It is somewhat surprising that the Book of The Acts mentions the great collection for the Jerusalem church only incidentally, in the report of a speech of Paul. Acts 24:17. The interest of Luke in this part of the narrative is absorbed in the relations between Paul and the non-Christian Jews and the Roman authorities. The internal affairs of the Church are left for the most part out of account. The Acts and the Pauline Epistles, here as so often, must be allowed to supplement each other. Luke gives a vivid picture of the external events, and a clear view of the relations of Christianity to the outside world; while Paul affords us a deeper insight, in some respects at least, into the inward development of the Church's life.
The famous reply of Agrippa to Paul, Acts 26:28, is exceedingly difficult to translate and to interpret. The translation in the Revised Version is by no means certainly correct. The words may mean, "A little more of this persuasion will make me a Christian!" or else, "You seem to think that the little persuasion you have used is sufficient to make me a Christian." In any case, the sentence displays a certain perplexity on the part of the king. He certainly does not mean that he is on the point of accepting Christianity--his words have a half-ironical tone--but on the other hand his interest is aroused. The same thing is probably to be said for Festus. He said, "Paul, thou art mad; thy much learning is turning thee mad," but he said it with a loud voice as though he were agitated. There was something uncanny about this prisoner!
The dates of many events in the apostolic age have usually been fixed by counting from the accession of Festus. Unfortunately, however, that event itself cannot be dated with certainty. Some put it as late as A. D. 61, others as early as A. D. 55. If the date A. D. 60 be provisionally adopted, then Paul's arrest in Jerusalem occurred in A. D. 58, and his arrival in Rome in A. D. 61. The conclusion of the narrative in The Acts would then fall in the year A. D. 63. It will be remembered that the proconsulship of Gallio now affords an additional starting point for a chronology of the apostolic age.
After the meeting between Paul and James, which is narrated in Acts 21:17-26, the Jerusalem church, at least so far as any direct narrative is concerned, disappears from the pages of the New Testament. It will be observed that in the account of Paul's last visit, only James, the brother of the Lord, and "the elders" are mentioned as representatives of the church. Possibly some of the twelve apostles may be included under the term "elders," but it is also perfectly possible that the apostles were all out of the city.