Listen, Jack, here's the deal: Paul had been arrested in Jerusalem and the Jews were trying to have him killed. So he was taken to the fortress of Antonia and the commander of the Roman troops had to step in. The commander put Paul under the protection of two hundred soldiers and had him sent to Caesarea—no malarkey!

But the Jews followed Paul all the way to Caesarea and they accused him of all kinds of wrongdoin’. Paul said that he was innocent and that he had done nothing wrong. So the governor, Felix, decided to keep Paul in custody and wait for more information.

My father used to say, “You can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs” and that’s exactly what happened here. The Jews were all riled up and so Felix had to keep Paul under arrest for two whole years. See here, Jack, I’m not joking.

But then Felix was replaced by Porcius Festus and he asked Paul to come and stand trial in Jerusalem. Paul refused and said that he would not be judged by the Jews because he was a Roman citizen. Festus said that Paul had to come to Jerusalem anyway and he asked King Agrippa if he had an opinion on the matter.

Agrippa said that Paul had done nothing wrong, but Festus insisted that Paul had to stand trial in Jerusalem. So Agrippa agreed to go with Festus and they both went to Jerusalem to hear Paul’s case. Excuse me, but that’s the way it happened.

So Paul stood trial in Jerusalem and the Jews were still trying to kill him. But Paul was rescued by the Roman soldiers and he was brought back to Caesarea. That’s literally the whole story of Acts 23. I tell you what, folks: nothing else is gonna happen in this chapter.