And after certain days, Felix having arrived with Drusilla his wife, who was a Jewess, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.
Paul is a prisoner in Caesarea. The governor who holds him sends for him, with his wife Drusilla, to hear what this new "faith in Christ Jesus" is. The invitation is theirs, not Paul's, and what he gives them is not what they asked for.
One writer draws out how unlikely this scene is: a follower of Jesus of Nazareth, in chains, preaching to Rome's governor.
There were Christians at Caesarea, as we know, and had been for years. Felix had lived in that town for five years or more, yet we may be sure he never told any of them to explain their beliefs to him, or let them preach to him. A Nazarene preach at Caesarea to a Roman! That would be strange. Yet it was true. For Paul, not for Philip, or Luke, or Aristarchus, Felix sent. The prisoner in chains was to tell the governor of the grace of God, and of His love shown in giving His Son to die for the guilty and the lost... The gospel of God's grace was preached in the governor's palace, and to him directly.
Another writer explains what drew the couple to send for Paul.
Some days later Felix, who seems to have been away with his wife Drusilla, a Jewish woman, calls for Paul, to hear him about the faith in Christ. By now the new teaching had spread everywhere, and was attracting everyone's attention. Felix knew Jewish matters well, and so did his wife. They wanted to learn from its original source what Christianity was, and so they summon Paul for this purpose.
The verse names Drusilla. Her family line, and how she came to be Felix's wife, fill out the scene.
Daughter of Herod Agrippa I and Cypros, and sister of Agrippa II. She married Aziz king of Emesa when he became a Jew, but was later seduced into leaving her husband and marrying Felix, the governor of Judaea. She was present when Paul was heard before Felix.
The phrase Luke uses is worth weighing, since it can be read narrowly or broadly. One writer, comparing it with a similar expression elsewhere, takes it in the wider sense here.
I believe "Faith in Christ Jesus" is to be taken in a general sense, as, for instance, in Acts 24:24. This last one may be rather wider. It may take in the whole system of truth of which Christ is the basis and centre and all, revealed to faith.
Commentators differ on what Felix was after. One suggests a man haunted by his past, hoping for a cheap remedy.
It would be no wonder if a man with the life he had lived was willing to hear of any way, not too costly, that could give him rest about the future. For a man like him, that future can hardly fail to be more or less a source of unease. But it is no wonder if he finds in his search something graver than he expected. Perhaps he had heard that here was a hope for sinners, though with no real grasp of what sin means.
Another writer points to his wife as the spark, and to a motive less innocent.
He had some interest in Paul and his teaching, possibly awakened through his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish... It may be that Felix agreed that he and his wife should listen to Paul with the very intention of getting Paul to bribe him. Still, God gave this opportunity to Paul to preach Christ.
Felix asked for an account of a set of beliefs. One writer notes the ground Paul chose instead, and how it differed from his approach with other audiences.
The guilty Roman was little prepared for the many sides of the truth. The Holy Spirit, sent down from heaven, turns that truth to deal with the hearer as he is. Paul spoke, not on the prophets as with Jews, nor on the resurrection as with Athenians, nor even on the cross as at Corinth. He spoke about righteousness, and self-control, and the coming judgment.
- Summoned — the move was the governor's. Felix sent for Paul, and the gospel reached a palace that had ignored the Christians in its own city for years.
- Curious — the message had spread everywhere. Felix and Drusilla wanted it from its original source, not second-hand.
- Mixed motives — commentators differ. Was it an uneasy conscience, his Jewish wife's influence, or an angle for a bribe?
- Wide — one writer takes "faith in Christ Jesus" in its broad sense: the whole system of truth of which Christ is the basis and centre.
- Redirected — Paul did not give the survey they asked for. He pressed righteousness, self-control and the coming judgment on the two people in front of him.
And as he reasoned concerning righteousness, and temperance, and the judgment about to come, Felix, being filled with fear, answered, Go for the present, and when I get an opportunity I will send for thee;
Felix, the Roman governor, had Paul brought before him. Paul's words turned into a description of Felix's own life. This verse records what the governor felt, and what he did with the feeling.
Paul chose his subject to fit the man in front of him. This talk was unlike his preaching elsewhere.
The guilty Roman was not ready for the many sides of the truth. The Holy Spirit, sent down from heaven, turns truth to deal with each hearer as he is. Paul did not speak on the prophets, as he did with Jews. He did not speak on the resurrection, as at Athens. He did not even speak on the cross, as at Corinth. He spoke about righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment.
The verse names three subjects, and each carries a plain sense worth pinning down.
The word "reason" is the word we get "dialogue" from — people discussing a matter. The word translated "temperance" means self-control. The apostle reasoned with this man about what is right in the sight of God. That meant he stood in great need of self-control if he wished to escape the ultimate judgment of God. Here the judgment on man is still future, since God is offering him the forgiveness of sins. That is why it is called "judgment to come."
Felix was hearing his own record read back to him under three headings.
The unrighteous judge — the money-loving Felix — might well tremble as the aged apostle spoke about the righteousness of God. It threw the deeds of the man who held him in his power into darker colours than ever. Felix's cheek might well turn pale. With unhesitating speech, the prisoner spoke of his unrestrained lust, his lack of self-control, and of God's repayment for such sins.
Paul never listed the governor's crimes. He did not need to — conscience supplied the details, and the judge became the frightened one.
He felt the force of what Paul had said. Paul charged him with none of his crimes, yet the words brought them back to his memory, shown up in their true light. Conscience can speak, and when it does the person must be silent. The governor's past life rose up in front of him. It was the foreground of a picture, with judgment and eternity behind it, all lit by a lurid light. For the first time in his life Felix was in the light. But light is too much for a responsible, guilty creature who does not know and enjoy God's grace. The natural impulse is to get away from it… Many a person had no doubt trembled before Felix the governor. Felix now trembled at the words of Paul the prisoner.
The ESV says Felix "was alarmed." One writer points to a stronger rendering.
Note this fact well, that judgment to come, as preached by Paul, was something for a wicked man to tremble at. The Revised Version uses an even stronger term: "he was terrified."
Felix did not argue. He put the matter off, and one writer presses that delay on the reader.
Perhaps you are saying, "I must wait for a more convenient season." Take care, in case it never comes. Take care, in case, like Felix, your faith is in a convenient season that never comes. He trembled once, and you may have trembled once in your history. There are moments when God puts the gospel before a soul in such a way that the soul is almost constrained, almost persuaded to believe. But the soul pushes it away. It does not decide, and the moment never comes again.
Fear is not the same as repentance.
It was no more than a passing terror. There was no repentance toward God. If there had been, he would not have got rid of the searching yet saving word of the gospel. He would not have been content to wait for a "more convenient season", which never really comes.
The same preacher who alarmed him could have settled him, had he stayed.
Take Felix, for example, who trembled while the apostle "reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment." How foolish of Felix to resist the Spirit! If he had yielded to Him, the Spirit could have used the same servant to calm his fears by preaching peace by Jesus Christ.
- Fitted word. Paul left aside prophets, resurrection and the cross. He spoke to Felix about righteousness, self-control and coming judgment — truth aimed at the hearer as he was.
- Plain terms. "Reasoned" means a dialogue. "Temperance" means self-control. Judgment is still "to come" because God is offering forgiveness now.
- Silenced conscience. Paul charged him with nothing, yet his past rose up in the light. Light without grace makes a guilty person want to escape it.
- Real terror. Felix "was alarmed," and one writer notes the stronger rendering "he was terrified." Judgment to come is something for a guilty person to tremble at.
- Lost season. Felix chose delay over decision. His terror passed with no repentance, though the same preacher could have preached him peace by Jesus Christ.