In Acts 25, Paul is brought before a tribunal to hear the charges against him. He again displays his willingness to surrender to God’s will and purposes, saying

“If, then, I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die”. The governor, Festus, explained to king Agripa the situation, saying “the accusers began bringing charges against Paul not of such crimes as I was expecting, but they simply had some points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive.” I found some humor in the manner this situation was described. It sounds as though Festus was saying, “ the conflict they had with Paul was simply about some dead guy who Paul insists is still alive”. It wasn’t quite that simple. The fact of the resurrection of Jesus is the most extraordinarily significant event in all of history! Paul understood this well and he was willing to stake his life on this truth. Are believers today willing to stand up for Jesus even when they don’t face persecution?