Acts 25:24
And Festus said, King Agrippa, and all men which are here present with us, ye see this man, about whom all the multitude of the Jews have dealt with me, both at Jerusalem, and also here, crying that he ought not to live any longer. And Festus said, King Agrippa, and all men which are here present with us, ye see this man, about whom all the multitude of the Jews have dealt with me, both at Jerusalem, and also here, crying that he ought not to live any longer.
Festus is presenting Paul to King Agrippa and the assembled officials and leading men of Caesarea as the man at the center of the Jews' demands. He is laying out the case before that company, reporting that the Jews have demanded that Paul be put to death. The demand that he not be allowed to live has continued and been repeated from Jerusalem to Caesarea. It has been pressed by the Jewish leaders and by the multitude and crowd together, showing the intensity and persistence of their opposition.
Their public outcry for his death concealed a plan to kill him. The dispute behind the demand centered on religious questions and on Jesus, whom Paul affirmed was alive. Festus was explaining the case after Paul had appealed to Caesar, having himself found no offense deserving death, and was sending Paul to Augustus. Paul's appeal to Caesar and the delay in finding a ship gave him time to present the reasons for his faith, so his imprisonment brought the gospel to a public hearing before rulers and nobles in a royal setting.
The Jews delayed presenting their charges against Paul, hoping to use the delay to influence the emperor and secure his condemnation. The Jewish multitude pressing the Roman governor to carry out their will for Paul's death recalls how Jewish priests and rulers likewise forced a Roman governor to act against Jesus to execute him.