Acts 24:22-27--Paul Kept in Custody

Acts 24:22-27
English Standard Version

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.

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Felix had promised a hearing, but when he heard the arguments from both the Sanhedrin and Paul he realized that he was in a no-win situation here.  He could not execute Paul, who was a Roman citizen, without due process, which is what the Jews wanted.  He also realized that the Jews would riot, likely to the point of his being recalled by Rome and either executed or put in a position where he would be asked to commit suicide because of the shame he brought on the empire and his position.  So, Felix is going to take the easy way out and make a decision to not make a decision and just keep Paul in prison indefinitely.  Luke does give us some interesting additional details though.

First, Luke tells us that Felix had accurate knowledge of the Way (he knew the differences between Judaism and Christianity and knew that "the Way" was not just a sect of Judaism as many claimed).  We also find out that his wife, Drusilla was Jewish, so this likely influenced both his interest in this case as well as his willingness to make a ruling against the Jews in this case for it wouldn't just create political problems for him, but probably also would cause friction in his marriage.

Felix could not let Paul go, so he ordered him to be kept in custody, but with much liberty given to him so that his friends could come and visit him and attend to his needs.  We'll see in some of the epistles that Paul will ask for clothing and scrolls to be brought to him, or that certain companions come to visit him, and other times he sends other companions as messengers and envoys in his place since he can no longer move about freely.

Felix did ask for an audience with Paul so that Paul could tell him more about faith in Christ Jesus.  Paul knew what part of the gospel Felix needed to hear, and he told him about how God's Law requires righteousness and self-control (apparently these were missing in Felix and Paul knew it) and that Jesus Himself would one day be the Judge of the living and the dead.  At this point, Felix stopped the conversation and wanted to hear no more, for he was scared to hear a message of judgment that was coming upon him because he had lived in rebellion to the righteousness and self-control required by God.  All of us have.  Only Jesus was able to live the perfect life that fully met these requirements so that our unrighteousness could be imputed to Him and His righteousness could be imputed to us, and we receive the Holy Spirit so that we are being conformed to the image of Christ, we are equipped for every good work that God has prepared for us in Christ Jesus, and as the Spirit lives in and through us, the fruits of the Spirit (one of which is self-control) are made manifest.  In this way people should see Christ when they see us (see Galatians 2:20).

Felix acted like he was too busy to hear any more at this time, and sent Paul away, yet he called him back often to hear a little more, but he was secretly hoping whenever he called Paul back that Paul might given him some kind of bribe to make a decision in Paul's favor.  Paul was not going to do that though, as Jesus had already told him that he would stand before governors and kings to share the gospel with these men that no one else would have access to, Paul just didn't know at that time that it would mean he would be arrested and stand trial and be in prison so that he would have access to these important men that needed to hear the gospel.  We get the feeling that Felix understood the message and rejected it in order to save his political career, to keep his wife happy, and to continue to live in the life of sin that he loved much more than he loved God.  Even though he had great knowledge of the Way, that knowledge was not enough to transform him or save him.  Christianity is not about knowing the facts, it's about being born again though the power of the gospel (see John 3 for example).

Eventually, Felix decided that he would just let Paul stay in custody until Felix retired or was replaced which was two years after the initial hearing where Paul was told to just wait until Felix could hear from the tribune.  Felix decided to let Porcius Festus deal with Paul once he took control, but Felix left Paul in prison this whole time hoping to keep the Jews happy (one of which was Felix's wife).  This is just the beginning of Paul's trials.  His case will now have to be heard again by Festus (which we'll see next time) and when Festus attempts to send Paul's case back down to Jerusalem to be tried by the Sanhedrin on charges that he knew were bogus, Paul uses his Roman citizenship to say that he cannot be turned over to the Jews when Festus knows he did nothing illegal and that he would appeal to Caesar (his right as a Roman citizen) if necessary to keep his case in the Roman court system.  Eventually, that is where we will end up, but it will take some time and process to get from these lower courts to the highest court of the Roman Empire.