Acts 24:10-21 - Paul’s response to his accusers

When Turtellus had stopped his presentation, Felix signaled to Paul to start his defense. Paul had no prior knowledge regarding the charges against him might have been. So he did not prepare beforehand. Unlike the Sanhedrin who had a group of people, including an attorney, to deal with the accusations, Paul only had himself for his own defense. But he had the assurance of Acts 23:1, “Take courage; for as you have solemnly witnessed to My cause at Jerusalem, so you must witness at Rome also.”

 

Paul made his defense matter-of-factly. There was no rhetorical flattery. He merely told Felix that he was glad to make his defense before him because he knew he had many years of experience governing this nation. Paul stated assuredly that he was confident that through him he would have a fair trial. So without hesitation he went head on to deal with the accusations.

In his opening defense, the 12 days he mentioned present a problem. He seemed to have miscalculated. But what Paul probably meant was this: only 12 days had lapsed when he first left Caesarea to go to Jerusalem, and there he got arrested and sent back to Caesarea again. He had omitted the five days he spent in the prison in Caesarea while awaiting his trial.  During that duration, he insisted, he was not involved in any public dispute whether in the temple, synagogue or the city. Wanting to make his point very clear to Felix, Paul dared anyone to prove that he had created trouble for anyone. Clearly, his purpose going to Jerusalem was to worship.

 

However, Paul owned up that he was a follower of the Way, which Tertullus referred to as the Nazarene sect. What he believed in, Paul insisted, was in line with the Law and the Prophets, meaning the Old Testament Scriptures. He boldly declared that like many among them, he shared the same hope in the God of the resurrection, who would raise both the righteous and the wicked. Among the Sanhedrin were two groups of people – the Pharisees and the Sadducees. And since the Sadducees denied the belief of the resurrection, they were the ones who were heretical and not Paul. This, he could be suggesting subtly. 
 

In his defense, Paul stuck to the claim that he had always gone all-out to keep a clear conscience before God as well as men. And with that assertion, he turned to answer the third charge that he had desecrated the temple. His purpose for coming to Jerusalem after many years, he said, was to bring the gift to the poor and to make an offering. This gift was a collection from the churches made during his third missionary journey.
 

He maintained that when they found him in the temple he was ceremonially cleaned. Furthermore, there was no crowd in there. Neither was he involved in any disturbance. However, there were some Jews from the province of Asia there. They were the ones who had concocted the charges. Hence, they should be present before Felix to present their charges. His implication was that since they were not present to make their case, there was absolutely no basis for the charge.
 

Paul further challenged the delegates to make clear the crime they found in him when he stood before the Sanhedrin. His point was this: those who brought the charges before Felix were not even present in the temple that day in question. Therefore, their testimony at best would be hear-say. The only thing they could bring up against Paul was when at the Sanhedrin council session he shouted, “For the resurrection of the dead I am on trial before you today.” His purpose here was to show that even among the Sanhedrin, the bone of contention was about the resurrection. Since among them, they could not see eye-to-eye in this doctrine as well, than how could they prove that the doctrine was wrong. And how could they be so sure that he was a trouble maker just because he believed in that doctrine?
 

Even though Paul’s belief was in-line with Scriptures, he was persecuted. Why? It’s all because of his commitment to the Lord. No wonder he could withstand the pressure and refused to compromise. Like him, let’s just be committed to Christ, stay our course and be steadfast in the Lord. One sure thing to remember, a clear conscience before the Lord is our basis for confidence in the face of opposition, big or small.