The Testimony of a Faithful Witness
1. Be patient in your affliction (1-9)
1 After five days the high priest Ananias came down with some elders, with an attorney named Tertullus, and they brought charges to the governor against Paul.
2 After Paul had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying to the governor,
“Since we have through you attained much peace, and since by your providence reforms are being carried out for this nation,
3 we acknowledge this in every way and everywhere, most excellent Felix, with all thankfulness.
4 “But, that I may not weary you any further, I beg you to grant us, by your kindness, a brief hearing.
5 “For we have found this man a real pest and a fellow who stirs up dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.
6 “And he even tried to desecrate the temple; and then we arrested him. [We wanted to judge him according to our own Law.
7 “But Lysias the commander came along, and with much violence took him out of our hands,
8 ordering his accusers to come before you.] By examining him yourself concerning all these matters you will be able to ascertain the things of which we accuse him.”
9 The Jews also joined in the attack, asserting that these things were so.
It could certainly be argued that the effect of Paul’s preaching was to stir up riots, whether or not he intended this; to the present day peaceable advocates of controversial viewpoints may find themselves the unwilling causes of mob action and therefore placed under restraint.
The Western reading then adds verses 6b–8a, which AV and JB include in their text but NIV relegates to the margin: ‘and wanted to judge him according to our law. But the commander, Lysias, came and with the use of much force snatched him from our hands and ordered his accusers to come before you’. The effect of this addition is to complete the reversal of the facts, attributing the violence to Lysias instead of to the Jewish crowd, as the orderly arrest had been ascribed to the crowd instead of to Lysias.
Luke adds that the Jews joined in the accusation, using a military term (synepethento, ‘joined in the attack’) to signify the intensity of their opposition to Paul. They joined their lawyer in asserting that these things were true. Luke, however, has already made it clear that the accusations against Paul were false from the start (cf. 21:27–29).
2. Be confident in your defense (10-21)
10 When the governor had nodded for him to speak, Paul responded:
“Knowing that for many years you have been a judge to this nation, I cheerfully make my defense,
11 since you can take note of the fact that no more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship.
12 “Neither in the temple, nor in the synagogues, nor in the city itself did they find me carrying on a discussion with anyone or causing a riot.
13 “Nor can they prove to you the charges of which they now accuse me.
14 “But this I admit to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect I do serve cthe God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets;
15 having a hope in God, which these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.
16 “In view of this, I also do my best to maintain always a blameless conscience both before God and before men.
17 “Now after several years I came to bring alms to my nation and to present offerings;
18 in which they found me occupied in the temple, having been purified, without any crowd or uproar. But there were some Jews from Asia—
19 who ought to have been present before you and to make accusation, if they should have anything against me.
20 “Or else let these men themselves tell what misdeed they found when I stood before the Council,
21 other than for this one statement which I shouted out while standing among them, ‘For the resurrection of the dead I am on trial before you today.’ ”
The general charges brought against his conduct ‘throughout the world’ (24:5) were certainly not true of his behaviour in Jerusalem. Paul had gone there in order to worship. He had not come to Jerusalem to evangelize; by the terms of the agreement in Galatians 2:7–9 he would not have engaged in evangelism in Jerusalem unless invited to do so by the Jerusalem church.
the Christians believed that the God of their Jewish ancestors was being rightly worshipped by them. Their understanding of true religion was based on the Old Testament, which they regarded as laying down the essentials of Christian faith and practice. The church was claiming in fact that the Old Testament was a Christian book.
Here was Paul’s public confession of faith (homologō, ‘I confess’, 14). It consisted of four affirmations: (i) ‘I worship the God of our fathers’; (ii) ‘I believe everything that agrees with the Law and … the Prophets’; (iii) ‘I have the same hope in God as these men’; and (iv) ‘I strive always [JB, “as much as they”] to keep my conscience clear …’. Paul’s purpose in this was not just to make a personal declaration, however, but to insist that he shared it with the whole people of God. He worshipped the same God (‘the God of our fathers’), believed the same truths (the Law and the Prophets), shared the same hope (the resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked) and cherished the same ambition (to keep a clear conscience).
Such an appeal to a common hope and desire to serve God is designed to counter the charge of being a destroyer of Judaism. His attitude and behaviour identifies him as one of ‘the righteous’, whose life is shaped by the totality of God’s revelation in Scripture. Although Paul addresses the governor with these words, he clearly also challenges his Jewish accusers to recognise the genuineness of his relationship with God.
3. Be truthful in your witness (22-27)
22 But Felix, having a more exact knowledge about the Way, put them off, saying, “When Lysias the commander comes down, I will decide your case.”
23 Then he gave orders to the centurion for him to be kept in custody and yet have some freedom, and not to prevent any of his friends from ministering to him.
24 But some days later Felix arrived with Drusilla, his wife who was a Jewess, and sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus.
25 But as he was discussing righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix became frightened and said, “Go away for the present, and when I find time I will summon you.”
26 At the same time too, he was hoping that money would be given him by Paul; therefore he also used to send for him quite often and converse with him.
27 But after two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, and wishing to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul imprisoned.
This protective custody allowed the access of family or friends (hoi idioi, ‘his own people’), which may have included his relatives (cf. 23:16), but certainly fellow Christians, to bring food and other practical comforts. Perhaps also they were able to convey letters from Paul to churches and individuals with whom he was connected. Some have suggested that Colossians, Ephesians, Philemon, Philippians, and 2 Timothy could have been written from Caesarea.
Putting the title ‘Christ’ before the personal name ‘Jesus’ makes it clear that the messiahship of Jesus was being asserted. Since Paul goes on to talk about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, it seems likely that faith in Christ here is ‘related to salvation (cf. 16:31) and thus to the forgiveness of sins’. Such an explicitly biblical presentation of the gospel to a Gentile was presumably made possible because of Felix’s existing knowledge of ‘the Way’ (v. 22) and Drusilla’s Jewish connection.
Certainly the release of Felix from sin meant more to Paul than his own release from prison. But unfortunately there is no evidence that Felix ever capitulated to Christ and was redeemed. On the contrary, when Porcius Festus succeeded to the procuratorship, Felix still left Paul in prison (27), even beyond the two-year period which was ‘the maximum duration of preventive custody’, in order to win the Jews’ favour, which means that ‘he not only coveted money, but also glory’.
Felix is presented as a confused and divided man, with some understanding of the great issues at stake, but unwilling to take the steps required of him by the challenge of Paul’s gospel. His conversations with Paul continued for two years, until his procuratorship came to an end.
He had sufficient of a conscience left to feel some alarm at the Christian message, but he very quickly had as much of it as he could take, and he dismissed Paul until he had further time available. He had no intention of repenting.
