Acts 26:30-32 (NASBStr)
The king stood up and the governor and Bernice, and those who were sitting with them, and when they had gone aside, they began talking to one another, saying, “ This man is not doing anything worthy of death or imprisonment.” And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
In the above passage Paul has just defended himself in the presence of King Agrippa (the Roman designate for the region who happened to know much of the Jewish custom) and Governor Festus (another Roman designate). After using the opportunity to present the gospel, Paul completes his defense by telling both these powerful men that he would hope they, too, would become believers in Christ. Although not persuaded to have faith in Christ (to our knowledge) they are convinced that Paul is an innocent man. But, in the earlier rounds of his defense, Paul had appealed that his case be heard before Caesar, himself. In the eyes of the world it made no sense for Paul to go to Rome. They saw his appeal to the King of Rome as both foolish and a strategic mis-step. From a legal point-of-view it might have been. From a practical point-of-view it might have looked foolish. Yet, in God's plan (and Paul was about doing God's plan), it made perfect sense. Paul was not interested in his own safety (see Acts 21:13). Paul was not interested in power, position or rubbing shoulders with the high and mighty of the land. He was interested in spreading the gospel and giving himself more opportunities to tell the story of Jesus. His life was committed to that end. On advice from counsel he may have been told to keep his mouth shut. There was no reason he was on trail. He had done nothing wrong. But, right and wrong were not his issue. He was about telling the story of Jesus. May it be so for me.
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