A Study of Acts: Paul’s Accusers Arrive in Caesarea
Acts 24:1-9 - Avoid flattery and avoid people who practice flattery. Also, the truth does not always win out in a court of law.
“After five days the high priest Ananias came down with some elders, with an attorney named Tertullus, and they brought charges to the governor against Paul. After Paul had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying to the governor, “Since we have through you attained much peace, and since by your providence reforms are being carried out for this nation, we acknowledge this in every way and everywhere, most excellent Felix, with all thankfulness. But, that I may not weary you any further, I beg you to grant us, by your kindness, a brief hearing. For we have found this man a real pest and a fellow who stirs up dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. And he even tried to desecrate the temple; and then we arrested him. [We wanted to judge him according to our own Law. But Lysias the commander came along, and with much violence took him out of our hands, ordering his accusers to come before you.] By examining him yourself concerning all these matters you will be able to ascertain the things of which we accuse him.” The Jews also joined in the attack, asserting that these things were so.”
Acts 24:1-9 NASB1995
We are now in Acts Chapter 24! I have learned so much doing this in-depth study of Acts (and I hope my readers have learned, too); it’s hard to believe that we are getting closer to the end of this priceless history of the early Christian church.
Obviously, Ananias and the elders desperately want Paul convicted as they hurriedly make the journey from Jerusalem to Caesarea and bring an attorney with them! According to some of the commentary I read, this lawyer Tertullus may have actually been a Roman or perhaps a Hellenistic Jew who knew Roman law. The proceedings were likely conducted in Latin, which Paul probably understood. Paul was then summoned to appear before Felix and hear the charges against him.
Tertullus starts out, in my humble opinion, with a very smarmy and hypocritically flattering address to Felix, telling him how wonderful he has been as a governor and how they have to thank him for the “peace” and “reforms” that have come under his rule. I really like what Enduring Word says about this introductory speech:
Most noble Felix: Antonius Felix began life as a slave. His brother Pallas was a friend of the emperor Claudius; through such influence, he rose in status – first as a child gaining freedom, and then through intrigue he became the first former slave to become a governor of a Roman province.
But his slave mentality stayed with him. Tacitus, the Roman historian, described Felix as “a master of cruelty and lust who exercised the powers of a king with the spirit of a slave” (Historiae5.9, cited in [Richard] Longnecker).
“The picture drawn by Tacitus of Felix’s public and private life is not a pretty one. Trading on the influences of his infamous brother [Pallas, a favorite of the emperor Claudius], he indulged in every license and excess, thinking ‘that he could do any evil act with impunity’ (Tacitus, Annals12.54).” (David Williams)
Seeing that through you we enjoy great peace, and prosperity is being brought to this nation by your foresight: These were lies presented as flattery. Felix did not bring peace or prosperity to those he governed.
“In reality he [Felix] had put down several insurrections with such barbarous brutality that he earned for himself the horror, not the thanks, of the Jewish population.” (John Stott) In particular, he ordered a massacre of thousands of Jews in Caesarea, with many more Jewish homes looted by the Roman soldiers.
Flattery is an often-neglected sin, one that the Bible speaks about more often than one might think. Romans 16:18 speaks to us of those who do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple. Jude 1:16 speaks of those who mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage.
Four different times the Book of Proverbs connects flattery with the sin of sexual immorality. Many people have been seduced into immorality through simple flattery.
Proverbs 20:19 says, He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets; therefore do not associate with one who flatters with his lips. This means that we aren’t to make flatterers our close friends.
Psalm 78:36 says we can even flatter God: Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth, and they lied to Him with their tongue. When you give God insincere praise, it is flattery, and God doesn’t want it.
“I suppose that even Felix was shrewd enough to have listened with tongue in cheek. What is it that these Jewish leaders are after that they should come all the way from Caesarea and flatter me in this fashion? he must have wondered.” (James Montgomery Boice)
As the old saying goes, flattery will get you nowhere. Believers are to avoid making a flatterer a close friend, according to Proverbs 20.19. Occasional compliments are fine, but should be accepted with total humility.
Felix was a mass murderer and tyrant and his reforms consisted of corruption and persecution. Tertullus is trying to set the tone that he and Ananias and the elders are the “good guys” who kowtow to the Romans. I think even Felix probably sees through this false flattery and is wondering why they are there.
Paul is obviously the troublemaker and Tertullus now proceeds to make this case against Paul. First they have found Paul to be a real pest. I find the use of this word in the NASB1995 to be interesting (and, admittedly, somewhat amusing). Let’s do a word study! Pest comes from the Greek noun λοιμός or loimós, with the following Biblical usages:
pestilence
a pestilent fellow, pest, plague
Some translations use the word “plague”. This was one of the basest accusations that can be made against another in that time. I would hope that believers are “pests” for their faith!
Second, Paul has stirred up dissension among “all Jews throughout the world”. This speaks to the effectiveness of Paul’s missionary journeys, but is being used against Paul to indict him of violating the “Pax Romana”. It is true that there have been riots and adverse reactions to his preaching in many places. Warren Wiersbe is quoted in Precept Austin describing the seriousness of this political charge:
The political charge was much more serious, because no Roman official wanted to be guilty of permitting illegal activities that would upset the “Pax Romana” (Roman Peace). Rome had given the Jews freedom to practice their religion, but the Roman officials kept their eyes on them lest they use their privileges to weaken the Empire. When Tertullus called Paul “an instigator of insurrections among all the Jews throughout the Roman Empire”, he immediately got the attention of the governor. Of course, his statement was an exaggeration, but how many court cases have been won by somebody stretching the truth? Tertullus knew that there was some basis for this charge because Paul had preached to the Jews that Jesus Christ was their King and Lord.
To the Romans and the unbelieving Jews, this message sounded like treason against Caesar (Acts 16:20–21; 17:5–9). Furthermore, it was illegal to establish a new religion in Rome without the approval of the authorities. If Paul indeed was a “ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes,” then his enemies could easily build a case against him. At that time, the Christian faith was still identified with the Jews, and they were permitted by the Romans to practice their religion. There had been Gentile seekers and God-fearers in the synagogues, so the presence of Gentiles in the churches did not create legal problems. Later, when the number of Gentile believers increased and more of the congregations separated from the Jewish synagogues, then Rome saw the difference between Jews and Christians and trouble began. Rome did not want a rival religion thriving in the Empire and creating problems.
Third, Paul is described as a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. This is a way of denigrating the Christians by not naming them as followers of the Way or by the new name of Christians, but by identifying them with the blighted and lowly town of Nazareth. Calling them a sect is like calling them a cult.
Finally, Tertullus says that Paul tried to desecrate the temple. This is the charge that is the most egregious as far as Ananias and the elders are concerned, but it has no basis in fact. Here is a good description of this charge from John MacArthur as quoted on Precept Austin:
The third accusation appears in verse 6, and this really was the thing that got them going in the first place, although it was a lie. It says in verse 6, “Who also has gone about to profane the temple.” Now, the temple to the Jews was a very sacred thing, and the laws of the temple were very binding. There was an outer court, and the outer court was a court where the Gentiles could come. But Gentiles could not go past the barricade into the inner part of the temple. In fact, there were signs posted there disallowing them to go in. We have even found archaeological remnants of those signs; so much so, that we even know exactly what they said – from Herod’s temple. But the signs were there that if a Gentile went into the inner part, he would pay with his life.
Now, that was such a serious violation of Jewish law that the Romans allowed the Jews to have the right of capital punishment for that offense, and that offense only. That’s why I just said the Jews had to get the Romans to crucify Christ. In any other area, a violation of their law, they had no right to take the life – except in the violation of the sacredness of the temple because that was such a high priority. Rome gave them the right to take the life of one who violated that. Now, when Paul was in the temple, these people from Asia Minor – these Jews from Asia Minor who saw him there – accused him of bringing a Gentile in there. He hadn’t done that; they accused him of it, and they were going to kill Paul. Well, as I told you, that was ridiculous. If the Gentile came in there, the Gentile was the one killed, not Paul. The law said, “A Gentile who enters gets killed,” not the one who brings him in. So, they were twisting the whole thing. (Paul's Trial Before Felix - Part 1)
There is a passage in brackets in this section of Acts 24:1-9 that was probably added later after Luke wrote Acts. Tertullus insults Lysias the commander by saying that he took Paul away from the elders with “much violence”. In other words, Lysias saved Paul from being torn apart by the mob and now they are forced to make a case to Felix the governor to try and convict Paul because they weren’t successful in murdering him.
Ananias and the group of elders assert that Tertullus has spoken the “truth”. Felix now turns to Paul to hear his defense, which will be in my next devotional, when I examine Acts 24:10-23.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - Please keep me from being a person who resorts to flattery to impress others. Make me an “pest” for spreading Your word to others. Also keep me strong in the event of a trial of my belief, knowing that the truth is not always found or understood. Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org.
Commentary from Enduring Word by David Guzik is used with written permission.
The Blue Letter Bible was accessed on 1/20/2025 to review the lexicon for pest.
Precept Austin was accessed on 1/20/2025 to review commentary for Acts 24:1-9.