Gloriographs by Rick Reynolds

²² The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. ²³ When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; ²⁴ and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. ²⁵ But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; ²⁶ and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. ²⁷ When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸ But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” ²⁹ And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, ³⁰ and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” ³¹ They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” ³² And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. Acts 16:25-32

There is a saying, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” Well, Paul and Silas didn’t. In that time frame, Rome had booted out the Jews, and presumably anti-semitism correspondingly ran high in the colony of Philippi. The apostles’ proselytizing there finally triggered the powers that be, not to mention the goading of the slave girl’s handlers.

This is the way things usually go in a successful budding ministry. Initial receptivity. A nice peaceful setting. Success early on. And then opposition. But Satan appeared to go right for the jugular in this case to nip this initial foray into Europe in the bud. He would not be successful.

A municipality like Philippi would have had two magistrates, and as we learn later, a police force. These men prevailed upon Paul and Silas amidst the frenzy caused by the slave girl’s exorcism. They are said to have carried around a bag of rods as a matter of practice to swiftly administer punishment to wrongdoers, and the bare backs of Paul and Silas were the recipients of many blows on their orders.

The question comes to mind, why we’re Luke and Timothy spared? Possibly because they were perceived as Gentiles, which they were, or in the Timothy’s case, on his father’s side, or perhaps because they were not the principal speakers.

After the beating, the two men were literally “blown” (from the Gk. “ballo”) twice into the jail, once by the magistrate’s men, and then into an inner prison cell or dungeon by the jailer, who shackled their feet for good measure. We’ve heard the story many times of Paul and Silas praying and singing praise songs while there. No doubt the praise offered was loud enough to waft up not only to the other prisoners, but also to the conscientious jailer. Talk about a captive audience!

Then God intervened in response to the prayer and praise and sent an earthquake that shook the foundation of the jailhouse, snapped the prisoners’ chains, and flung the door wide open. In the dark, the jailer, thinking the prisoners had escaped, was postured to fall on his sword when Paul called out that all the inmates were still present and accounted for. This divine intervention would save the jailer and his household, no doubt also impacting the futures of all who were incarcerated in the jail!

³³ And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. ³⁴ And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household. Acts 16:33-34

It’s probably worthwhile to note at this point that salvation is a personal phenomenon, not received as a group or family, which is the impression we might get reading stories in the New Testament including these words, “you and your household.” I think of the royal official in John 4:53, Cornelius in Acts 11:14, Lydia in Acts 16:15, Crispus in Acts 18:8, and Stephanas in 1 Corinthians 1:16.

However, in these early occasions where the gospel was being propelled into new realms to new people groups, in the presence of an apostle of God, speaking the words of God, where a family unit was present, we can only hope that the Spirit would “speak words” by which all in the household would be saved, that no one would be left out! This was indeed the case in Peter’s encounter with Cornelius. Here is part of Peter’s report of what Cornelius said to him.

“And he reported to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and have Simon, who is also called Peter, brought here; 14 and he will speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’” Acts 11:13-14

In the meantime, the magistrates having made their point, sent word to the jailer to release the men. Paul, not taking “yes” for an answer, protested and requested a hearing before the magistrates to air their grievances as Roman citizens. Since it was forbidden to beat Romans in such a manner without a trial, the magistrates were on very thin ice.

“The policemen reported these words to the chief magistrates. They were afraid when they heard that they were Romans, 39 and they came and appealed to them, and when they had brought them out, they kept begging them to leave the city.” Acts 16:38-39

An unusual turn of the tide. From this I am in awe of the hutzpah of the Apostle Paul. Would we all be so bold!