Acts 24 - Paul's Imprisonment in Caesarea

I got overwhelmed yesterday by something that, in hindsight, was super trivial.  Because of this, I felt myself quickly slipping into that negative mind space that I am so used to. I decided that I could not continue with my day until I got into the Word and let God speak to me through it. I specifically asked God for Him to present me with a passage that He felt I needed to hear. 

So, let’s grab a cup of coffee, jump into the Word, and talk to Jesus. I had a random generator choose a book and chapter of the Bible for me to dive into this morning. Today, it landed on Acts 24. I decided to choose 3 verses that I wanted to decipher further, and then discussed my takeaways with the Lord. Before I share my takeaways, I would love if you would join me in reading Acts 24. Go read Acts 24; choose 3 verses, and then meet back here!

Before we get into the 3 verses that I chose for today, let me give you just a little backstory on this chapter in case you are unfamiliar. Luke is the author of Acts, and in this specific chapter Luke is telling of Paul’s current imprisonment in Caesarea. Due to his imprisonment, Paul received formal hearings from the governor as well as the king. Here in this chapter, we see Paul being taken to Jerusalem and presented before Governor Felix for a potential trial.  Now that we have just a little bit of a backstory, let’s move on to the 3 verses the Lord placed on my heart today.  

Acts 24:13 “Neither can they prove to you what they now bring up against me.” This verse is Paul denying the charges that were brought against him. These charges included claims of stirring up riots, Paul being a Christian ringleader, and of him profaning the temple. Paul will then explain in the following verse that he is in fact a Jew, and he believes in the hope and promises of God. He has seen all the promises that God has fulfilled for Israel. The only “crime” that you could say Paul committed was believing and preaching about the resurrection. I like verse 13, but it was really just setting up verse 14 for me. Let’s move on to the next verse. 

Acts 24:14 “But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets.”  To reiterate, here Paul is further explaining that he is innocent. He attempted to show that he was a faithful Jew who accepts the Laws and the Prophets, and now the only difference is that he is showing and sharing the hope of the resurrection. This is such an inspiring passage to read about as a whole. It did not matter what they did to Paul, he would not back down. He stuck by the truth and stuck my Christ no matter what it may cost him. Paul is only human, but he serves as an incredible reminder of how we should model our faith. What peace there is to be found in God's presence. Let’s move on to the third and final verse.

Acts 24:25, “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. ” I don’t know about you, but when someone disapproves of something that I am doing or if someone calls me out on something that I am doing that is not correct or biblical, my gut/first reaction is either to get really defensive and emotional or to completely shut down and hide. Which is exactly what we see Felix do here. He totally shuts down. Paul did not go out of his way to flatter Felix the way that we saw Tertullus do in the beginning of the chapter. Instead, Paul proclaims the gospel boldly and fearlessly. Even despite the fact that Felix could kill him. He simply did not care. He just wanted to speak the truth of the gospel. Felix seems to recognize Paul’s innocence, but instead of repenting, he completely dismisses Paul. It appears through the text that he is more concerned with pleasing the Romans than he was administering true justice. Ultimately, this chapter ends with Felix deciding to leave Paul in prison for another 2 years. 

As we wrap up this chapter, it has me thinking about the beginning of Paul’s ministry. It is so wild for me to think about the fact that he was literally persecuting Christians for having a specific belief. And now, he has the exact same belief he was persecuting others for. Paul was literally persecuting Christians and now he is willing to be persecuted. What a remarkable story of faithfulness and redemption.