Acts 23:23–35 (ESV)
Paul Sent to Felix the Governor
23 Then he called two of the centurions and said, “Get ready two hundred soldiers, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go as far as Caesarea at the third hour
of the night. 24 Also provide mounts for Paul to ride and bring him safely to Felix the governor.” 25 And he wrote a letter to this effect:
26 “Claudius Lysias, to his Excellency the governor Felix, greetings. 27 This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them
when I came upon them with the soldiers and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman citizen. 28 And desiring to know the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their council. 29 I
found that he was being accused about questions of their law, but charged with nothing deserving death or imprisonment. 30 And when it was disclosed to me that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once,
ordering his accusers also to state before you what they have against him.”
31 So the soldiers, according to their
instructions, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. 32 And on the next day they returned to the barracks, letting the horsemen go on with him. 33 When they had come to Caesarea and
delivered the letter to the governor, they presented Paul also before him. 34 On reading the letter, he asked what province he was from. And when he learned that he was from Cilicia, 35 he said,
“I will give you a hearing when your accusers arrive.” And he commanded him to be guarded in Herod’s praetorium.
Claudius Lysias turns Paul’s case over
to Felix the governor. All circumstances point to the apostle’s innocence of any crimes against the state. Life sometimes brings unjust suffering, especially to Christ’s followers. Christ’s death on the cross provides for our forgiveness
when we have been unjust to others and gives us strength to bear our sufferings in His abiding grace.
I pray: Lord, I praise You because You are just and You have justified
me through faith in Jesus. Forgive me when I am unjust to others, and give me strength to bear even unjust suffering. Amen.
Edward A. Engelbrecht, The Lutheran Study Bible (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2009), 1887.