I teach nothing except what the prophets and Moses said would happen — 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.” Suddenly, Festus shouted, “Paul, you are insane. Too much study has made you crazy!” But Paul replied, “I am not insane, Most Excellent Festus. What I am saying is the sober truth. 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! King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do—” Agrippa interrupted him. “Do you think you can persuade me to become a Christian so quickly?” 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.” (Acts 26:22-29)The apostle Paul is speaking to the new governor of Judea, Festus, and the King of Galilee, King Agrippa. He tells them of his conversion on the road to Damascus and how he saw the very Lord he had been persecuting.
When he comes to the point of Jesus dying and raising from the dead to bring the gospel to both Jews and Gentiles, both men have strange reactions.
Festus stops him and tells him that he has been driven crazy by his advanced learning. Something in that message got to him and he felt the need to stop it immediately and, not only that, but also to make fun of the speaker a little.
Paul tells him that no, it is the sober truth. And not only that, Paul says, but Agrippa knows all this since he is a Jew. Then he asks Agrippa to agree with him.
Agrippa stops him with the statement, Do you really think I am that easy to convert? Do you think you can do it that quickly?
Of course, much more intelligent people than Agrippa have accepted Jesus the moment they heard of him. His message is a drawing message, a message of completion. When we hear it, we know it to be real because it connects with our hearts in the way that God intended it to do when he made us.
He made us to love him, and when that love comes into our hearts for us to see, we recognize it.
That is, unless we do not want to. And even then, it is a conscious decision on our part to deny that which is the most basic need in our lives: the need for God.
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