Acts 24:22

And when Felix heard these things, having more perfect knowledge of that way, he deferred them and said, When Lysias, the chief captain, shall come down, I will know the uttermost of your matter.

Having disposed of the charges of the Jews and showing their utter untenableness, Paul now turns the tables upon his accusers and mentions some considerations which place them in a very unfavorable light. He states the purpose of the present trip. After a number of years, a matter of some eight or nine years, he had come up to bring alms to his nation, the collection which had been made in the congregations of Macedonia, Achaia, and Asia, and to offer sacrifices, the usual sacrifices of the festival, or he may include the offerings made for the sake of the Nazirite Jewish Christians. In the performance of these religious duties, after he had been purified in the Temple, certain Jews from Asia had found him, but not with a crowd which he might have been trying to incite to sedition, nor with any tumult which may have resulted from any intrigues of his. These Jews were the ones that had first seized him (a delicate correction of the statement of v. 5), and their place it would properly have been to be present at this trial and to make accusation if the words of Lysias had been obeyed. It was a very significant fact, as Paul indicates, that the only personal witnesses of what he did in the Temple were not present to testify against him. And to this telling shot Paul adds another semi-sarcastic remark. He challenges these very men present here to state what fault they found in him as he was standing before the Synedrion at the hearing of Lysias, unless it were regarding that one utterance when he cried out as he was standing there that it was on account of the resurrection of the dead that he was on trial today before them. This was a most effective taunt, since it would show Felix that they were moved against him by party jealousy, that the entire contention was about a matter in which the Jews themselves were at variance. Altogether, the defense of Paul was a brilliant justification of himself and his cause, utterly overthrowing the fabric of lies which Tertullus had reared. And Felix could not but feel this. But he acted in a characteristic way. He put off the Jews and remanded Paul for another hearing, as though it were not possible at once to pass a judgment of acquittal or condemnation before further inquiry in the matter. Felix had a more exact and detailed knowledge of the way, of the Christian religion, since he had not been blind all these years and there was a Christian congregation in Caesarea. He knew that the Christians were harmless, innocent persons. On the other hand, reasons of policy forbade his taking the part of Paul openly and thus provoking the enmity of the Jews. So he stated as the reason for his action that he must wait until Lysias, the chiliarch, came down, when he would be able to render a decision with reference to the testimony from all sides. Note: Felix here, like Pontius Pilate, is an example of an unjust judge, one that will indeed hinder gross violence, but at the same time courts the favor of the people and curtails the rights of the believers.