Verse 27
(Salutation - previous verse) This man was seized by the Jews, and was about to be slain of them, when I came upon them with the soldiers and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman, and desiring to know the cause wherefore they accused him, I brought him down unto their council: whom I found to be accused about questions of their law, but to have nothing laid to his charge worthy of death or of bonds. And when it was shown to me that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to thee forthwith, charging his accusers also to speak against him before thee.
LYSIAS' LETTER
This is a classical example of a self-serving distortion of truth to serve selfish and political ends. "Having learned that he was a Roman ..." implies that the rescue was made to prevent harm to a Roman citizen, whereas Lysias did not even know that he was a Roman until after he had illegally bound him, a fact left comfortably out of sight in his letter!
The genuineness of such a document as this is evident in every nuance of it. This was politics as it was played in the Roman Empire in those days. Alas, it may be feared that the same old game goes on in the same old way in all times and places.
Significantly, Paul is sent to Felix, not as a criminal, but as a fellow citizen rescued. If an honorable man had held the office then entrusted to Felix, Paul would have been released at once.
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