ACC ~ Acts 24 v1 - 8

OVERVIEW:

This singular instance of a debate in Acts reveals Luke’s skill in composing discourse that suits the person he records as speaking. Tertullus uses ingratiating language and ties Paul to political rebellion—a charge not unlike that against Jesus, who also prophesied that just such legal proceedings would be brought against the disciples (Lk 21:12). Chrysostom, having been trained in rhetoric, is always attentive to the relationship that a speaker attempts to establish at the beginning of his speech. A traditional and despised relationship to adopt was known as the flatterer, a stance Chrysostom sees Tertullus adopting. As has been seen throughout this commentary, not only Chrysostom but many of the Fathers placed great value on what they call parrēsia, which is often translated as boldness and entails speaking forthrightly. Not only is Tertullus’s approach fawning, but as Chrysostom shows, there are no witnesses other than the accusers themselves.

24:3 | Accepted with Gratitude

TERTULLUS THE FLATTERER. CHRYSOSTOM: See how [Tertullus] approaches the judge with praises from the start and wants to hand Paul over as a revolutionary and a rebel. Then, notice how he hastens as if he has many things to say. CATENA ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 24.2-3.

24:5 | A Pestilent Fellow

THE NAZARENE SECT. BEDE: At that time Christians were called Nazarenes as an insult. Afterwards, however, a heretical sect arose among the Jews, which was called the Nazarenes. “They believed in Christ as the son of God, born of the virgin Mary, and they said that it was he who suffered under Pontius Pilate and rose from the grave. In him we also believe. But while they wanted to be both Jews and Christians, they were neither Jews nor Christians.” COMMENTARY ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 24.5.

24:7 | Lysias the Centurion7

THE WEAKNESS OF TERTULLUS’S CHARGE. CHRYSOSTOM: Then comes the accusation against Lysias. “It was not right for him,” he says, “to drag him away with great violence.”. . . “He tried,” he says, “to profane the temple,” but [Tertullus] does not say how. He also magnified what concerned Paul, but see how he diminished what concerned him. “We seized him,” he says, “and would have judged him according to our law.” He claims that it was unpleasant to them to come to foreign courts and that they would have not given trouble to [Felix], if he had not forced them, and that it was not right for Lysias to take Paul away. “These,” he says, “were in fact offenses against us, because the trial ought to have taken place among us.” See now the rest as a confirmation that things were so, “with great violence,” he says. That, indeed, was violence. “From him,” he says, “you will be able to learn.”. . . He puts Paul in the position to become his own accuser. “From him,” he says, “you will be able to know by judging.” And the very witnesses of the things that were said, they are the accusers—they are the witnesses and the accusers. CATENA ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 24.7-9.