HELD CAPTIVE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then Felix, who was well acquainted with the Way, adjourned the proceedings. “When Lysias the commander comes,” he said, “I will decide your case.” He ordered the centurion to keep Paul under guard but to give him some freedom and permit his friends to take care of his needs.

Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus. As Paul talked about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, “That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.”

At the same time he was hoping that Paul would offer him a bribe, so he sent for him frequently and talked with him.

When two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, but because Felix wanted to grant a favor to the Jews, he left Paul in prison.

Acts 24:22-27

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The trial had ended.

The Sanhedrin had made their accusations against Paul and he in turn rendered a defense of himself.

The verdict was in the hands of the Roman governor Felix as he adjourned the proceedings.

Did he make a decision immediately?

Not exactly.

In fact, as we see in the final verses of Acts 24, Felix didn’t make a decision at all. Instead, he held Paul captive in a form of biblical house arrest until a new governor, Porcius Festus, took over. We read where Paul was permitted “some freedom” and his friends were allowed “to take care of his needs.”

So why did this happen? Why did Felix hold Paul as a political prisoner for two whole years?

Well, as they say, it’s complicated. For as I see it, Felix found himself in a tough place and his actions portrayed split loyalties. Let me explain.

First, the scriptures tell us that the Roman governor was “well acquainted with the Way” which simply meant, he knew about the Gospel of Jesus Christ that Paul was preaching.

How would Felix know about this?

Go back to Acts, chapter 10. There you’ll remember how Peter was summoned from Joppa by a Roman centurion named Cornelius, a Gentile asking for a Jew to pay him a visit. You’ll remember that Peter has a vision just before Cornelius’ men arrived in Joppa which provided him the assurance that it was okay to proceed to meet with Cornelius because Peter had no right to view anything as unclean that God had deemed clean.

And so Peter went to the home of the Roman centurion and where was that located?

In Caesarea, the same place where Felix resided.

And so, Felix was no doubt aware of all that happened during Peter’s visit as he introduced Cornelius, as well as his family and friends, to “the Way” of salvation through Jesus. But note that Felix wanted to hear more about “the Way” for himself and so he sent for Paul and allowed him to speak about his “faith in Christ”. In company with Felix was his wife, Drusilla, and we learn something very important about her when the scriptures tell us she was Jewish. In other words, the governor’s wife would have been sympathetic toward the cause of the Sanhedrin and prone to influencing her husband to hold Paul up from his Gospel work.

This is one of the conflicting issues I felt Felix was dealing with. Another was his own sense of guilt over the way he had lived his own life. For as Paul discussed righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, we find the Roman governor convicted and confronted by his transgressions, so much so that he became afraid and cut Paul off saying:

“That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.”

Rather than change his ways and opt to live in accordance with Jesus’ way to avoid God’s judgment, Felix decided to just bury his head in the sand and carry on but he did hold out hope that maybe Paul would be willing to pay for his release through a bribe and so he continued to send for Paul frequently to talk and as we know, this went on for two years.

So would Felix finally cave in and surrender himself to Jesus?

The scriptures indicate that he didn’t. For we read where Felix just left Paul in prison until his term as governor had expired and he did so “to grant a favor to the Jews”, an action probably prompted by his wife Drusilla.

What would happen next?

Well, we know that God had told Paul that soon he would testify in Rome so we’ll want to be aware of this as we see things play out over the final chapters of Acts, starting with Acts 25 tomorrow. I hope you’ll come back and join me as we see how Paul’s Gospel efforts conclude.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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