The Background of Paul before Felix
Here we find Paul in Caesarea standing before Felix the governor. Paul recently completed his third missionary journey and now he is beginning his Jerusalem to Rome ministry. Right before he went to Jerusalem, he stopped in Caesarea to visit Philip the evangelist. That could have been the first time Paul had seen Philip in Twenty-five years. Philip had fled Jerusalem and preached in Samaria, because Paul was going to drag him off to Prison for being a follower of Jesus. Maybe Paul saw Philip 4 years previous when he stopped in Caesarea at the end of his second Journey (Acts 18:22). Probably Philip had a significant role in taking care of Paul during his two years in prison at Caesarea when it was up to his friends to take care of him (Acts 24:23).
A chain of events were set in motion as soon as Paul arrived in Jerusalem and met with the church leaders to share about what God had done amongst the gentiles. James and the leaders praised God for what He had done through Paul among the gentiles, but there was a caution. Thousands of Jews had become Christians in Jerusalem (Acts 21:20) and they were zealous for the law, meaning they were not happy about Paul reaching the gentiles.
To calm down these zealous Jewish Christians Paul was to join with four men who were part of a purification and Paul would pay their expenses. Paul was in the Temple paying for these purification rites when the Jews saw him there, wrongly accused him of bringing Greeks into the temple. There was such an uproar against Paul that unless the soldiers brought him into the barracks he would have been killed by the angry mob.
The next day the soldiers arranged for Paul to be before the Sanhedrin. Again, the soldiers had to bring Paul into the barracks so he would not be torn to pieces. The Lord stood before Paul to tell him he must testify in Rome as he did in Jerusalem. Then a plot was formed by forty Jews to kill Paul when he left the barracks. The plot was found out and Paul was escorted to Caesarea under heavy guard. Five days later the High Priest, Ananias went to Caesarea with elders and a lawyer to bring their charges against Paul.
At this Governor Felix motioned for Paul to speak.
Paul’s message before Felix
Paul gave his message which was a defense to the charges brought by the High Priest and his elders.
There were four charges against Paul:
He was a troublemaker.
He started riots among Jews around the world.
He was a leader among the Nazarene sect.
He tried to desecrate the Temple.
Paul began by acknowledging Felix and his years of service as governor. Paul explains that he had arrived to Jerusalem twelve days prior. He tells them of all that had transpired for him to be on trial. Paul also tells them that he was in Jerusalem bringing an offering collected in Macedonia for the poor among his people.
Paul is clear about what part of the accusations are true. Paul is a follower of God through “the way” as a follower Jesus Christ. He also holds to the law and the prophets and holds to the resurrection of the dead.
Paul was also clear about what were false accusations. He did not go to the Temple to cause a disturbance and he was ceremonially clean when he went to the Temple. Paul did mention that if they had anything against him it was that he said he was on trial for the resurrection before the Sanhedrin, since some believed in the resurrection and some did not.
That was the end of the trial. Nothing would be decided that day. In fact, Felix finished his term as governor two years later and still had not made a decision on this case. We also are told that Paul spoke regularly for two years to Felix about faith in Jesus Christ. Paul talked about righteousness, self-control and the judgement to come.
The results of Paul before Felix
One result of Paul’s preaching to Felix and at least once also to his wife Drusilla was that hearing Paul talk about faith in Christ actually frightened Felix.
There were a couple of factors of why Felix would keep Paul imprisoned for two years. It was granting the Jews a favor to keep Paul in prison. Another factor was that Felix was hoping to receive a bribe to release Paul from prison. Basically every day the Jewish leaders were waiting to kill Paul as soon as they had any chance (Acts 25:3)
conclusion
We see that Paul is faithful to Jesus Christ in whatever his circumstance. He faced numerous attempts on his life. He was on trial and struck in the face. In all these hardships Paul remained steadfast and whenever he had the chance, he shared the gospel with Governor Felix.
Paul’s messages before Felix. His steadfastness in the Caesarea prison are a challenge to us to persevere and remain faithful at all times. Paul was ready to serve Christ till his last breath. Our Lord Jesus has saved us no less that he saved Paul on the Damascus road. Our response to faithfully persevere and speak of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ should be no less.
