24:1The accusers arrived: Ananias, the high priest; Tertultus, the lawyer; and several Jewish leaders. They traveled 60 miles IRADDICONMAACNIT [OC nmww???FR...2—.—-——— to Caesarea, the Roman center of government, to bring their false accusations against Paul. Their murder plot had failed (23:12-15) but they persisted in trying to kill him. This attempt at murder was both premeditated and persistent.
Life Application Study BibleActsChapter 24
Acts 24
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 1880, 1881
A few verse numbers on this page were hard to read in the scan and are marked with a dotted underline — compare with the original page image if in doubt.
24Acts 24
Paul Appears before Felix
12 Five days later Ananias, the high priest, arrived with:some of the Jewish elders and 4 the lawyer* Tertullus, to present their case against Paul to the governor. 2When Paul was Called in, Tertullus presented the charges against Paul in the following address to the governor: “Your Excellency, you have provided a long period of peace for us Jews and with foresight have enacted reforms for us. 3For all of this we are very grateful to you. *But I don’t want to bore you, so please give me your attention for only a moment. 5We have found this man to be a troublemaker who is constantly stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world. He is aringleader of the cult known as the Nazarenes. Furthermore, he was trying to desecrate the Temple when we arrested him.* 6You can find out the truth of our accusations by examining him yourself.” 9Then the other Jews chimed in, declaring that everything Tertullus said was true. 10The governor then motioned for Paul to speak. Paul said, 11I know, sir, that you have been a judge of Jewish affairs for many years, so I gladly present my defense before you. 1You can quickly discover that I arrived in Jerusalem no more than twelve days ago to worship at the Temple. 12My accusers never found me arguing with anyone in the Temple, nor stirring up a riot in any synagogue or on the streets of the city. 1s These men cannot prove the things they accuse me of doing. 14"But I admit that I follow the Way, which they call a cult. I worship the God of our ancestors, and I firmly believe the Jewish law and everything written in the prophets. 15I have the same hope in God that these men have, that he will raise both the righteous and the unrighteous. 16Because of this, I always try to maintain a clear conscience before God and all people. 17“After several years away, I returned to Jerusalem with money to aid my people and to offer sacrifices to God. 18My accusers saw me in the Temple as I was completing a purification ceremony. There was no crowd around me and no rioting. 19But some Jews from the province of Asia were there—and they ought to be here to bring charges if they have anything against me! 20Ask these men here what crime the Jewish high council* found me guilty of, ‘except for the one time I shouted out, ‘I am on trial before you today because I believe in the resurrection of the dead!’” a 22At that point Felix, who was quite familiar with the Way, adjourned the hearing and said,“ Wait until Lysias, the garrison commander, arrives. Then I will decide the case.” 23He ordered an officer* to keep Paul in custody but to give him some freedom and allow his friends to visit him and take care of his needs. 24A few days later Felix came back with his wife, Drusilla, who was Jewish. Sending for Paul, they listened as he told them about faith in Christ Jesus. 25As he reasoned with them about righteousness and self-control and the coming day of judgment, Felix became frightened. “Go away for now,” he replied. “When it is more convenient, I'll call for you again.” 26He also hoped that Paul would bribe him, so he sent for him quite often and talked with him. 27After two years went by in this way, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. And because Felix wanted to gain favor with the Jewish people, he left Paul in prison.
Textual footnotes
- have judged him by our law, ’but Lysias, the commander of the garrison, came and violently took him away from us,
- 8commanding his accusers to come before you.
- 24:1 Greek some elders and an orator.
- 24:6 Some manuscripts add We would
- 24:20 Greek Sanhedrin.
- 24:23 Greek a centurion.
- 24:29 Greek Trophimus, the Ephesian.
Life Application Notes 8 notes
24:2ffTertullus was a special orator called to present the religious leaders’ case before the Roman governor. He made three accusations against Paul: (1) He was a troublemaker, stirring up riots among the Jews around the world; (2) he was the ringleader of an unrecognized religious cult, which was against Roman jaw; (3) he had tried to desecrate the Temple. The religious leaders hoped that these accusations would persuade Felix to execute Paul in order to keep the peace in Palestine.
24:5While the charge that Paul was a troublemaker was insulting to Paul, it was too vague to be a substantive legal charge. “The Nazarenes” refers to the Christians—named here after Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth.
24:10ffTertullus and the religious leaders seemed to have a strong argument against Paul, but Paul refuted their accusations point by point. Paul was also able to present the Good News through his defense. Paul’s accusers were unable to present specific evidence to support their general accusations. For example, Paul was accused of starting trouble among the Jews in the province of Asia (24:18, 19), but the Jews in the province of Asia (western Turkey) were not present to confirm this. This is another example of Paul using every opportunity to witness for Christ (see 24:14, 24).
24:22Felix had been governor for six years and would have known about the Christians (“the Way”), a topic of conversation among the Roman leaders. The Christians’ peaceful life-styles had already proven to the Romans that Christians didn't go around starting riots.
24:25Paul's talk with Felix became so personal that Felix grew frightened. Felix, like Herod Antipas (Mark 6:17, 18), had taken another man’s wife. Paul’s words were interesting until they focused on “righteousness and self-control and the coming day of judgment.” Many people will be glad to discuss the Good News with you as long as it doesn’t touch their lives too personality. When it does, some will resist or run. But this is what the Good News is all about—God’s power to change lives. The Good News is not effective until it moves from principles and doctrine into a life-changing dynamic. When someone resists or runs from your witness, you have undoubtedly succeeded in making the Good News personal.
24:27The Jews were in the majority, and the Roman political leaders wanted to defer to them to help keep the peace. Paul Seemed to incite problems among the Jews everywhere he went. By keeping him in prison, Felix left office on good terms with the Jews. Felix lost his job as governor and was called back to Rome. Porcius Festus took over as governor in late 59 or early 60. He was more just than Felix, who had kept Paul in prison for two years, in hopes that perhaps Pau! would bribe him and that, by detaining Paul, the Jews would be kept happy. When Festus came into office, he immediately ordered Paul’s trial to resume.
24:27Though God had promised that Paul would preach the gospel in Rome (23:11), the great apostle had to endure more than two years of Felix’s refusal to decide his fate. In addition to this custody, Paul was subjected to other tong stretches of time during which he could do little but trust God and wait for him to act. What do you do when it comes to the issue of waiting on God? Do you become anxious? angry? discouraged? Few things test our patience and faith like being forced to wait—which perhaps explains why our sovereign God often puts us in situations where we have no other choice.