24:24 Sometime later Felix, along with his current wife, sent for Paul. Drusilla was the youngest daughter of Herod Agrippa I who had been king over Palestine from 37-44 A.D. It was he who had authorized the death of James, the son of Zebedee (12:1-2), and had imprisoned Peter (12:3-11). Drusilla was Felix's third wife whom he had married when she was 16 years old. She was now (57 A.D.) 19. She had previously been the wife of Azizus, the king of Emesa, a state within Syria, but Felix broke up that marriage to get her.901Felix himself had been married twice before to princesses the first of which was the granddaughter of Anthony and Cleopatra. Felix used his marriages to advance his political career. The Herods were, of course, Idumeans, part Israelite and part Edomite.
Something about Paul and or his gospel seems to have fascinated Felix. Someone commented that when Paul talked to Felix and Drusilla, enslaved royalty was addressing royal slaves.
24:25 Paul's emphases in his interview with Felix and Drusilla were those things Jesus Christ had promised the Holy Spirit would convict people of to bring them to faith. These things were sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8-11). Felix and Drusilla were notoriously deficient in all three of these areas. It is not surprising that Felix became uneasy. He apparently was willing to discuss theology but not personal morality and responsibility. These subjects terrified him (Gr. emphobos).
Felix's decision to postpone making a decision about his relationship to God is a common one. Often people put off this most important decision until they cannot make it. This is probably why most people who make decisions for Christ do so when they are young. Older people normally get harder to the gospel.902We do not know if Felix ever did trust Christ; there is no evidence that he did.
24:26 We do not know for sure where Paul got the money Felix hoped he would give him or if he had it. Perhaps the Christians who heard of his imprisonment contributed to his support (cf. v. 23; 27:3).903
". . . although provincial governors were prohibited by law from taking bribes from prisoners, the practice was common and, in the case of Felix, quite in character."904
24:27 The two years to which Luke referred were evidently the years of Paul's detention in Caesarea. Felix's superiors relieved him of his position because he had handled a conflict in Caesarea between the Jewish and Gentile residents too harshly. Too many Jews had died or been mistreated.905His replacement, Portius Festus, served as procurator of Judea from 59-61 A.D.906To appease the Jews, Felix left Paul in prison.907The apostle had become a political pawn in the will of God.
