“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 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 other Jews joined in the accusation, asserting that these things were true. “
Acts 24:1-9
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JUNE 11, 2025
Do you enjoy watching court-room dramas? There’s typically a high emphasis on drama in these shows. I always roll my eyes a bit, grumbling about over-the-top script writing and depictions that are nothing like reality.
And yet, in this very, very ancient account, the lawyer Tertullus is bringing almost the same sort of drama that I’d find if I switched on the television and started looking for old Law and Order or Matlock reruns. Tertullus brings two-thirds truth with one-third false accusation mixed in.
But most of his words have nothing to do with Paul at all, true or false. Instead, they stroke the ego of the powerful governor-judge.
Here’s the thing: most of what Tertullus (on behalf of Ananias and the elders) are saying of Paul is true. He has, indeed, been stirring up riots all over the world—in a sense. As people who study his words as scripture 2000 years later, we can hardly deny that he’s a ringleader of this new sect. We’ve seen for ourselves that he’s not trying to start a new religion but is introducing extremely new and different customs and traditions into the worship of God—even including Gentiles!
Once again, the author of Acts is paralleling Jesus’ own arrest and trials in Luke. Jesus, too, created a great deal of upheaval by simply standing by what God said and living out the compassion and justice God asked us to live out. In both cases, the truth can be just so slightly twisted to legitimately convict and silence a man who has become a danger.
Ironically, the most dangerous falsehood spoken here is not about Paul, but about 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.”
In fact, these fawning words obscure the historical facts: Felix was notorious, and the Roman state was the real danger. They were already tightening the screws on Jerusalem for being so difficult to contain in the name of national peace, and in just a few short years, Rome would destroy Jerusalem entirely.
Questions for reflection and discussion:
- What parallels do you see between Paul and Jesus in this portion of the story?
- What is dangerous about following Jesus’ footsteps of compassion and justice, rather than greed and oppression, today?
- How do you practice your faith during times of grave danger?
Church Reading Plan: Deuteronomy 16; Psalm 103