This week's ongoing Bible study series will be part 3 of Acts chapter 16

Paul and Silas Convert Their Captors,

Winning Their Own Release

[Acts chapter 16, verses 29-40]

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Last week when we left off at verse 28 of chapter 16, Paul and Silas were in a bad way. After driving an evil spirit out of a young slave girl, it turned out that spirit gave her the power to foretell the future. This rare, and unnatural, ability was Satanic in nature. Paul and Silas clearly perceived this. The slave girl's captors – I won't call them 'owners' since I think humans owning other humans is sinfully immoral – were milking her for all she was worth, and they were undoubtedly making a hefty profit from her strange and unnatural abilities. But the salvation of her soul had an additional price tag – the slave girl's “owners” pressed charges against the two apostles. And so Paul and Silas had been thrown in jail and severely flogged.

Late that night there was a severe earthquake that damaged the jail in which Paul and Silas were being held. The doors were thrown open and the shackles Paul and Silas were chained to miraculously came undone. As the story is told in verse 27, next “The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped.” Fortunately, Paul immediately spoke up because he was a Roman citizen and was well versed in the ways of the Roman Empire. He knew the jailer would have fallen on his sword, and stopped him from doing so, saving his captor's life. And so this week, as we move on to part 3 of Acts chapter 16, we find Paul and Silas' formerly authoritative jailer coming to verify what Paul has told him, and the jailer is now a nervous wreck. So let's take up where we last left off, beginning at verse 29.

“29) The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30) He then brought them out and asked, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' 31) They replied, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved — you and your household.' 32) Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33) At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. 34) The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God — he and his whole household. 35) When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: 'Release those men.' 36) The jailer told Paul, 'The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace.'” (Acts 16, verses 29-36)

This jailer has been thoroughly shaken from top to bottom by what he had just experienced. Although the earthquake was an unusual occurrence, it was much more than just that. Anybody else would have taken advantage of the situation, including the other prisoners in there with Paul and Silas. But thanks to them, the remainder of the prisoners had stayed put when the quake struck. Evidently this was something outside the jailer's scope of experience, and so he found himself totally blown away by the surprising (for the jailer) behavior of the two apostles. So compelling was that particular experience that the jailer “....rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30) He then brought them out and asked, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?'”

The jailer was keenly aware that something supernatural had just taken place. From his viewpoint, it must have seemed like the earthquake had occurred so the shackles could fall off the two men (the remainder of the prisoners' shackles had apparently not come off), and the jailer must have seen it as some kind of supernatural sign directed at himself. Why else, he may have thought, could this have occurred? But Paul answered his question directly and to the point: “31) They replied, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved — you and your household.' 32) Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33) At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized.”

The Power behind the quake, Paul told the jailer and his household, is indeed the same Power that caused our chains to fall off while they were in custody, in our equivalent of maximum security. It is also, Paul explained to them all, the Power that caused he and Silas to stay law-abiding citizens by remaining in their places after the quake occurred. And, Paul further taught, it was that same Power that had raised Jesus Christ from the dead on the morning of the third day after he died on the cross for us all. We can also see here that the jailer was a compassionate man at heart. As the Word says, before Paul and Silas baptized them, the jailer personally washed their wounds to lessen the shock of the cold water they were about to be immersed in. Only then would the jailer allow the two men to baptize himself and his entire household. Like the young slave girl's owners, the jailer also had slaves. He likely reasoned that if the young slave girl could be delivered of demonic possession, then his slaves could be saved too. This was the opposite reaction of the slave girl's owner at the beginning of this story, who had Paul and Silas prosecuted and beaten for ruining their source of income. Afterwards, the slave girl's owner likely either sold her off or killed her.

“The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God — he and his whole household.” And so they all had themselves a nice little feast in the middle of the night, and it was an event thanks to the saving power of the risen Lord. The next morning the magistrate ordered the two apostles to be released. “Now you can leave. Go in peace,” the jailer told them. But in the following verses, the jailer gets a surprise he hadn't counted on, starting at verse 37: “But Paul said to the officers: 'They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out. 38) The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed. 39) They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city. 40) After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house, where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them. Then they left.”

Paul and Silas were both citizens of the Roman Empire. The people who had pressed charges against them were not. Those who had pressed charges against the two apostles and had had them severely flogged, likely weren't citizens either. They feared prosecution by the Romans because it could mean an end to their lives. The magistrates were employees of the Empire, like a civilian contractor for the military in modern times. Paul and Silas wanted to be protected on their way out of town, and understandably so. They feared being attacked again by the same people who had them flogged and jailed previously. So, “They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city. After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house, where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them.”

So Paul and Silas got a security detail to escort them safely to Lydia's house prior to leaving town. Under any other circumstances, the outcome of their adventure in Philippi could have been much different. But within minutes the two apostles were back at Lydia's house. Without a doubt, everyone there had been quite worried about Paul and Silas, having only second-hand information as to their fate. But the two apostles, unmindful of their painful wounds, reassured them all with words of encouragement and exhortation. Then, says verse 40, they left. Where did Paul and Silas go next in their quest to spread the Gospel? The answer can be found in part one of chapter 17, which is where we'll move on to for next week's teaching. Be sure and come back then, everyone. Thanks to all of you for reading these weekly postings, you are all very much appreciated.