Acts 24: 21-27

Review:

Paul has been taken into custody after being falsely charged while worshipping in the Temple in Jerusalem. If you will remember he has taken great pains to get to the city for Pentecost and to deliver the famine relief offering he has been collecting among the churches. The Holy Spirit has testified to Paul that danger awaits him in Jerusalem but he knows he must go, not only there but on to Rome to proclaim the gospel.

Felix the Governor has heard the charges against Paul, basically that he stirs up riots wherever he goes , and that he sought to profane the temple by bring gentiles into the inner courts which he did not. Paul has made his defense and now we finish the chapter.

Text:

English Standard Version Chapter 24

Paul Kept in Custody

22 But Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of the Way, put them off, saying, “When Lysias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case.” 23 Then he gave orders to the centurion that he should be kept in custody but have some liberty, and that none of his friends should be prevented from attending to his needs.

24 After some days Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. 25 And as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, “Go away for the present. When I get an opportunity I will summon you.” 26 At the same time he hoped that money would be given him by Paul. So he sent for him often and conversed with him. 27 When two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. And desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.

We are not told how Felix came to have a knowledge of The Way but Felix knows enough to realize that the charges against Paul and the Christian movement are baseless, and even sends for Paul subsequently and repeatedly to learn more about faith in Jesus the Messiah (vv. 24, 26).

Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 24

24:22 Lysias Referring to Claudius Lysias, the Roman commander Paul had encountered earlier (23:26–27).

I will decide Felix never makes a decision, outside of to leave Paul in prison (v. 27). Lysias is not even recorded as being summoned.

I think I have mentioned this before, but to be imprisoned at this time did not come with “three hots and a cot”. In other words if your friends and family did not bring you food, or provide you warm clothing you went without.

So Felix is intrigued enough with Paul’s message to send for him gain to here the Gospel proclamation. But Felix as we discussed before was not a nice guy and Drusilla had some problems of her own. Felix had taken all that the Emperor Claudius had given him and used it for his own ends. He had lusted after someone else’s wife and had taken her for himself. Luke doesn’t draw attention to Drusilla’s past, but many of the first readers of his book would know it well. She was the sister of Agrippa II, whom we shall shortly meet, and the first-century scandal-industry was just as effective when it came to the rich, the royal or the otherwise famous as is our own. It was quite a coup for a jumped-up ex-slave to grab a princess, especially when she was already married to someone else. Like many provincial governors, he was in it for what he could get.

And we can see in the text that the gospel message particularly called out here by Luke the message of “righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment” makes Felix very uneasy.

It maybe Felix’s own sorted dealings that leads to a feeling of conviction, or it maybe the politics of the matter. NT Wright gives us some insight into the situation

Acts for Everyone, Part 2: Chapters 13–28 Felix Calms (and Slows) Things Down (Acts 24:22–27)

Felix knows he’s in a tight spot. The Jewish authorities were under his ultimate control, but only so far. Local leaders would often press charges against a governor for maladministration, and there were several instances of them doing so, not least in a famous case, in Judaea itself, half a century earlier. Even if they didn’t accuse him during his time in office, Felix couldn’t stay in Judaea for ever, and when he left there might well be questions people wanted to raise. So it is definitely not in his interest to dismiss the case, let Paul go free, and hear howls of protest all the way from Jerusalem to Caesarea—and perhaps out beyond, to Himself Across the Sea.

Equally, it is not in his interest at all to do an injustice to a Roman citizen who is obviously well aware of his legal rights and knows exactly what’s going on. Paul’s brilliant speech had argued convincingly against the main charges, pointing out that some of them were invalid since the accusers were not present, and establishing the larger framework within which what he was doing made (as Felix could very well see) excellent sense in its own terms, and perhaps in Jewish terms as a whole. The matter was complex.

In fact just such a failure to keep the peace is what has Felix removed from power, and only his brothers intervention with Nero saved him from the emperors punishment.

Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 24

According to first-century Jewish historian Josephus, Felix was removed from office two years after Paul’s hearing because he was unable to keep the peace between Jews and Gentiles in Caesarea (Josephus, Antiquities 20.182).

Application:

Commentators point to the interesting relationship between Paul and Felix:

Acts for Everyone, Part 2: Chapters 13–28 Felix Calms (and Slows) Things Down (Acts 24:22–27)

Paul seems to have exercised, as John did for Herod, a kind of fearful fascination: the twisted, crooked ruler found the straight talking extraordinary and even appealing but of course frightening at the same time. If what Paul was saying was true, his own life was a tangled mess indeed. Faith in the Messiah, Jesus, would mean coming to terms with justice, self-control, and the coming judgment, and on each of those scores Felix must have realized that he was, to say the least, doing rather badly. So he plays a kind of cat-and-mouse game with Paul, in which, though he may have thought to begin with he was the cat, he ends up being the frightened mouse. Go away for now, he says; oh, come back again and talk some more; go away again; come back; and so on.

And of course, from Luke’s point of view, the Cat in question isn’t Paul. It’s Jesus the Messiah, the real Lord, the one Paul can’t stop talking about as he points away from himself to his Master; Jesus, the one who will indeed straighten everything out, the one who therefore longs to see justice in our public dealings, self-control in our private worlds, who died at the hands of Roman ‘justice’ and was raised again to set this new world in motion

It is really no different from the relationship many have today with Jesus and His church. The problem as Felix realized is to understand the Gospel and it’s call on your life is to become very uncomfortable. It requires a change of allegiance from this world to the next, and a reordering of priorities. He may have even seen the truth of what Paul says in Philippians:

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,

To understand what is at stake is to have fear. The idea of an eternity of separation from God is not something to be taken lightly. Modern day versions of God as someone who just wants to come alongside you and affirm you choices is not consistent with the God of the Bible. The good news is, He has paid the penalty for everything, He has made a way for reconciliation, but unlike Felix we need to take that opportunity seriously and I pray ultimately put our faith in Jesus and receive His salvation.