Acts 23(12)–24(27)

Introduction

Paul has had a difficult time since arriving in Jerusalem. The leaders of the church confronted him with a rumour that was going around among the believing Jews that Paul was teaching them to turn away from God’s law and to disregard it. The rumour wasn’t true, but the leaders of the church confronted him with it and told him what to do to show everyone that the rumour was not true. So, Paul had to deal with that.

And while Paul was doing what they told him to do, Jews from the province of Asia stirred up a crowd against him when he was in the temple. And people seized him and started to attack him. In fact, Luke says they were trying to kill him. And they would have succeeded if it hadn’t been for the Roman commander, who came quickly with his men to stop this disturbance. And so, Paul had to deal with that.

The Roman commander had Paul arrested and brought into the barracks, where they prepared to flog Paul before interrogating him. And they would have flogged him, if Paul hadn’t spoken up and revealed to them that he was a Roman citizen and it was unlawful for them to treat him like this. And so, he had to deal with that.

And then he was brought before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by them. And the High Priest ordered someone to strike Paul on the mouth for something he had said. And when Paul spoke to them about his hope in the resurrection of the dead, the Sanhedrin was divided, because some of them believed in the resurrection and others didn’t. And they argued with one another vigorously, says Luke. And the dispute even became violent, so that the Roman commander had to send his men in to take Paul away by force. And so, he had to deal with that.

It was one thing after another. And, as we can see from today’s passage, Paul’s troubles are still not over.

23:12–22

Turn with me to verses 12 to 22 of chapter 23. Luke tells us in verse 12 that the very next morning, after the meeting of the Sanhedrin, the Jews formed a conspiracy and they bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. In other words, one of them had to die. One of them had to die. Either Paul would die or else, if Paul did not die, they would die of starvation for failing to kill Paul. That’s how much they hated Paul. They wanted to rid the earth of him.

And Luke tells us that more than 40 men were involved in this plot to kill Paul. And they went to the chief priests and elders to tell them about their plan and to tell the chief priests and elders what they were to do. They wanted the chief priests and elders — the members of the Sanhedrin — to ask the Roman commander to let them question Paul one more time. And when Paul was being transported from the Roman barracks to the place where the Sanhedrin meets, they would assassinate Paul. That was their plan.

But thanks be to God — who places the right people in the right place at the right time — the son of Paul’s sister overheard the plot. We don’t know how this happened, but he was in the right place at the right time to overhear their plan. And he did the right thing: he went into the barracks and told Paul all about it. Paul called one of the centurions and asked him to take his nephew to the commander. And the commander listened to him and heard all about the plot of the Jews. And in case you’re wondering whether the chief priests and elders agreed to do what they were asked to do — because Luke didn’t tell us — take a look at what Paul’s nephew says at the end of verse 21: ‘They are ready now, waiting for your consent to their request.’ So, instead of rebuking the Jews for plotting to kill Paul, the chief priests and elders agreed to comply with their plan and they’re waiting to ask the commander for permission to question Paul.

And Luke tells us that the Roman commander dismissed Paul’s nephew, telling him not to tell anyone about this.

23:23–35

What’s the Roman commander going to do? Will he pay attention to the warning or will he act on it? Well, Luke tells us in verse 23 that he called for two of his centurions and gave them orders to gather together a detachment of 200 soldiers and 70 horsemen and 200 spearmen — almost a whole army — and take Paul to Caesarea that very night to see the Roman governor whose name was Felix. And the centurions were to gather together so many men so that no harm will come to Paul and he’ll arrive there safely.

And the Roman commander sent a letter to Felix to explain to him what he has done. And the letter is there in verses 27 to 30. He, of course, has massaged the truth a little, hasn’t he? He says that the Jews wanted to kill Paul, but he rescued him, because he had learned that Paul was a Roman citizen. Well, that’s not strictly true, is it? He only discovered Paul was a Roman citizen after giving orders for Paul to be flogged. But the rest of what he says is accurate enough: that he brought Paul before the Sanhedrin to find out why they were accusing him; and that their accusation was to do with questions about their law. In other words, it was in connection with their religion and it wasn’t anything requiring the death penalty or even imprisonment. And the commander had discovered that there was a plot to kill Paul. And so, he has now sent Paul to Felix and he has given orders for Paul’s accusers to become before Felix to be heard.

And in verses 31 to 35 we read that Paul was brought safely to Caesarea and the letter and Paul were handed over to Felix. And Felix agreed to hear the case against him whenever his accusers get there.

24:1–23

Let’s move right on with the story and we’ll focus now on verses 1 to 23 of chapter 24 and the trial before Felix.

Five days later the high priest arrived in Caesarea with some of the elders who were members of the Sanhedrin and a lawyer named Tertullus. He’s really an orator or public speaker who would be hired to speak for the Sanhedrin and to make their case on their behalf.

And they brought their charges against Paul before the governor. Apparently it was the custom in those days to have a kind of preliminary hearing when the prosecutors would bring their charges before the judge, who would determine whether they was an substance to it. And on this occasion, it’s clear that Felix was prepared to proceed with the trial, because he brought Paul in to face the charges and to defend himself.

And it was again the custom in those days to begin your speech to the court by praising the judge. And that’s what Tertullus did. He commends Felix because they have all enjoyed a long period of peace under his leadership. And he mentions Felix’s foresight — or we might say wisdom — which has brought about reforms to the nations. And he said: ‘Everywhere and in every way, most excellent Felix, we acknowledge this with profound gratitude.’ Most excellent Felix! Tertullus knows what he’s doing. He’s praising the governor. He’s buttering him up and getting him on his side. And do you know what else he’s doing? He’s preparing the way for what he wants to say next. He’s going to go on to say that Paul is a trouble-maker. He’s going to accuse Paul of being someone who might upset the peace of the province. And you, Felix, have done so much already to establish peace in this province. So, don’t ruin your good reputation! Don’t let this man ruin your reputation as a man who is known for keeping the peace. And keeping the peace was so important in the Roman Empire. Even today we talk about Pax Romana which was a long period of peace and political stability across the Roman Empire. And the Romans wanted to maintain it. And that means Felix would want to maintain it too.

So, Tertullus mentions peace in his opening remarks to prepare the ground for the charges he will bring against Paul.

And the charges are there in verses 5 to 8. He accuses Paul of being a troublemaker. The Greek word he uses can also mean ‘plague’ or ‘pestilance.’ And he means that Paul is like a deadly disease which will spread throughout the Roman Empire unless Felix stops him. And, according to Tertullus, the way Paul spreads this disease is by stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world. So, the disease he spreads is unrest. It’s instability. It’s civil disturbance. It’s all the things Rome feared, because the Romans wanted to maintain peace throughout the Empire by stamping out all opposition and trouble.

And then he calls Paul a ringleader of the Nazarene sect. He’s referring there to Christianity. And he could describe Christianity in this way because Christians are followers of the Lord Jesus who grew up in Nazareth. But to call Christianity a sect was to imply that it was an unlawful religion. Judaism or the Jewish religion was approved by the Romans. But Tertullus is suggesting that Christianity is a new and illegal religion. And Paul is one of the ringleaders of it.

And then he accuses Paul of desecrating the temple in Jerusalem. And he says that’s why they seized Paul.

So, those are the charges he brought before Felix against Paul. This is really only a summary of what he said. Presumably he said much more. And in verse 8 he invited Felix to examine Paul for himself. Do that and you’ll see that the charges I’m bringing against Paul are true.

And in verse 9 Luke tells us that the other Jews who were there — so the chief priests and the elders — joined in. They were witnesses for the prosecution and they confirmed that all the things Tertullus had said were true.

And so, that’s a summary of their case against Paul. And in verses 10 to 23 we have Paul’s defence. He says to the governor in verse 11 that he can easily verify that Paul had arrived in Jerusalem just twelve days before. He’s saying that this is all very recent. It didn’t happen a long time ago. It happened recently so it will be easy to find people who were there and who remember exactly what happened.

And he says that he went up to Jerusalem to worship. He didn’t go to argue with anyone at the temple. He didn’t go to stir up trouble in the synagogues. He didn’t go up to Jerusalem to cause any kind of trouble. He went there to worship. And his accusers cannot prove any of the charges they have made against him. They cannot prove the charges, because they’re not true.

And Paul went on to say that he worships the God of our fathers. That is to say, he worships the God of the Jews. He worships the God of Israel. He doesn’t worship foreign gods, but he worships the same God as Abraham and Isaac and Jacob worshipped. But he worships the God of our fathers as a follower of the Way. When he refers to the Way, he’s referring to Christianity. Paul’s opponents might describe Christianity as a sect, but as far as Paul is concerned Christianity is not a new religion. He’s worshipping the same God as the Jews worship. But he now believes that all the promises contained in the Old Testament Scriptures — everything written in the Law and the Prophets about the Saviour–King who was coming into the world — have been fulfilled by Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is the promised Saviour–King. The Old Testament Scriptures spoke about his coming. And he has now come and he’s done everything that was foretold. And so, Paul still worships the same God as he always did. He still worships the God of the Old Testament. But he worships him in a new way because of his faith in Christ, who is the promised Saviour–King.

And Paul continued his defence by declaring once again his hope in the resurrection of the dead when the righteous will be raised to honour and the wicked will be raised to dishonour. And since the dead will be raised to face the coming judgment, then Paul always strives to keep his conscience clear before God and man. And since he always strives to keep his conscience clear, then he would never dream of doing what he’s been accused of doing. He’s not a trouble-maker. He’s not a rioter. He would never desecate the temple. He’s someone who worships God as a follower of Jesus Christ the Saviour.

And in the last part of his defence, which is verses 17 to 21, he tells Felix that he went to Jerusalem to bring a gift for the poor. He’s referring to the collection which he organised among the churches in Macedonia and Achaia to provide help for needy believers in Jerusalem. So, he came to Jerusalem, not to cause trouble, but to bring help to needy believers. And he came to present offerings to the Lord in the temple. When they saw him in the temple, he was ceremonially clean. And there was no crowd with him. He wasn’t there to cause a disturbance.

He then refers to the Jews from the province of Asia. Remember that they’re the ones who stirred up the crowd in Jerusalem to attack Paul. And Paul wants to know why they aren’t there in Caesarea. If they had something against him, then they ought to be there, making their case before Felix. But the fact that they’re not there suggests that they really have no case against him. And he says in verse 20 that the ones who are there really have no case against him. The only problem they have with him is his belief in the resurrection of the dead. That’s why I’m on trial today, he says.

And that’s Paul’s defence. He didn’t go to Jerusalem to cause trouble. He went to worship God and to bring relief for the poor. He didn’t desecrate the temple, because he was careful to purify himself. And he worships the same God as every other Jew worships, but he worships God as a follower of Jesus Christ, who fulfils the Old Testament Scriptures. And he believes in the resurrection of the dead. That’s his defence.

24:22–27

And at the end of all that, what did Felix do? Did he make a decision one way or the other? No, he adjourned the proceedings and left it until another day. He said: ‘When the Roman commander comes, then I’ll decide your case.’

And in the meantime, while he waited, he would bring Paul out and he would let Paul speak to him and his wife about faith in Christ. According to verse 25, Paul spoke to them about righteousness and about self-control and about the judgment to come. And Felix was afraid. We can perhaps imagine him trembling at the thought that one day we’ll stand before the judge of the living and the dead to give an account of our lives and of all the times we have failed to do what is right and of all the time we have failed to practise self-control. He trembled at the thought of it. But just as he put off making a decision about Paul, so he also put off making a decision about faith in Christ. He would say, ‘That’s enough for now!’

And so, he kept putting off making a decision about faith in Christ. No doubt Paul told him that the way to be saved from the coming judgment is by trusting in Christ as the only Saviour of the world, who gave up his life on the cross to pay for what we have done wrong and who shed his blood to cleanse us of all our guilt. No doubt Paul told him that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. No doubt Paul told him that though Felix may have done everything wrong, and nothing right, though Felix may have exercised no self-control, and had given in to every sinful desire and inclination, nevertheless if he trusts in Christ for salvation, there is for Felix, as there is for everyone who trusts in the Saviour, peace with God and the hope of everlasting life in the presence of God. No doubt Paul told him these things, because this is the gospel Paul preached everywhere he went. But Luke tells us that Felix would put off making a decision. ‘That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.’

And look at verse 27. When two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Festus. He put off making a decision until another day. But that day never came and Felix was moved somewhere else, far away from Paul.

Conclusion

People do this all the time, don’t they? ‘Not now,’ they say. ‘I’ll think about these things some other day. Now’s not a good time. Now’s not a convenient time. I can’t change my life now. And so, maybe later. Maybe next year. Maybe when I’m older. But now’s not a good time.’ People do it all the time. They put off making a decision about faith in Christ.

And look what else Felix did. According to verse 26 he was hoping that Paul would offer him a bribe. I suppose that’s what people did in those days. And so, Felix was putting his love for money, or his love for other things, before the person who should be his first love.

Who should be his first love? The person who should have been his first love is the person who should be your first love. Who is the person who should be your first love? It’s God.

God made us to know him and his goodness. And that means that he made us in such a way that we’re not fully what we’re meant to be unless we know him as our highest good.

I don’t know if people say this in real life, but on TV and in films you hear someone say to someone else: ‘You complete me’. In other words, ‘There was something missing from my life before I met you. I wasn’t completely happy or fulfilled. I always felt that something was missing. But now I’ve found you and I’m complete.’ It always sounds a little silly when we hear someone on TV say it. But it’s actually true when we’re talking about God. Until we know God and his goodness, we’re not complete. And we can never be completely happy or completely fulfilled until we know God as our highest good.

And that’s because we were made for God. We were made to know him and his goodness. We were made to be the object of his love. But instead of seeking God, we turn away from God and we turn to other, lesser things. But money can’t satisfy us. Possessions can’t satisfy us. Family and friends can’t satisfy us. Success can’t satisfy us. All the things we strive to achieve or to own or to experience in this life can’t satisfy us. We might be able to enjoy those things for a time, but we were made for something infinitely better than those things, because we were made to know God and his goodness and to find joy and satisfaction in him.

The only one who can satisfy us and the one we’re to love above all other things is God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. And the way to know God in this life and the way to come into his presence in the life to come, where we’ll be perfectly happy for ever, is by trusting in the Saviour, Jesus Christ.

And so, instead of putting off making a decision about him, you should act now if you haven’t done so already. Trusting in Christ who died to pay for your sins, you should ask God to forgive you for all that you’ve done wrong in your life. And you should ask God to enable you to put him first in your life and to put all other things in their proper place below him. And you should ask God to bring you into his presence one day to worship him for ever, which is what God made you to do.

And here’s the thing. Once we have that as our prize, once we’re longing for eternal life in the presence of God, then we can put up with all the troubles and trials of this life. That’s why Paul was able to put up with all the troubles and trials in his life. He could put up with them all, because he knew God and because he knew that one day he will be raised from the dead to live with God for ever in body and soul. And Paul knew that the joy he’ll experience there, in the presence of God, will far outweigh all of the troubles he experienced in Jerusalem and in Caesarea and in Rome and wherever else he went. We can put up with all of these things, because we know God and because we know his abounding goodness. And one day we’ll be with him for ever.