And these, having entered into Caesarea, and given up the letter to the governor, presented Paul also to him.
Paul's armed escort reaches Caesarea, and the cavalry hand the governor Felix both their prisoner and a letter from the commander in Jerusalem. The verse marks a turning point: Paul leaves Jewish hands for the Roman legal system that will carry him all the way to Rome.
Paul had left this same city days earlier as a free man. One writer draws out the contrast in his return:
About ten days had passed since Paul said goodbye to Philip the Evangelist and the Christian community at Caesarea. He had set out for Jerusalem with Luke and others... Now he had returned to the political capital of the province, the seat of the Roman government, escorted by cavalry. He had gone up to Jerusalem a free man. He returned a prisoner. But though his personal freedom was gone, he still had power to minister the truth of God. Opportunities for that service were not going to be entirely lacking.
Men in Jerusalem had plotted Paul's death. The handover at Caesarea ended their chance:
The soldiers went as far as Antipatris, not far from Caesarea. There they left the horsemen to take Paul on to Caesarea, and they returned to Jerusalem. In due course the horsemen delivered Paul to Felix along with the letter from Lysias. Paul was then kept in Herod's judgment hall until his accusers should come to face him at the court of Felix. So the men who had plotted Paul's death knew nothing about the whole operation. They would have an unwelcome surprise when they heard that their enemy was no longer in Jerusalem.
The letter reached Felix along with the man. Lysias had his own reputation to think of:
The letter of Claudius Lysias to the governor Felix is interesting. It shows how Lysias claims the full credit for having rescued Paul, because he was a Roman. He declares him innocent, yet hands him over to the governor.
Lysias wrote in private, for one man's eyes:
Little did the Roman think that his letter was to be read by you and me; little did he know that there was an eye that looked him through and through as he wrote. That the false and the true should be proclaimed from the housetops he never counted on.
Felix now holds Paul. One writer sketches his character and his motives:
Felix, "the happy," is the first of the two governors we have to do with here. He does all that a man's will combined with power can do to live up to his name... His wife Drusilla is mentioned shortly afterwards. She was a Jewish woman and the sister of Agrippa, and Felix had lured her away from her former husband, the king of Emesa... Lysias presents Paul to him as good as innocent, because questions of Jewish law meant little to someone outside the Jewish faith. Still, if Paul was an object of interest to the Jews, the governor might find his own interest in that.
On the surface this is one official handing a prisoner to another. Underneath, God is moving His servant along a route He chose:
We now find the apostle in the hands of the Gentiles. There may have been no free action of the Spirit in Paul himself. Yet the providence of God cares for him, and orders everything for the testimony he was to bear. His favour is with him. The implacable hatred of the Jews only brings about the fulfilment of the purposes of God... They wanted to get hold of his person, but he was to remain no longer in their power. So he is taken to Lysias, to Felix, to Festus, to Agrippa, and at last to Caesar. Such was the intention of God. These were also the means He used to bring the gospel to governors and to the great. He did not raise up men of the world to do it, as many often think. Instead God makes a prisoner His servant, so that the gospel might reach governors and kings.
This was no brief stop on the way:
There the apostle remained a prisoner for years before he was sent on to Rome.
- Delivered — from danger. The cavalry escort put Paul beyond the reach of the men who had plotted his death. They learned too late that he was gone.
- Delivered — with a letter. Lysias called Paul innocent and handed him on anyway. He claimed full credit for the rescue in a letter that we now read.
- Delivered — to a judge. Felix had a poor record of his own. He weighed his new prisoner by what he might gain from him.
- Delivered — by God. Lysias, Felix, Festus, Agrippa, Caesar — God arranged the whole chain for the testimony Paul was to bear.
- Delivered — for the gospel. God did not raise up great men to reach governors and kings. He made a prisoner His servant, and lost freedom did not mean lost service.
And having read [it], and asked of what eparchy he was, and learned that [he was] of Cilicia,
Paul reaches Caesarea alive, handed over to the governor with a letter from the officer who sent him. Felix does not open with the charges. He asks one question first: what province is this man from?
One writer traces what happened from the moment Paul arrived.
When he arrived at Caesarea he stood before Felix for the first time. It was only a short meeting. Most of it was spent with the governor reading the letter from Claudius Lysias, and then asking Paul which province he belonged to — because of his Roman citizenship, we suppose. When he learned it was Cilicia, he promised to deal with the matter once Paul's accusers arrived. Lysias had passed the case up to Felix, his superior, and had ordered the accusers to bring their charges before the governor at Caesarea.
Paul's one-word answer names a province the gospel had already reached.
A province in Asia Minor on the far north-east of the Mediterranean, cut off from the other provinces by a mountain range. By road it was easier to reach Syria than the rest of Asia Minor. There were clearly Gentile believers there, because the letter from Jerusalem that freed Gentiles from keeping the law names Cilicia. Paul and Silas visited the district and strengthened the churches. Acts 6:9; Acts 15:23, 41; Gal. 1:21; etc.
Paul's own city stood in that province, and he was more than a resident there.
Paul was also a Tarsian, "a citizen of no obscure city" (Acts 21:39; Acts 9:11). He was not just someone born in Tarsus because his family happened to be there. He held a citizen's rights in Tarsus.
One writer is blunt about the character of the man now holding Paul's case, and about what God did with him.
Felix, the governor of Judea, was well aware of the moral state of the Jews, though he was himself a man of more than usually mean, cruel and corrupt character… He saw easily how thin the grounds could be when the Jews hunted someone to death in relentless hatred. A Roman governor was not going to be less firm in upholding Roman law in front of Jews who boasted of a revelation from God. God's providence used all of this for His servant's good. Some think such a large escort was meant as a special honour to a servant of Christ. That is a mistake. It misses the fact that the true glory of a Christian is in being made like Christ in His cross.
The letter Felix has just read was written to make its author look good. It cleared Paul anyway.
The letter written by Claudius Lysias is a very typical document. In it he put his own actions in the best possible light. Yet it also cleared Paul completely of anything truly evil or deserving death. The only charges against him were about "questions of their law." So it is clear that the first Roman official to handle his case was soon convinced the charges concerned his faith, and that there was no fault in his conduct. God clearly took care to make this very plain.
The move to Caesarea begins a chain of hearings. One writer reads that chain as God's own way of reaching rulers with the gospel.
We now find the apostle in the hands of the Gentiles. There may have been no free action of the Spirit in Paul himself, yet the providence of God cares for him. God orders everything for the testimony Paul was to bear, and His favour is with him. The relentless hatred of the Jews only brings about what God has purposed… They wanted to get hold of him, but he was to stay in their power no longer. So he is taken to Lysias, to Felix, to Festus, to Agrippa, and at last to Caesar. This was God's intention. This was also His way of bringing the gospel to governors and to the great. He did not raise up men of the world to do it, as many often think. Instead God makes a prisoner His servant, so that the gospel would reach governors and kings.
- Prisoner — Paul's first hearing before Felix is short: the letter read, one question asked, and a wait until his accusers arrive.
- Province — The question is about Paul's Roman citizenship. Cilicia is his home province, and in its chief city he holds a citizen's rights.
- Paper — Lysias wrote to make himself look good, yet his letter cleared Paul. The only charge left was about "questions of their law."
- Providence — The hatred of Paul's enemies only carries out God's plan. He does not raise up men of the world to reach rulers; He makes a prisoner His servant.
- Path — Lysias, Felix, Festus, Agrippa, Caesar: the chain of courts carries the gospel to governors and kings.
he said, I will hear thee fully when thine accusers also are arrived. And he commanded him to be kept in Herod's praetorium.
Paul's journey from Jerusalem ends at Caesarea, where Felix puts the case off until his accusers come. The chapter closes with custody instead of a verdict — so what is God doing with a servant shut up in a governor's palace?
The building named here was not a jail but a seat of government. English Bibles render the same word in several ways:
The word is praetorium, the term used in Mark 15:16. It was the official residence of Pilate the governor in Jerusalem. Elsewhere the same word becomes "palace" — the barracks of the Praetorian soldiers, who supplied Paul's guards. It also becomes "common hall" and "hall of judgement".
The city itself explains why Paul left Jerusalem under guard.
It became the seat of the governors of Palestine, and the place where they kept their army. Paul was sent there to protect him from the plots of the Jews at Jerusalem. He stayed a prisoner there for two years.
Felix promises a hearing. Caesarea would hold Paul for two years.
Paul's rescue came by ordinary means. One writer marks the contrast with earlier rescues in Acts:
God has all things at His disposal… God watched over him, but everything is on the level of human and providential ways. There is no angel, as in Peter's case, and no earthquake, as at Philippi. We are clearly on different ground.
Custody in Caesarea also put Paul out of his enemies' reach.
Paul was then kept in Herod's judgment hall until his accusers should come to face him at the court of Felix. So the plan went through without the knowledge of the men who had plotted Paul's death. They would have an unwelcome surprise when they heard that their enemy was no longer in Jerusalem.
The man who promised the hearing was himself a hard ruler, and he knew whom he was dealing with:
Felix, the governor of Judea, was not ignorant of the moral state of the Jews, though he was himself a man of unusually low, cruel and depraved character. Still, he easily understood on what slight grounds the Jews might pursue to death a person they hated. And a Roman governor would be no less firm in upholding Roman law in front of Jews who boasted of a divine revelation.
A large escort brought Paul down to Caesarea. It is tempting to read that as a mark of distinction, and one commentator warns against it:
All this God's providence used in favour of His servant. Some think such a large escort was meant as a special honour to Christ's minister. That is a blunder. It comes from not seeing that the true glory of the Christian is his conformity to Christ's cross.
The order to wait for the accusers marks a shift in who judges Paul. Jerusalem no longer holds the case. Rome does.
This act moves Paul from the Jews' court to the court of the Gentiles, though the Jews remain his accusers to the end. If Jerusalem can no longer put the prophets to death herself, she will use the hands of others as far as she can influence them. We are now to see Paul at Caesar's judgment seat.
Prison took something from Paul, but not everything:
He had gone up to Jerusalem a free man. He returned a prisoner. But though he lost his personal liberty, he still had power to minister the truth of God. Chances for that service would not be entirely lacking.
God used this arrest to open a door Paul could never have opened himself:
In this way God brings this simple, fervent evangelist-apostle into the presence of royalty. Look at him, as he stands there with the chains on him.
- Held — the praetorium was a governor's official residence, and Caesarea was the seat of Roman rule. Paul went there under guard, out of reach of the plots against him.
- Hidden — his safety came by ordinary means, not by an angel or an earthquake. God watched over him through human and providential ways.
- Handed over — waiting for his accusers moved the case from the Jewish council to Rome. From here on Paul stands at Caesar's judgment seat, and the Jews still accuse him.
- Humbled — the large escort was no badge of honour for Christ's servant. The Christian's true glory is conformity to Christ's cross.
- Heard — his freedom was gone, but his service was not. From that same palace God would bring the chained apostle before royalty.