To Caesar

Acts 25:1-27

Good morning, everyone! As I was preparing for this message, I was struck by how quickly things can change. It has been only two weeks since I last gave the message on Sunday morning. And in that time I have been to California to spend time with my dad and his family, and so many things happened during that time that I am still struggling to process it. And as soon as I get back, we learn of this terrible, incomprehensible terrorist attacks on mostly civilians in Israel, with over 1300 dead and thousands more injured. 

My heart goes out to my family, whom, as far as I know, none of whom are believers. And my heart similarly goes out to the people of Israel, of whom I am a brother by blood, a land of about 10 million people – excluding Gaza, which is not really part of Israel at all, since Israel left Gaza to govern itself in 2005. Of the 10 million people in Israel, about 7 million are Jews. To better understand the size of the calamity, as a percentage of population, this would be like having 43,000 Americans die, fourteen times as many as died during the terrorist attack of 9/11.  

These events have made me hesitate as I have thought about what to share from our planned passage in Acts, not because modern events have changed history – of course that is not the case – but because the behavior of the Jewish leaders in this latter part of the book of Acts is so poor, even, dare I say it, terroristic in its behavior. But one of the things I love about Acts, and indeed, the entire Bible, is its unflinching willingness to present truth, the total, truth, good, bad, and ugly, about the descendants of Abraham, the inheritors of multiple amazing promises from God.  

I strongly believe that God is still in the business of dealing with the descendants of Abraham. I do not believe in replacement theology that suggests that the church has replaced the Israelites in all things, including being “replacement” recipients of God’s promises to the Israelites. As Paul himself writes in Romans 11:1, 

“I ask then: Did God reject His people? By no means!” – Rom. 11:1a

And Paul goes in Romans 11:11:

Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring! – Rom. 11:11-12

Paul goes on to describe how Gentile believers are “grafted in” to the people of faith by their faith, and he reminds them that they do not support the “root,” but the root supports them. He goes in in Romans 11:22 to say:

Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree! – Rom. 11:22-24

As one of those who has been grafted back into my own olive tree, I am humbled and extremely thankful to God. I have shared this before, but it is worth saying again: There is every possibility that I am the first person in my family line in 2000 years to come to faith in Christ. It makes me want to ask “why me” but we could all ask that. Paul goes on to say that a day will come when “all Israel will be saved,” but that could be “all” of a small remnant of that exists at some future time – we simply do not know how things will eventually unfold. 

But current events at home make me freshly fearful for my family, and of course, current events in Israel make me fearful for the people of Israel. At home, I was disappointed to see strong opposition to the gospel message in multiple family members, and as for Israel, I was also disappointed in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s first speech in response to the atrocities by Hamas, disappointed because he did not once mention God. I ask you to pray for my family and pray for the people of Israel that they would “much more readily” be willing to be grafted into their own olive tree.

And so, coming back to the book of Acts, I find it significantly more painful to talk about the horrendous behavior of the Jews towards Paul. Earlier I only read to you the first half of Romans 11:1; here is the entire verse:

I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. – Rom. 11:1

I find it powerful that despite all the things the Jews had done and had tried to do to Paul, Paul continued to identify himself as one of them. And recent events at home and abroad have reminded me that I too am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, in my case from the tribe of Levi. Even my Hebrew name, Z’ev ben Meier haLevi, reminds me of this. I have not suffered even a hint of what Paul suffered, but there is tension in my family over my beliefs, and because of my faith in Jesus, Israel would deny to me the right of Allijah, the right to move to Israel like other Jews. I have no desire to move to Israel at this time; indeed, I don’t even want to visit right now, so you can tell my wife to relax – but I nevertheless see the men and women of Israel as my brothers and sisters, and I grieve for what they have gone through and for what they may yet go through.

I also grieve for the Palestinians who are trapped in Gaza, who never agreed with Hamas’ message or its methods, and who now are suffering because of what their leaders have done. Unfortunately, this is always the way of war. And as our Isaiah study keeps reminding us, God also judges nations, and although we don’t have the clarity of Scripture to understand current events as we do to understand past events, I do wonder if the tragic situations in Israel and Gaza are both in part due to the judgment of God, who both observes Israel’s secular pride in their technology and armies and Gaza’s disdain and hatred of the people God lovingly chose to bring forth the Messiah who came and died and rose again to redeem all peoples, all nations.  

But with that said, let us turn back to the book of Acts, starting with a brief summary of the events we have read about in Acts over the past few weeks. In Acts 22, Paul went to Jerusalem, being led as he believed of the Lord, despite prophetic warnings that bad things would happen to him there. After only being in the city for a short time, Paul was recognized, a crowd was stirred up by Jewish instigators, and Paul was arrested. Paul spoke to the people from outside the police barracks, beginning to tell them the story of how he came to faith in Christ, but before he could finish the people again rioted, and Paul was brought back into the barracks. The next day Paul was brought out before the Sanhedrin, and again the people rioted before he could say much at all, and he was once again brought back into the barracks. Upon learning of a plot against his life, Paul was secretly and hurriedly transferred to Caesarea, to be protected by Governor Antonius Felix, who would then have the responsibility to figure out what to do with Paul. Felix had Paul brought, still under guard, to Herod’s palace on the coast of Caesarea. Felix sent word back to Jerusalem to have his accusers prepare a case and come to Caesarea to present their charges. The high priest Ananias went there along with additional elders and a lawyer named Tertullus. Tertullus accused Paul of being a troublemaker, one who stirred up riots among the Jews all over the world, and he also claimed that Paul had tried to desecrate the Temple. When Felix motioned for Paul to give his defense, Paul explained that he went to Jerusalem to worship, and he was not arguing with anyone at the Temple or stirring up a crowd there or anywhere else, that it was Jews from the province of Asia who were there who stirred up the crowd against him. He admitted that he was a follower of the Way, and then said, “it is concerning the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you today.” 

Felix adjourned the proceedings, waiting for the report from Lysias the commander in Jerusalem. From the account in Acts 24 it is not clear whether Lysias ever came, or indeed, whether he was even sent for. It seems that this was more of a stalling tactic. Felix later came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, to listen to Paul talk about faith in Christ. Felix came multiple times to Paul, hoping, Acts says, for a bribe to let him go. But Paul did not offer him anything. 

History does not look very kindly upon Felix. From the writings of Josephus and others, we know that in addition to the example we see in Acts of him being willing to forgo any kind of justice for a bribe, his general disregard for justice led to a significant increase in all kinds of crime in Judea. His lack of solving problems led to many riots and disturbances, which Rome deeply frowned upon. He even hired Jewish assassins to murder a high priest named Jonathan because Jonathan had repeatedly criticized Felix and threatened to report him to Caesar. These assassins succeeded in killing Jonathan during a Jewish festival by hiding daggers under their garments and then escaped without ever being caught. The people he used were called the Sicarii, the “dagger men”. 

The history of the Sicarii is quite interesting in itself. They were strongly opposed to Roman occupation and were willing to do anything, including killing Jews, in order to weaken the Roman hold on Israel. Their willingness to kill Jonathan probably is because they viewed him as a Roman sympathizer. They eventually teamed up with other zealots including the leaders Menahem Ben Yehuda and Eleazar ben Ya’ir. Menahem took a group of zealots and Sicarii to Masada and killed all 700 Roman soldiers there, taking over Masada. They also overtook another fortress called Antonia, overpowering the troops of Herod Agrippa II, who comes into our passage today. There is also evidence that they committed atrocities similar to what we saw Hamas do last week – in particular, it appears that at one point they committed a massacre of Jews in Ein Gedi for reasons that are not clear but probably related to their overall mission of achieving independence from Rome – perhaps these people were either seen as too friendly to Rome.

In AD 66, the Sicarii, with the other zealots, with were the ones who took control of Jerusalem from the Romans, taking control of the Temple, expelling the Romans from the city, and executing any, Jewish or Roman, who disagreed with them. They maintained control until AD 70 when the Romans retook and destroyed the city and the Temple. Menahem was killed at that time, and Eleazar and the other Sicarii fled to Masada. The Romans retook the fortress in AD 73 only to find that the Sicarii had committed suicide rather than surrender.   

But all this happens in the future relative to where we are in Acts. Back to Felix: our final verses of last week’s passage tell us the following:

When two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, but because Felix wanted to grant a favor to the Jews, he left Paul in prison. – Acts 24:27

So Felix did not deal with the Paul situation at all. For two whole years, Paul remained in Caesarea under guard, and then Felix was recalled to Rome, which we know from other sources was because of the many complaints that he was not keeping the peace or doing other required tasks. There he was accused of excessive cruelty in a dispute between the Jews and Syrians of Caesarea. To be accused of excessive cruelty in Rome is really saying something. He was able to avoid punishment through the intercession of his highly politically connected brother. 

In Caesarea, Felix was replaced by Porcius Festus. The name Porcius means “pig,” by the way. Not the best name for someone who is supposed to manage a Jewish province. The time period is the late 50s AD. Before I say more about Festus, let us go on to today’s passage:

Three days after arriving in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem, where the chief priests and the Jewish leaders appeared before him and presented the charges against Paul. They requested Festus, as a favor to them, to have Paul transferred to Jerusalem, for they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way. Festus answered, “Paul is being held at Caesarea, and I myself am going there soon. Let some of your leaders come with me, and if the man has done anything wrong, they can press charges against him there.” – Acts 25:1-5

It is incredible to me that, even though two years have passed since Paul’s arrest, the Jewish leaders are still absolutely fixated on Paul. Their hatred of Paul is truly amazing – even though Paul has been arrested all this time, unable to do any further missionary journeys or go back to Jerusalem, he is still their top focus. One reason for this may be that they feared that the new governor might just release Paul, since, after all, there were no valid charges against him, and two years was an extremely long time to hold someone without valid charges. Once again, they hatched a plan to have him murdered, this time on route back to Jerusalem. They requested Paul’s immediate transfer, but Festus rejected their suggestion, saying that their leaders should instead come with him back to Caesarea. 

Once again, I feel like we are seeing God at work behind the scenes, protecting Paul’s life. Festus is likely oblivious to their real plans, but he nevertheless manages to thwart their evil intentions. 

After spending eight or ten days with them, Festus went down to Caesarea. The next day he convened the court and ordered that Paul be brought before him. When Paul came in, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him. They brought many serious charges against him, but they could not prove them. Then Paul made his defense: “I have done nothing wrong against the Jewish law or against the temple or against Caesar.” – Acts 25:6-8

And so here we are given a brief summary of events. He hangs out with the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem for about a week. It is very important to Festus that he build good relations with them, so that they will be good, quiet, behaving Roman subjects. He does not want to be recalled to Rome like his predecessor. He wants to learn the issues, the potential trouble spots, etc., so that he can address them before they blow up. 

And then they go to Caesarea to talk about Paul, but also I am sure, to continue to try to build good relations with the Jewish leaders. Once again, they make their spurious, unfounded charges against Paul, and once again, Paul declares his innocence. 

Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?” Paul answered: “I am now standing before Caesar’s court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!” After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!” – Acts 25:9-12

And now, suddenly, the situation becomes extremely dangerous for Paul, who knows and remembers that the Jewish leaders are willing to have him killed, because they have tried it before. The fact that he is the topic of discussion almost immediately after Festus comes into power shows him that he, Paul, is still public enemy number one in Jerusalem. And so when Festus asks Paul if he is willing to go to Jerusalem and face trial there, he knows that there is a good chance he will never make it alive to Jerusalem, and even if he does, he will likely still be killed there, either as a result of bad “justice”, or, more likely, outside of the halls of justice. 

Paul knows that his options are running out. And so, as a Roman citizen, he uses a rarely utilized right – he appeals to Caesar. This is not a great solution, as justice can move very slowly in Rome, and the result of such an appeal is very uncertain, as the Caesars could be very capricious, and, generally speaking, they didn’t like Jews much at all. And, Christian or not would likely be an unimportant detail to them, just as it was to most non-Jews. And who was the Caesar, the Emperor, at this time, in the late 50s AD? None other than Nero. 

Nero became emperor in AD 54 at the age of only 16. His mother, Agrippina, was the ultimate helicopter parent, not only choosing his tutors and other contacts, but also killing all potential rivals who might get in the way of Nero coming to power. She fully intended to rule through her son. But over the next few years, Nero’s relationship with his mother began to deteriorate, presumably because Nero wanted to make his own decisions without interference, including in matters of love, where he had begun an affair with a married woman. Things continued to deteriorate, and in AD 59, according to the Roman writer Suetonius, Nero had a trusted subject named Anicetus arrange a shipwreck on ship carrying his mother. His mother, it turns out, survived the wreck, but Anicetus then executed her and reported her death as a suicide. 

Nero at the time was married to Claudia Octavia, who was the daughter of the previous emperor, Claudius. When her mother died, Claudius remarried, and the person he married was none other than Agrippina. This means that Claudia Octavia and Nero were stepbrother/stepsister before becoming married. In any case, there are strong suspicions that Agrippina poisoned Claudius, but however Claudius died, Nero became emperor immediately after that. But back to Claudia Octavia. Nero divorced her in AD 62, claiming officially that she was infertile, but also claiming unofficially that she was unfaithful. The people of Rome were deeply upset about this, as they tied her to their previously beloved emperor Claudius. Wanting to restore his reputation by tearing down that of Claudia Octavia, Nero asked Anicetus, the same person that killed his mother, to confess to adultery with Octavia, which he did. Nero also accused her of covering up the adultery with an abortion, even though he had previously said she was sterile. She was then exiled to a small island, where, a few days later, people under Nero’s command had her killed, again reporting the death as a suicide.  

This only scratches the surface of Nero. This is the man to whom Paul had entrusted his future. Of course, this would not have been Paul’s perspective. Paul was fully entrusting his future to the Lord. And I want to remind you of Acts 23:11:

The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.” – Acts 23:11

This took place when Paul was back in Jerusalem, under arrest. Now, two years later, it was coming true! I doubt this is the way Paul thought it would come true – he probably hoped it meant that he would get to go to share the gospel and encourage believers in Rome as a free man, not as a prisoner. But nevertheless, he was undoubtedly encouraged, because he saw the Lord’s promises to him coming true. 

A few days later King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to pay their respects to Festus. Since they were spending many days there, Festus discussed Paul’s case with the king. He said: “There is a man here whom Felix left as a prisoner. When I went to Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews brought charges against him and asked that he be condemned. I told them that it is not the Roman custom to hand over anyone before they have faced their accusers and have had an opportunity to defend themselves against the charges. When they came here with me, I did not delay the case, but convened the court the next day and ordered the man to be brought in. When his accusers got up to speak, they did not charge him with any of the crimes I had expected. Instead, they had some points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a dead man named Jesus who Paul claimed was alive. I was at a loss how to investigate such matters; so I asked if he would be willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial there on these charges. But when Paul made his appeal to be held over for the Emperor’s decision, I ordered him held until I could send him to Caesar.” – Acts 25:13-21

This chapter seems like a who’s who of important people, doesn’t it? Let’s talk about King Agrippa and Bernice. This is Herod Agrippa II, who we mentioned briefly when talking about the Sicarii. Herod Agrippa II was the last of the ruling Herods. Bernice was his sister. He was well connected and supporter of both emperor Claudius and then emperor Nero. At this time, he was spending large sums of money in beautifying Jerusalem, which the Jews somewhat appreciated, although they were never really great fans of the Herods, in part due to their Edomite roots, and in part due how cozy they were with Rome. But he also spent large sums of money in beautifying Berytus, which is now Beirut in Lebanon, which was then a Greek city in Phoenicia. The Jews did not like this at all. 

Bernice was also of the Herodian line, and at the time of this account in Acts, she had already been twice widowed. At their time there were widespread rumors that she was carrying out an incestuous relationship with her brother, but we do not know whether these rumors were true or not.

Now Festus answered directly to Rome, but his position was strongly influenced by what King Agrippa would say about him. So it was very important for Festus to keep Agrippa happy. And so, in this passage, Festus tells Agrippa about Paul, further explaining that he suggested that the trial be conducted in Jerusalem because “he was at a loss how to investigate these charges.” There may be some truth to the statement, but the earlier passage tells us that this was not the primary reason. Festus was trying to do a favor to the Jewish leaders so that they would “owe him” in the future. Festus, unsurprisingly, does not mention these details to the king. 

Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear this man myself.” He replied, “Tomorrow you will hear him.” The next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and entered the audience room with the high-ranking military officers and the prominent men of the city. At the command of Festus, Paul was brought in. Festus said: “King Agrippa, and all who are present with us, you see this man! The whole Jewish community has petitioned me about him in Jerusalem and here in Caesarea, shouting that he ought not to live any longer. I found he had done nothing deserving of death, but because he made his appeal to the Emperor I decided to send him to Rome. But I have nothing definite to write to His Majesty about him. Therefore I have brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that as a result of this investigation I may have something to write. For I think it is unreasonable to send a prisoner on to Rome without specifying the charges against him.” – Acts 25:22-27

I want to mention one more thing about Herod Agrippa II: It was Herod Agrippa I, this Herod’s father, who had arrested believers in Acts 12 and who had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. He then arrested Peter. The Lord sent an angel to rescue Peter before he could be brought to trial. But then Herod Agrippa I went to Caesarea, and there wearing his royal robes, with great pomp, delivered a public address to the people, who then shouted “this is the voice of a god, not of a man.” Acts 12:23 tells us that an angel then struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died. This is the father of the man we see here, also entering at what was likely the same location, again with great pomp, accompanied and praised by many important city officials. Fortunately for him, God did not strike him down as He had his father. 

And then Festus, in what was likely his most important speech to date given his still new assignment in Israel, explains the situation regarding Paul and invites Herod to interrogate him so as to know what to write to the officials in Rome. From Festus’s perspective as a non-Jew, he feels like he cannot understand the details of the complaints, so he trusts that Herod, as a Jew, will be able to figure it out and explain it to him.

Now it may feel like Festus is overstepping his role in putting Herod on the spot to do something for him, and to a degree that may be true. But from an honor-shame perspective, using a baseball analogy, Festus is also giving Herod a gentle fat pitch over the plate so that Herod can hit a home run with it. As a Jewish leader, it should be easy for Herod to determine the situation, and when he provides Festus with what is needed, Festus will be able to shower him with praise for his discernment and wisdom and, thereby, raise his honor status among the many people who are present.

And this brings us, in a cliffhanger, to the end of today’s passage. We have watched Paul get bounced around from corrupt leader to corrupt leader, many of whom have been Jewish. As I mentioned at the beginning of this message, this message became hard to prepare in light of the events of the past week. But where is God? He is there. He is protecting Paul. He is not unaware of all the schemes of these evil people, nor is he unaware of Satan’s schemes. And He is delivering Paul to Rome, where Paul will have a tremendous opportunity to continue to advance the gospel, even though he is in chains. 

And even though the events with my family and the global events seem dark, I am encouraged because God is there, and He is not unaware of man’s or Satan’s schemes. He is continuing to work, maybe in ways we cannot see, but there is no question that God’s desires are coming to pass. 

And to encourage you on a final note, let me briefly tell you the story of Mosab Hassan Yousef, a Palestinian who worked undercover for Israel’s internal security service Shin Bet from 1997 to 2007. This is from the Wikipedia article on him:

“Mosab Hassan Yousef was born in Ramallah, a city 6.2 miles north of Jerusalem. His father, Sheikh Hassan Yousef, was a Hamas leader who spent many years in Israeli prisons. He is the oldest of five brothers and three sisters. When Yousef was growing up, he wanted to be a fighter because that was according to him what was expected of Palestinian children in the West Bank. Yousef was first arrested when he was ten, during the First Intifada, for throwing rocks at Israeli settlers. He was further arrested and jailed by Israel numerous times. As his father's eldest son, he was seen as his heir apparent and became an important part of the Hamas organization.

“Yousef said he saw the light after a stint with his dad’s comrades in an Israeli jail during the mid-1990s. At Megiddo Prison, he witnessed Hamas inmates leading a brutal year-long campaign to weed out supposed Israeli collaborators. ‘During that time, Hamas tortured and killed hundreds of prisoners,’ he said, recalling vivid memories of needles being inserted under finger nails and bodies charred with burning plastics. Many, if not all, had nothing to do with Israeli intelligence. ‘I will never forget their screams,’ he continued. ‘I started asking myself a question. What if Hamas succeeded in destroying Israel and building a state. Will they destroy our people in this way?’

“Yousef's doubts about Islam and Hamas began forming when he realized Hamas' brutality, and that he hated how Hamas used the lives of suffering civilians and children to achieve its goals. Yousef was held by Shin Bet agents in 1996. While in prison, he was shocked by Shin Bet's interrogation methods, which he considered humane when compared to how Hamas operatives tortured imprisoned suspected collaborators. He decided to accept a Shin Bet offer to become an informant.

“Beginning with his release from prison in 1997, Yousef was considered the Shin Bet's most reliable source in the Hamas leadership, earning himself the nickname ‘The Green Prince’ – using the color of the Islamist group's flag, and ‘prince’ because of his pedigree as the son of one of the movement's founders. The intelligence he supplied to Israel led to the exposure of many Hamas cells, as well as the prevention of dozens of suicide bombings and assassination attempts on Jews. He has said that he did not inform for money, but rather that his motivations were ideological and religious, and that he only wanted to save lives. In order to thwart any suspicions of collaboration, the Shin Bet staged an arrest attempt, telling the Israel Defense Forces to launch an operation to arrest him, and then provided him intelligence allowing him to escape at the last minute, after which he went into hiding for the rest of his career.

“Yousef says he supplied intelligence only on the condition that the ‘targets’ would not be killed, but arrested. This led to the detention of several key Palestinian leaders, including Ibrahim Hamid, a Hamas commander in the West Bank, and Marwan Barghouti. Also, Yousef claims to have thwarted a 2001 plot to assassinate Shimon Peres, then foreign minister and later President of Israel. According to his former Shin Bet officer, ‘Many people owe him their lives and don't even know it.’

“According to his story, Yousef met a British missionary in 1999 who introduced him to Christianity. Between the years 1999 and 2000, Yousef gradually embraced Christianity. In 2005, he was secretly baptized in Tel Aviv by an unidentified Christian tourist. He left the West Bank for the United States in 2007, and lived some time in San Diego, California, where he joined the Barabbas Road Church.

“In August 2008, Yousef publicly revealed his Christianity, and renounced Hamas and the Arab leadership, thereby endangering himself and exposing his family in Ramallah to persecution. Yousef has also claimed that his aim was to bring peace to the Middle East; he hopes to return to his homeland when there is peace.

“Yousef has stated that despite his conversion to Christianity, he is ‘against religion’, and does not adhere to any denomination of Christianity. He has stated, ‘Religion steals freedom, kills creativity, turns us into slaves and against one another. Yes, I am talking about Christianity as well as Islam. Most Christians I have seen, seem to have missed the point, that Jesus redeemed us from religion. Religion is nothing but man's attempts to get back to God. Whether it is Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, animism, any ism. Religion can't save mankind. Only Jesus could save mankind through his death and resurrection. And Jesus is the only way to God.’”

Today there are questions about Yousef's beliefs, about whether they fully adhere to orthodox (small "o") Christianity, but one thing that is certain is that he is no longer an adherent of radical Islam, no longer promotes violence, and no longer is ruled by hate. He has correctly stated that Jesus is the only way to God, and I pray that God will protect him and help him to truly keep his heart bowed to Jesus.

God is working. Let us continue to pray to Him and trust in His work.