September 07, 2023 | Be On Mission
Paul is Sent to Gov. Felix in Caesarea
Scripture: Acts 23:23-35(NIV)
23 Then he called two of his centurions and ordered them, “Get ready a detachment of two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen[a] to go to Caesarea at nine tonight. 24 Provide horses for Paul so that he may be taken safely to Governor Felix.”
25 He wrote a letter as follows:
26 Claudius Lysias,
To His Excellency, Governor Felix:
Greetings.
27 This man was seized by the Jews and they were about to kill him, but I came with my troops and rescued him, for I had learned that he is a Roman citizen. 28 I wanted to know why they were accusing him, so I brought him to their Sanhedrin. 29 I found that the accusation had to do with questions about their law, but there was no charge against him that deserved death or imprisonment. 30 When I was informed of a plot to be carried out against the man, I sent him to you at once. I also ordered his accusers to present to you their case against him.
31 So the soldiers, carrying out their orders, took Paul with them during the night and brought him as far as Antipatris. 32 The next day they let the cavalry go on with him, while they returned to the barracks. 33 When the cavalry arrived in Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him. 34 The governor read the letter and asked what province he was from. Learning that he was from Cilicia, 35 he said, “I will hear your case when your accusers get here.” Then he ordered that Paul be kept under guard in Herod’s palace.
Devotional
In yesterday’s reading we saw that there was a conspiracy by forty Jewish men who vowed to murder Paul when he went to the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. Because of this, the Roman commander in Jerusalem sent Paul to Governor Felix in Caesarea. The Jewish accusers could go there to present their case in a Roman court of law to the man who held the post that was once held by Pontius Pilate.
Though just over fifty miles from Jerusalem, the city of Caesarea couldn’t have been more different. Back in week 13 of this study we learned a little about it. The city of Caesarea was a modern Roman port city in Israel on the banks of the Mediterranean Sea. It was built only a few years before the birth of Jesus and became the political and commercial capital of the Roman province of Judea.
Everything about it represented the best in Greek culture. Caesarea had an aqueduct for fresh water, a Roman temple for emperor and idol worship, an amphitheater for entertainment, a 10,000+ seat hippodrome for Olympic-like games and chariot races, and Herod’s palace which served as the home and headquarters of Governor Felix.
It was there that Paul, the Jewish man and Roman citizen, was delivered for a hearing. His Jewish accusers would have to travel to the repugnant Roman capital to bring their charges against Paul. But it would be worth it. Anything to rid the earth of Christianity.
When Paul began his missionary journeys a decade earlier, other Christians tried to stop him because he didn’t want to force Jewish converts to be circumcised. Later in more Hellenistic cities, Gentiles wanted to execute him for promoting Jesus instead of the pantheon of Greek gods and idols. Now, Jews wanted to assassinate him for preaching that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah.
What do you think kept Paul pressing forward? Why didn’t he just settle in at the place of least conflict, and spend his years building up people in the faith? What about you? What is something hard that you have faced because of your faith and ministry? Is there anything pressing against you in your current life? How is God calling your to respond?
Poem
What Does It Take?
What does it take to silence the gospel?
Forty Sanhedrin?
Oaths bound to kill?
Plotting in secret?
Boiling with hate?
Gathering chief priest and elders?
What does it take to protect an apostle?
Two centurions?
Two hundred soldiers?
Seventy horsemen?
Two hundred spearmen?
A well-intentioned letter?
What does it take to realize
The scandalizing power
Of the gospel
