Dear Friends,
We hope this week's devotional will encourage you in your spiritual walk. We give thanks to Rev. Pam Reed, Registrar and Student Support Tutor, for writing this devotional.
You are welcome to share this and include it in your church newsletters if you wish; we just ask that you please give credit to NTC and the author. Thank you!
Acts 16:16-34 (NRSV)
16 One day as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a female slave who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. 17 While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” 18 She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.
19 But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. 20 When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, “These men, these Jews, are disturbing our city 21 and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us, being Romans, to adopt or observe.” 22 The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. 23 After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. 24 Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was an earthquake so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. 27 When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 29 The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them outside and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 They answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. 34 He brought them up into the house and set food before them, and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.
Devotional
This is a passage of contrasts: of peace and uproar; of darkness and light; of power and powerlessness; of violence and tender care. And ultimately, it’s about the first recorded convert to the way of Jesus who had not already been seeking God.
Paul and Silas are in Philippi in Europe. They responded to a call in a dream (16:9), but the response wasn’t as enthusiastic as they might have expected. Their exorcism of a young girl has challenged the economic system of the town, though the ire of the authorities seems more concerned with the uproar their actions have caused than with their teaching.
Paul and Silas are flogged (standard treatment for anyone causing dissension) and cast into utter darkness – the innermost cell of the prison (24). It’s in the context of no light at all that they confidently sing praises to God. God’s answer is dramatic – an earthquake. Paul calls to his jailer that none of the prisoners has escaped (28). Richard Thompson, in the New Beacon Bible Commentary on Acts asserts that this must be an insight from God, as the inner cell is still in darkness. It’s only when the jailer organizes for lights to be brought that it’s possible to confirm that all the prisoners are present. It seems that the miracle of no escapees is more significant than the earthquake itself.
And as the cell is flooded with light, the jailer’s heart is also – he asks to be baptised. Now the tough jailer, who had treated Paul and Silas harshly (23-24), tenderly washes their wounds and provides hospitality in his own house (33). The passage ends with a meal to celebrate the salvation of the jailer and his family, and the release of Paul and Silas.
This is one of my favourite passages from Acts. I’ve always been amazed at the ability of Paul and Silas to praise God in the midst of their difficult circumstances. But realizing the totality of darkness in the cell adds a whole new dimension to the story. Paul later wrote to the church at Philippi that he had “learned the secret of being content in any or every situation” because he could do everything through God’s strength (Philippians 4:12, 13). Paul’s tough times in Philippi were certainly a time of darkness but ultimately brought light to new parts of the known world.
Prayer
Lord God, you are the light of the world. Your light of life shines in the deepest darkness of our world. Help us to remember that even when there seems to be no light at all, you are still with us and will never forsake us. Amen.
Blessings,
Rev. Pam Reed (Registrar and Student Support Tutor)