The Judge Facing Judgment (Part 1 of 2)

When religious leaders filed fake charges against the apostle Paul, the case was brought before the Roman governor Felix, and normally in a court of law, the defendant awaits the judge's decision. But as we'll hear today on Truth for Life, Paul cleverly turned the tables on his accusers. Alistair Begg walks us through the charges against Paul and his unique defense. We're going to read from Acts chapter 24—part of Acts chapter 24. Five days later, the high priest Ananias went down to Caesarea with some of the elders and a lawyer named Tertullus, and they brought their charges against Paul before the governor.

When Paul was called in, Tertullus presented his case before Felix. We have enjoyed a long period of peace under you and your foresight has brought about reforms in this nation. Everywhere and in every way most excellent Felix, we acknowledge this with profound gratitude.

But in order not to weary you further, I would request that you would be kind enough to hear us briefly. We have found this man to be a troublemaker, stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the Nazarene sect and even tried to desecrate the temple, so we seized him.

By examining him yourself, you will be able to learn the truth about all these charges we are bringing against him. The Jews joined in the accusation, asserting that these things were true. When the governor motioned for him to speak, Paul replied. And there then follows Paul's defense in response to the charges brought against him. The adjournment comes in verse 22, and we read from 22 to the end of the chapter. 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 a Jewess. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus. As Paul discoursed on 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. Amen. Now, for those of us who were brought up on Perry Mason and who are intrigued by the process of the law—some of you are employed in it—the sound of the individual's voice saying, All rise, this court is now in session, gets our juices going in anticipation of the drama that is about to unfold. I make no apology for the fact that I remain, after all these years, still completely fascinated by the process of law, particularly trial law. And when I was recently in Europe, I followed a man down the street clutching his gown and his wig as he headed for one of the courts, and I was sorely tempted to follow him all the way in to see just exactly what was happening.

The problem was, of course, I was in France, and it wouldn't have really made a tremendous amount of sense to me, apart from the physical drama of it all. But some of you, like me, will be interested in these things, and if you are, chapter 24 here is a wonderful chapter, insofar as we have something of the high drama of Paul defending himself before the prosecution that is brought by this individual. Now, you will recall from last time that Felix, upon receipt of the prisoner—namely, Paul—said that Paul should be kept in custody, and when his accusers arrived, then he would hear the case. Now Luke tells us that five days later, the accusers did arrive, the high priest Ananias, with some of the elders, and they obviously thought that it was important on this occasion to be well represented, and so they had employed the services of a trained and professional lawyer. His name was Tertullus, and when the case was called, he began.

You'll notice the phrase, verse 2, when Paul was called in. It's almost a technical phrase, in the same way as we have within the course of legal proceedings today. Someone will say, the case for X brought by the state of Virginia, whatever it might be, and they call the case, and then the individual stands in the dock, and the case proceeds. And it begins here with the prosecution counsel standing to his feet and presenting the charges. Now, it would seem that then, as now, the first order of business was to curry favor with the judge.

There's no advantage, clearly, in getting off on the wrong foot, but the way in which Tertullus goes about things here is actually quite nauseating. He employs a very technical beginning, what was known as a captatio benevolentiae, which may actually be used still today in legal terminology and probably pronounced far better than that. But nevertheless, how he began was standard procedure. And what he was doing was he was employing a device in order to capture any benevolent disposition that was represented in the judge who was hearing the case. His opening remarks—and, incidentally, what we have here is doubtless simply a summary of the case that was presented on both sides, in the same way as we have summaries of Paul's speeches and sermons rather than the complete package—but his opening remarks are long on flattery and short on honesty. And he begins, and I try to read it in this way, in fairly flowery language, We've enjoyed a long period of peace under you, Your foresight has brought about reforms in the nation and so on. It has all the marks of Polonius to the queen in Hamlet, whom you may recall was obsequious and verbose in the way he addressed his issues. Shakespeare writes his character in that way, perhaps even picking up on this kind of procedural approach. And you may recall Polonius's great statement as he wants to tell the queen that her son is crazy—namely, the prince Hamlet. And he begins, My liege and madam, to expostulate what duty is, why day is day, night night, and time is time, were nothing but to waste both night, day, and time. And since brevity is the soul of wit and tediousness, the limbs and outward flourishes, I will be brief.

And, of course, he proceeds to say, Your noble son is mad, mad call I it, for to define true madness, what is to be, but to be nothing else but mad. And eventually the queen tires of it, and she intervenes, and she says, More matter and less art. More matter and less art. Now, what you have here is a lot of art and very little matter. If you've ever had somebody come to your home to try and sell you something, and they waste a tremendous amount of time before they even open the box or open the package or whatever else it is, you have good reason to believe that the long introduction is to wear you down, because when they finally produce, the opportunity for purchase is not that great after all. And that's what actually happens here in the case that this individual is bringing.

He is guilty of the worst kind of flattery. Now, the reason we know this is because the Bible is not existing in some kind of vacuum. Remember that when you read the pages of the Acts of the Apostles, life was going on around the events that are recorded for us in the Bible, and the Roman and Jewish historians of the day were recording the unfolding drama of history. And they would make reference to those who were at the forefront of the historical development of the culture. And so, when we read of Felix, we find that what Tertullus says about him is very flattering, but it isn't true.

He says, you know, you have been the one who has presided over a long period of peace there in verse 2. But in actual fact, the historians tell us that Felix's tenure was actually marked by constant unrest, that he was forced, with frequency, to call on the imperial power of Rome to squash uprisings amongst the population. And the idea that he had this great foresight so as to be able to introduce these reforms for the nation just wasn't true either.

There's no record of beneficial reforms. In fact, he was recalled to Rome because of his oppressive rule. He was recalled to Rome because he was presiding over a framework that was almost in a constant state of civil disorder. Now, you see, when the prosecution counsel stands and addresses the judge in this way, he takes a great risk, doesn't he? Because if the judge does not respond to that flattery, the judge is sitting there saying, Get on with it, Tertullus. In his mind, at least, you and I both know that so far you haven't said anything. So far, it's all hot air.

So far, you're only blowing smoke. If, however, the judge likes that kind of flattery, then the prosecution counsel has gained at least a foothold as he begins his case. But I think his pompous oratory here is simply because he knows that he doesn't have much of a case at all.

But as any good trial attorney knows, you have to stand up and make the best of it. And so he does. And the charges are stated there in verse 5.

Essentially three—we could say two, we might say four, but let's just say three for now. Number one, we have found this man to be a troublemaker. You may have a version that describes him as a pestilent fellow. A pestilent fellow. In other words, he's just a royal pest. And pest comes from pestilent, and pestilent is part of pestilence, and pestilence is, you know, that dreadful viral activity that would run through a community. And if you came in contact with this pest, then you may share in his pestilence, because he is a pestilent fellow.

And that's what he's saying. He's just everywhere he goes, he's a catalyst for chaos, and he's causing trouble, and he's doing so all over the world. Verse 5. Whoa! All over the world!

Wow! said the judge to himself. That is quite an allegation. Second part of the charge is that he is a ringleader of a Nazarene sect. Now, who came from Nazareth? Jesus. Who was known as the Nazarene?

Jesus. And the Jewish people, for a period in time, referred to those who became the followers of Jesus as Nazarenes. And the inference in the prosecution case is that this is a sect, that this individual who stands charged before the judge is not mainstream, is not part of the historic Orthodox Judaism that these people who were paying Tertullus's way represented. And thirdly, we have to say, Felix, that he even attempted to desecrate the temple. And as a result of that, he was seized.

We seized him. Well, that is not exactly true either. The fact is, as a result of that, a few of my folks here nearly beat him to death, and if the Romans had not intervened, then we would have killed him. But that's not good for the prosecution case. That would be true, but it wouldn't be helpful. Not in trying to secure a verdict.

You've got to know when to hold them, when to fold them, when to walk away, and when to run. And that's exactly what Tertullus is doing here. Now, his close, you will notice, is not the strongest, verse 8. He is not able then to reach the conclusion and say, And therefore, Felix, O great and mighty judge, I ask you to prosecute him to the full extent of the law.

I ask you to deal with him accordingly. Now, he simply finishes by saying, verse 8, By examining him yourself, you will be able to learn the truth about all these charges we are bringing against him. Not exactly what you would call pushing for a conviction, is it? And perhaps the Jews who were present described there in verse 9 all nodded their heads vigorously and made sort of murmuring noises to one another, in order to bolster up the rather tawdry impact that has been made by this fellow that they've hired as the prosecution counsel.

And still the judge sits in the position of power and authority. His power and authority is such that without any melodrama, simply with a gesture or with a motion of his hand or with a raising of the eyebrow, he now calls for the defense to state their case. I've tried to point out to you in passing—some of you aren't remotely concerned about it, and it's not certainly something of huge significance—but I just am intrigued by the times that Luke identifies the fact that with just little motions and gestures, the drama unfolds.

The last time we noticed this was at the end of chapter 21, when Paul, remember, had been seized by the Romans. He was on the steps of the palace or the fortress of Antonio, and he said to the commander, he said, Do you think I could get a chance to speak to the people? And the commander says, Well, yeah, okay, if you want. And then Luke tells us, and he motioned to the crowd. You remember on that occasion, we say, Well, I wonder what he did.

You know, did he go, Hey, wait a minute, or what did he do? And again, we have it here, this very same eyewitness kind of notion here, when the governor motioned for him to speak. You see, the judge is a very powerful person. The judge reigns supreme in his or her courtroom.

The judge is able to have people thrown out. Everyone stands when the judge arrives. Remember Laffin?

Goldie Hawn? Those of you who are a hundred years old? He comes, the judge. He comes, the judge. And when the judge comes, everyone stands. When the judge leaves, everyone stands. When the judge says, Be quiet!

Everyone has to be quiet. And when the judge gestures, the defense counsel begins. Now, Paul had had a legal training. He didn't need anyone to represent him. Now he has the opportunity to represent himself as he does elsewhere. His opening statement is respectful but not obsequious.

It's respectful and it's neutral. You will see it there in verse 10. I know that for a number of years you've been a judge over this nation, and so I gladly make my defense. In other words, I'm glad that I come before you as the judge, because you have experience, and it's always good to come before an experienced judge. That's good.

That's a good start, I think you would agree. Now he says, You also, judge, will be able, verse 11, to verify the fact that no more than twelve days ago I was up in Jerusalem worshiping. So that's not in question. Nobody's here to argue whether I was there. You know, were you at the scene of the supposed crime?

Let's just be clear. It's verifiable information. Yes, I was at the scene of the apparent crime. He says, But as far as the charges are concerned, then I need to tell you this. Number one—and what he really does is he works his way through the charges, not by saying, Charge number one, charge number two, but you will notice the development of his argument tackles the things that have been suggested.

Number one, that he was a troublemaker. Verse 12, My accusers did not find me arguing with anyone at the temple or stirring up a crowd in the synagogues or anywhere else in the city. In other words, there is no basis for charge number one. Now let me go to charge number two, he says.

Verse 14. Now, what is charge number two? Charge number two is that he's not mainstream, that he's the ringleader of a sect—namely, the sect of the Nazarenes. Now, what he does here is very skillful.

You will notice his opening gambit, However I admit. Now, what is Paul doing here? Well, he is confessing to an offense that wasn't a crime under Roman law, which allowed him to be transparent without risking any kind of legal liability. He says, I'm prepared to admit to certain things. Well, the judge and everyone else in the courtroom would say, Well, this is the kind of thing we've been looking for.

This is why we're having this case. He says, Let me just tell you what I am prepared to confess to. Now, in this, he is answering charge number two.

So what does he say? Number one, I worship the God of our fathers as a follower of the way which they call a sect. Now, we can't take time to unpack all of this, but notice. You'll know the phrase, the way. Because you will recall that when Paul went with letters from the high priests and the authorities on the road to Damascus, he was going to abuse, imprison, and kill followers of the way. And the phrase, the way, came from the concept of Jesus being the way, the truth, and the life, and these individuals who were now followers of Jesus were following in the way of Jesus, and Paul's previous life had been in total opposition to this way. Now he says, I'm prepared to confess today that I worship the God of our fathers as a follower of the way.

Now, you understand what he's doing? He's saying, What my accusers are suggesting is that for me to become a follower of the way is to turn my back on the God of our fathers. But what I'm here to confess to today is that the big unfolding picture of God finds its focal point in his Son, Jesus of Nazareth, who is none other than the way himself. Therefore, the idea that I am not mainstream, that I am involved in a sect, I deny that. I confess to my orthodoxy, worshiping the God of our fathers as a follower of the way. Secondly, and this drives it home, I believe what accords with the law and the prophets. Now, again, you see, his accusers were saying, We believe the law and the prophets.

You believe in this Jesus business, and the two things are totally in opposition to one another. Paul, perhaps in the wider context, perhaps tangentially to this, may have had occasion to reference Luke's first volume, where Luke provides for us the picture of the two disconsolate disciples on the road to Emmaus. Jesus draws near to them. They say, Apparently, all that the prophets had said and all that we'd hoped for in the Messiah, Jesus, has come to a grinding halt, Jesus of Nazareth has been nailed to a cross, therefore salvation history is over. And of course, it's Jesus who's there with them.

They don't realize this. And he says, Aren't you very slow to believe all that the prophets have said? And then beginning with Moses and the prophets, he taught them all the things in the Bible concerning himself. In other words, Jesus said, If you read the Old Testament properly, you will discover that the Old Testament just leads, like, you know, five roads leading into a roundabout, that it all leads to the person of Jesus of Nazareth, that he is prophet, priest, and king. That all of what we have in the New Testament is built on the foundation of the unfolding story of the old.

You're listening to Truth for Life with Alistair Begg. We'll hear more about Paul's trial on Monday. The Apostle Paul was able to be bold before the Roman governor because Jesus had assured him that he would testify in Rome. I wonder if we trust in God's promises the way Paul did, even when our lives are in the balance. Well, today we want to recommend to you a book that assures us that God stays true to his promises. It's called Covenant Foundations, Understanding the Promise Keeping God of the Bible. This book explores the covenants God made with his people throughout the Old Testament, like the promises he made to Noah, Abraham, and the Israelites when he rescued them from slavery in Egypt. The author, Alec Mateer, connects the dots between God's promises and his love for his people.

If you're going through a difficult season, or if you know someone who is, this book is a great reminder of our source of comfort. As you read this book, you'll be reminded that God's promises are certain that you can confidently rest in this truth no matter your circumstances. Ask for a copy of the book Covenant Foundations today when you donate to support the ministry of Truth for Life. You can give a one-time gift at truthforlife.org slash donate, or you can arrange to set up an automatic monthly donation when you visit truthforlife.org slash truthpartner. Thanks for studying the Bible with us this week. Hope you're able to worship with your local church over the weekend, and I hope you can join us Monday when we'll find out what Paul valued even more than his own freedom. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life, where the Learning is for Living.