Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Five days later the high priest Ananias went down to Caesarea with some of the elders and a lawyer named Tertullus, and they brought their charges against Paul before the governor. When Paul was called in, Tertullus presented his case before Felix: “We have enjoyed a long period of peace under you, and your foresight has brought about reforms in this nation. Everywhere and in every way, most excellent Felix, we acknowledge this with profound gratitude. But in order not to weary you further, I would request that you be kind enough to hear us briefly.
“We have found this man to be a troublemaker, stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the Nazarene sect and even tried to desecrate the temple; so we seized him. By examining him yourself you will be able to learn the truth about all these charges we are bringing against him.”
The other Jews joined in the accusation, asserting that these things were true.
When the governor motioned for him to speak, Paul replied: “I know that for a number of years you have been a judge over this nation; so I gladly make my defense. You can easily verify that no more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship. My accusers did not find me arguing with anyone at the temple, or stirring up a crowd in the synagogues or anywhere else in the city. And they cannot prove to you the charges they are now making against me. However, I admit that I worship the God of our ancestors as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets, and I have the same hope in God as these men themselves have, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.
“After an absence of several years, I came to Jerusalem to bring my people gifts for the poor and to present offerings. I was ceremonially clean when they found me in the temple courts doing this. There was no crowd with me, nor was I involved in any disturbance. But there are some Jews from the province of Asia, who ought to be here before you and bring charges if they have anything against me. Or these who are here should state what crime they found in me when I stood before the Sanhedrin—unless it was this one thing I shouted as I stood in their presence: ‘It is concerning the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you today.’”
Then Felix, who was well acquainted with the Way, adjourned the proceedings. “When Lysias the commander comes,” he said, “I will decide your case.” He ordered the centurion to keep Paul under guard but to give him some freedom and permit his friends to take care of his needs.
Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus. As Paul talked about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, “That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.” At the same time he was hoping that Paul would offer him a bribe, so he sent for him frequently and talked with him.
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 24:1-27

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Acts 24 ‘Overview’: “For Paul, under arrest in Jerusalem, the moment of crisis becomes the moment of vision. As in Corinth (Acts 18:9-10), so now in Jerusalem, the Lord will stand by Paul. These moments of realization, of clarity of inner sight, have been all-important for Paul, just as they have been for countless Christians ever since. We Christians often sell ourselves short by quietly forgetting these moments or not talking about them for fear other people won’t understand or will think we’re making it all up.”

• N. T. Wright, Acts (from the For Everyone Bible Study Series)

Acts 23:24-24:27 ‘Felix’: “Felix was born a slave. After being given his freedom he, with his brother Pallas, became favorites of the Emperor Claudius. This might have been because Claudius, naturally afraid as many emperors were of envious people in high places, preferred to employ and to trust people whose personal gratitude to him was so great that they would be less likely to rebel. We know his term in office in Judea ran roughly A.D. 52-59, not least because of coins Which successive governors issued, with their own name and that of the emperor on them. This helps us date this whole episode with Paul. We also know that during this time things went from bad to worse. The Jews were given more and more reasons to hate their Roman overlords and to fan the flames of their zeal for God and the law. By the end of the next decade, the zeal would bring war and their utter ruin.”

• N. T. Wright, Acts (from the For Everyone Bible Study Series)

Acts 24:1 ‘after five days’: “A very short period of time for the Jewish leaders to put their case together, hire an attorney (‘orator’), and make the trip to Caesarea. Perhaps they feared Felix would dismiss the case against Paul if they did not pursue it rapidly. … elders. Important leaders of the Sanhedrin (see note on 4:5). Tertullus. Possibly a Roman, but more likely a Hellenistic Jew (cf. v. 6).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 24:2-8 ‘The early church had its warts’: “Luke has been writing the story of the early church, and particularly Paul, in terms of a succession of ‘trials.’ The gospel is all about God putting the world right—his doing so in Jesus, his doing so at the end, and his doing so for individuals in between, as both a sign and a means of what is to come. Luke wants his readers to see the life of the church itself in that same way. We shouldn’t imagine that people will leave us alone, will not challenge us as to what we are doing, as to how our faith belongs in the public world. If we are the people in and through whom God is putting into effect the setting-right that happened in Jesus, and anticipating the setting-right that will happen at the end, we should expect to see that uncomfortable but necessary setting-right going on all over the place, sometimes in martyrdom and sometimes in vindication and acquittal, as the church makes its way in the world.”

• N. T. Wright, Acts (from the For Everyone Bible Study Series)

Acts 24:3 ‘Felix’: “Governor of Judea from A.D. 52 to 59. Felix was a former slave whose brother (a favorite of Emperor Claudius) had obtained for him the position as governor. He was not highly regarded by the influential Romans of his day and accomplished little during his term as governor. He defeated the Egyptian and his followers (see … 21:38), but his brutality angered the Jews and led to his ouster as governor by Emperor Nero two years after Paul’s hearing (v. 27).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 24:5 ‘A Nazarene’: “Nazarene is not at all the same word as Nazirite. It is a different word in the Hebrew. ‘Nazirite’ among the Jews would have been a title of honor, but ‘Nazarene’ is simply a name of contempt. A late traveler tells us he had a Muslim guide through Palestine, and whenever they came to a village that was dirty, poor, and inhabited by professed Christians, he always said, ‘These are not Muslims, they are Netza,’ or, ‘Nazarenes,’ throwing all the spite he possibly could into the word, as if he could not have uttered a more contemptuous term.
“Today if God’s servants preach the truth of God, or if they will hold to it and dare to live it, they will soon meet with some contemptuous title or other. Pare down the gospel, cut away its angles, draw out the lion’s teeth, and then you will be friends with the world. But hold the doctrines of grace, bring forth the atonement, speak out plainly, have your convictions and state them, and soon the hounds will be after you full cry. Live a godly, gracious life, and you will not escape persecution. The true Christian will  be pointed at by some opprobrious name or other, something  like Paul was when they said he was a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

Acts 24:6 ‘tried to profane the temple’: “The third accusation leveled against Paul was sacrilege, blasphemy against God. The Jewish leaders, through their spokesman, repeated the false charges of the Asian Jews (21:28). Trying to whitewash the angry crowd’s savage beating of Paul, they claimed (falsely) to have arrested him.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 24:10-21 ‘within, the Faith is found in the faith’: “In his defense before Felix, Paul claims the moral, theological and biblical high ground. For him, following Jesus is not an odd hobby that might lead him away from Scripture and tradition, but it is the way, indeed the Way, by which the one true God has fulfilled all that the Scriptures had said. Paul, in other words, is claiming to be a loyal and faithful Jew. For Paul, the knowledge of God in the face of Jesus the Messiah meant not that he was abandoning the faith of his ancestors but that he was penetrating to its very heart.”

• N. T. Wright, Acts (from the For Everyone Bible Study Series)

Acts 24:10 ‘many years a judge’: “Both as governor and, before that, during his service under the governor of Samaria. Unlike Tertullus, Paul was not flattering Felix, but reminding him of his acquaintance with Jewish laws, customs, and beliefs. Felix was thus bound to give a just verdict.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics

Acts 24:11 ‘twelve days’: “Five of which had been spent at Caesarea waiting for his accusers to arrive (v. 1). Several of the remaining seven had been taken up with his purification rites (see notes on 21:24, 27). Paul’s point was that, even if he had wanted to, he had not had the time to incite a revolt.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 24:14 ‘the Law and in the Prophets’: “The ‘Law and the Prophets’ refers to the OT (see Matt. 7:12). The Sadducees rejected much of the OT (see … 23:8), while both they and the Pharisees rejected the OT’s witness to Jesus Christ (cf. Luke 24:27, 44; John 1:45; 5:39, 46). In contrast, Paul viewed the entire OT as the inspired Word of God, and believed everything it taught.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 24:22 ‘having more accurate knowledge of the Way’: “Probably from his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish (24:24). adjourned the proceedings. The witnesses to Paul’s alleged crime (the Jews from Asia) had failed to show up for the hearing. Nor could the Jewish leaders prove him guilty of a crime. The only verdict Felix could render consistent with Roman law was not guilty, which would infuriate the Jews, and possibly lead to further trouble. Since as governor, Felix’s primary responsibility was to maintain order, he decided the best decision was no decision, and adjourned the proceedings on the pretext of needing further information from Lysias. commander comes down. Lysias’ written report had already stated that the dispute involved questions of Jewish law (23:29), and that Paul was not guilty of any crime (23:29). It is difficult to see what more he could have added, and there is no evidence that Felix ever summoned him.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 24:24 ‘Paul understood his audience’: “We have before us three characters—Felix and Drusilla, sitting side by side on the judgment seat, and Paul.  Paul, the prisoner, bound in chains, explains to Drusilla and Felix the doctrines of the Christian religion so they can decide if he will be acquitted or condemned to die.
“Paul selected a topic that was appropriate for his audience. Felix, originally a slave, was freed by the Emperor Claudius and became one of the emperor’s infamous favorites. In that capacity he pandered to his master’s vices and was at all times prepared to indulge the emperor in every lustful wish of his abominable heart. Through this he became promoted and ran through the stages of Roman preferment until he obtained the governorship of Judea. While he was governor, he committed every act of extortion it was possible for him to commit, and he went so far that at last the Emperor Nero was obliged to recall him. We may easily see, then, how appropriate was the discourse when the apostle Paul reasoned concerning righteousness. Felix had been an unjust extortioner, and the apostle purposely selected righteousness to be a topic of his discourse.
“Drusilla, his wife, was Jewish, being a daughter of Herod Agrippa. She also was a woman noted in that age for her superlative charms and for her unbridled voluptuousness. She had once been betrothed to Antiochus Ephiphanes of Commagene, who refused to marry her. She was afterward married to Aziz, the king of Emesa, whom she deserted at the instigation of Felix and was at the time of Paul’s address living as the wife of the lascivious Felix. We may easily understand, then, why the apostle Paul, fixing his stern eyes on Drusilla, reasoned concerning self-control and ‘the judgment to come.’ No wonder Felix ‘became afraid’!”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

Acts 24:25 ‘righteousness, self-control, and the judgment’: “God demands ‘righteousness’ of all people, because of His holy nature (Matt. 5:48; 1 Pet. 1: 15, 16). For men and women to conform to that absolute standard requires ‘self-control.’ The result of failing to exhibit self-control and to conform oneself to God’s righteous standard is (apart from salvation) ‘judgment.’ Felix was afraid. Living with a woman he had lured away from her husband, Felix obviously lacked ‘righteousness’ and ‘self-control.’ The realization that he faced ‘judgment’ alarmed him, and he hastily dismissed Paul. when I have a convenient time. The moment of conviction passed, and Felix foolishly passed up his opportunity to repent (cf. 2 Cor. 6:2).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 24:27 ‘Portius Festus succeeded Felix’: “See note on verse 3. Festus was a member of the Roman nobility, unlike the former slave, Felix. Little is known of his brief tenure as governor (he died two years after assuming office), but the Jewish historian Josephus described him as better than either his predecessor or his successor. do the Jews a favor. Felix did this since Jewish complaints to Rome about his brutality eventually led to his ouster from office. He had brutally suppressed a riot in Caesarea and infuriated the Jews, who managed to complain to Rome and have him replaced. Emperor Nero recalled him to Rome where he would have faced severe punishment if his influential brother, Pallas, had not interceded for him.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

My Thoughts

All this arrest, going to the Sanhedrin, escape to Caesarea, and then a five day wait took twelve days.  Then Felix kept Paul in protective custody for over two years.  Why?  The Scriptures say in hopes of a bribe, but when Paul was summoned to talk to him, Paul talked about righteousness, self-control, and good just judgment.  Paul knew of Felix and Felix had a reputation of being none of that.  But the constant recalls speak to me of being a puppet on a string.  Drusilla was Jewish, and not a very good Jew.  Yet, having Paul as entertainment may have pleased his wife also.

But to the first of this trial, the high priest and officials brought Tertullus with them, a lawyer.  Rev. MacArthur clarifies by saying an “orator,” but if Tertullus was of the relativism school of Philosophy, founded by Protagoras (490-420BC).  To Protagoras, truth did not matter.  Winning the case mattered.  Plato and Socrates derided these “sophists” as being pure rhetoric.  Of course they would.  To them philosophy was seeking the truth and when you have a weak case, but you win by an emotional plea, there is no truth in the decision, nor is there any true justice.

Note that Tertullus starts his discourse, filled with false accusations, with flattery.  Felix knew he was unfit as a judge and his wealth was obtained illegally.  This was all to gain favor and draw Felix’ attention away from the truth.

Paul draws Felix’ attention to the evidence, for there was none.  The original accusers were from Asia, where Paul had many enemies who still wanted him dead.  Remember the group from Pisidian Antioch and Iconium who stirred up a crowd in Lystra and had Paul stoned.  There was the Ephesian riot.  In each of these riots, there were Jews that wanted the Way to be stopped, yet people were being added to the Way throughout.  Yet, these accusers were not present.  Paul was not starting a riot.  He was worshipping at the temple.  He was ceremonially clean.  He was bringing gifts to the poor of Jerusalem.

Paul started his talk with how the God of the Way was the same God as the God worshipped at the temple.  The same God.  The same resurrection of the dead for the good people and the bad people.  This might have gotten Felix a little nervous, before Felix was frightened with talk of righteousness and self-control.

Felix wanted to do the prudent thing.  He postponed his decision, releasing the group from Jerusalem.  He wanted further advice, even though he was well aware of the Way.

Lysius is ordered to keep Paul under guard but keep it loose so that his friends can tend to Paul’s needs.  This put Paul there as entertainment, keeps the chance of a bribe, and placates the religious leaders in Jerusalem.  He even keeps Paul there until after Festus replaces Felix two years later.

But note: Felix was well aware of the Way, yet he did not believe.  Our pews (or chairs and such, since pews are not as common in contemporary churches) have many that know their Bible, but do they know God?

This chapter has many nuggets.  There is a lawyer who thinks he can smooth talk the judge into a decision, but a simple argument of no evidence shuts him down.  There is Paul giving yet another sermon, designed for the audience, that refutes the evidence but establishes Christianity (the Way) as being the fulfillment of the Old Testament Law.

We have the argument that head knowledge is not the same as heart knowledge, and it is not saving knowledge either.

And we have everything vile in a Roman judge: greed for a bribe, imprisonment for the sake of placating people who are in the wrong and for entertainment, both his and his wife’s.

Some Serendipitous Reflections

Acts 24 1. How has your desire to serve Christ been misunderstood by others? How did you feel then?
“2. What’s the difference between being ‘well acquainted with the Way’ (v.22) and being a true believer? How long were you well acquainted before you became a believer?
“3. Have you ever felt there was a period in your life that was ‘dead time’—time when nothing seemed to be happening at all (as seems to be the case with Paul)? Why do you think God allows such times in our lives?”

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

There is one set of questions for Acts 24.

Substitute whatever group for any reference to a small group or ask who could come to your aid.

If you like these Thursday morning Bible studies, but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Thursday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.