98 Paul and Silas in Prison [Acts 16:16–40]
The Bible passage: [Acts 16:16–40]
The Story:
As told by Luke, a doctor:
Once, as we were on our way to prayer, a slave girl met us who had a spirit of prediction and made a large profit for her owners by fortune-telling.
As she followed us she cried out, “These men are the servants of the Most High God. They are telling you the way of salvation.”
She did this for many days. Paul was greatly aggravated, and turning to her, said to the spirit that was controlling her, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out right away.
When her owners saw that their profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them to the authorities. Bringing them before the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are seriously disturbing our city. They are Jews. They are promoting customs that are not legal for us as Romans to adopt or practice.”
The mob joined in the attack against them, and the chief magistrates had their clothes stripped off and ordered that they be beaten with rods. After they had inflicted many blows on them, they threw them in jail, ordering the jailer to keep them securely guarded.
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns. The other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the jail were shaken. All the doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.
When the jailer woke up and saw the doors of the prison open, he drew his sword to kill himself, since he thought the prisoners had escaped.
Paul called out in a loud voice, “Don’t harm yourself. All of us are here!”
The jailer called for lights, rushed in, and fell down trembling in front of Paul and Silas. Then he escorted them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
They told him, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved - you and your household.”
Then they explained the message of the Lord to him along with everyone in his house. Right away he and all his family were baptized.
He brought them up into his house, set a meal before them, and rejoiced because he had believed God with his entire household.
When daylight came, the chief magistrates sent the police to say, “Release those men!”
The jailer told Paul: “The magistrates have sent orders for you to be released. So come out now and go in peace.”
But Paul said to them, “They beat us in public without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us in jail. Now they want to smuggle us out secretly? Certainly not! Let them come themselves and escort us out!”
When the police told this to the magistrates, they were frightened when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. They came and apologized to them, escorted them out, and urged them to leave town.
The Lessons:
- The jailer was going to kill himself because he was personally responsible for the prisoners. When he thought the prisoners were all gone, he knew his professional life was over.
- When he asked how to be saved, he is told, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved - you and your household.” There is a troublesome phrase here: “and your household”. The Bible makes it clear that we all must decide for ourselves whether we will follow God. Perhaps the meaning of that phrase here is that a person’s family will receive blessings and advantages by being with the one that has accepted God’s gift of salvation. In this story, because the jailer wanted to hear the story of Jesus, his entire family also heard the story. When he made the choice to follow Jesus, they made the same choice. When he decided to be baptized, they made the same decision. Even if they had not made those choices when he did, they would have benefitted from being around him as he learned to live his new life in Christ.
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