NOTES for Act 24:1-27

Paul's accusers, like Christ's accusers, want to get rid of him by resorting to Roman authority. But by doing so they deprive themselves of the moral right to accuse Paul of treason and cooperation with pagans, since they themselves are ready not only to enter into close contact with the pagan occupiers, but also to support them actively, as long as they help deal with unwanted fellow countrymen. For Paul, however, observance of Roman laws is not an end in itself, nor is it a means of settling accounts with opponents, but a way to use an opportunity to spread the Good News throughout the empire.

Paul speaks twice before Felix, first at the judicial hearing in his presence, and then in a private setting. Both times Felix interrupts the discussion, but if the first time, after Paul's diplomatically measured speech, Felix shows an intention to avoid issuing a guilty verdict and handing Paul over to be killed, then the second time Felix became afraid when he heard the prisoner's words of rebuke. Felix did not want not only to change his ways, but even to try to understand Paul's motivation; otherwise, from the beginning he would have given up hope of receiving a bribe. Felix had a real chance to broaden his understanding of the world and of people and to begin a new life, but he did not want to use it.

It is unlikely that the Jewish elders truly condemned Paul for teaching the resurrection of the dead. As we recall, this issue had already once helped him disrupt the unity of his accusers, and here one might suspect Paul of trying to use the same tactic again. But if we look more closely at the situation, all of Paul's troubles arise precisely because he proclaims the living, risen Christ. No one would have taken offense at Paul if he had preached the Law. In those days there were quite a few people who had converted from paganism to the Jewish faith—the so-called proselytes. No one required them to undergo circumcision or to observe the Law of Moses exactly. But Paul brought not law, customs, traditions, or religion, but the Gospel—the message of a real, living life with the One who is above the Temple and who abolishes the distinction between Jews and Gentiles.

How sincere was Paul in his speech in his own defense? Today, it may seem to us that the apostle leaves something unsaid when speaking about himself. He seems constantly to sidestep the central point of disagreement between himself and the orthodox Synagogue and its representatives. They accuse him of belonging to what they themselves call the “Nazarene party,” or “Nazarene heresy.”

Yet Paul was hardly being insincere in what he said. He genuinely continued to feel and regard himself as a thoroughly orthodox Jew. For him, his messianic faith, his faithfulness to the risen Christ, was an organic continuation of the tradition in which he had grown up. That tradition had become his own path to Christ.

He imposed his path on no one, but he himself was certain of it. He always showed this confidence, including when he had to defend himself before Roman justice. Of course, he did not conceal his differences with the orthodox Synagogue, but he considered them entirely permissible. The apostle was convinced that the Nazarene party had the same right to exist within the Yahwist community as any other party of the time. He does not emphasize the distinctive features of his own party, but draws attention to what unites him with the whole Jewish community.

Here Paul expresses the general view of the earliest Christian Church, which saw itself not as part of a particular synagogue, but as part of the Yahwist community, and therefore of the Synagogue with a capital S. Precisely with a capital S. Within the Synagogue, the Church was something entirely new and unprecedented, yet at the same time an organic continuation of the Yahwist community, and Christianity no less organically continued Yahwism. Yahwism, specifically, not Judaism or any of its schools.

The earliest Christian Church nevertheless took the best from the Jewish schools. Unlike the Church of a later period, even that of the second century, it regarded the whole Tradition as its own—not only preexilic Yahwism but also Second Temple Judaism. In the light of the new messianic revelation, however, the earlier Tradition shone with a new light and revealed new facets, not least thanks to Paul himself. In this way, God's plan of salvation was fulfilled on earth, including everything that could be saved and transfigured.