets the accusers face to face, and has opportunity to answer for himself concerning the charge against him.” That is actually a good system of justice for the ancient world. The Roman system saved Paul a couple of times because he was a Roman citizen. But there is more here for us.
One of the things that Jesus told us is to not judge others. “Judge not that you be not judged.” Matthew 7:1 Our challenge is that we can be quick to judge without knowing the whole story. We hear something about someone else and can be way too fast in making a judgment. And I am using ‘we’ here because we are all subject to this. Recently, I heard of a situation at the church and immediately made a snap judgment as to what happened and why. Thankfully, I did not act on my premature judgment, and when I discovered what had actually taken place, I was wrong. Very wrong. I was condemning someone to destruction, figuratively speaking only, without hearing the other side. When I was in Bible school, I remember a class that discussed marital counseling, and the instructor said there were three sides to every story. His side. Her side. And the truth. That always got a chuckle, but there is certainly a truth there.
I read a story years ago about a man on a subway who had his quiet morning interrupted by a man who got on the subway with his rowdy kids. When the man confronted the father about his children, the father apologized and then said they had just come from the hospital where their mother was just diagnosed with a fatal disease—the rest of the story. The result was that the man went from anger to compassion. He had judged before knowing what had taken place.
We have to be wise and not make allowances for evil or injustice. But we should also be wise and not pass judgment until we know the other side of the situation. In 1 Peter 2:23, Jesus committed Himself to Him who judges righteously. God is the only righteous judge who knows all. When people sometimes ask me to judge other preachers, my response is: that job is above my pay grade. If the Romans can get the principle right, so can we.
Prayer
Lord, You are the righteous judge, not me. Grant me discernment and the grace to view others through Your eyes.