»I am standing before Caesar's tribunal,« replied Paul, »where alone I ought to be tried. The Jews have no real ground of complaint against me, as in fact you yourself are beginning to see more clearly.
While he was sitting on the tribunal a message came to him from his wife. »Have nothing to do with that innocent man,« she said, »for during the night I have suffered terribly in a dream through him.«
and I discovered that the charge had to do with questions of their Law, but that he was accused of nothing for which he deserves death or imprisonment.
»When, therefore, a number of them came here, the next day I took my seat on the tribunal, without any loss of time, and ordered the man to be brought in.«
I could not discover that he had done anything for which he deserved to die; but as he has himself appealed to the Emperor, I have decided to send him to Rome.
After a stay of eight or ten days in Jerusalem –not more– he went down to Caesarea; and the next day, taking his seat on the tribunal, he ordered Paul to be brought in.
Nay, we have renounced the secrecy which marks a feeling of shame. We practice no cunning tricks, nor do we adulterate God's Message. But by a full clear statement of the truth we strive to commend ourselves in the presence of God to every human conscience.