Acts 16:31-40 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. 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. When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: “Release those men.” The jailer told Paul, “The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace.” 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.” The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed. 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. Then they left.
Paul and Silas had been beaten and thrown in jail illegally, for they were Roman citizens. A Roman citizen was always entitled to a trial before punishment was administered and could not be tortured or whipped before they faced their accusers in a court of law. The citizens of Philippi were guilty of a great sin against Caesar by beating Roman citizens with rods and throwing them in jail without a trial. The magistrates that ordered such actions were in danger of being punished harshly by Rome, maybe even facing death. So when they found out Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, great fear fell upon them. Paul was not going to allow them to release him so easily from jail. He would confront them with the reality that they had belittled Roman law by mistreating them as they did. “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.” Paul and Silas had been stripped and beaten unmercifully. They were publicly shamed in front of a Greek community, their bodies were bruised and bleeding; now the Greek magistrates wanted Paul and Silas to go in peace. Paul had no intentions of going in peace, for the leaders had violated the Porcian statute: entitling a Roman citizen to a trial before punishment was administered. In this situation we see Paul confronting leadership for violating the sanctity and role of leadership that comes from God’s hand. Paul wrote, Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. (Romans 13:1-2) Leadership of any community, state, province or country is placed in control to prevent people from living in chaos, for chaos is utter darkness, destructive in nature. But leadership that is wicked and leads to hurt and biased actions should not be obeyed. Paul and Silas were confronting leadership that had its origin in the devil's schemes. The devil hated the Good News of Jesus’ resurrection, and he intended to stop this message by destroying the messengers. Paul was not going to allow the devil to get away with his scheme of stopping the message of THE WAY. Consequently, Paul put fear in the magistrates by reminding them of their illegal act and that he could report them at anytime in the future. Then he kicked sand in the devil’s face by going back to Lydia’s house where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them. Then they left. The devil was not given any chance to rejoice because of this situation, for Paul went back to the believers and encouraged them to continue spreading the Good News.
As happened Cornelius' household, we now see in Philippi a Greek jailer’s household saved. The jailer wanted to know the way to God. After the earthquake that freed the prisoners and opened the doors of his prison without one prisoner fleeing, he wanted to know how he could find the God that Paul and Silas served. “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Paul’s refrain was simple but profound in its efficacy for new creatures would be made that night in the jailer's household. “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. Believers rejoiced about this wonderful happening that night; new members in the family of God were created. Jesus said you must be born again, and now in the household of the jailer, new born-again Christians would live in the Greek community of Philippi. These people in the household were not given ideas of where to find God; they were not given activities to perform to please God. The Greeks were steeped in philosophy, ideas of how to view life, how to find peace and satisfaction in life. But Paul and Silas did not say to them that there are avenues of thought one must follow in life to know God or Greek philosophers you must adhere to to know the purpose of life. NO, they need not go anyplace to find God for He can be found at their lips. But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. (Romans 10:6-10) What must I do to be saved? asked the jailer. Paul tells him to believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved. Salvation is an act of God. Rightness with God is his act and not man’s act. All a man or woman needs to do is to believe in God’s work of salvation on the cross, rightness with God will be his or her eternal inheritance: For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified. Justification does not come from works: it has to be a heart change, a new heart. Any other way than a new heart will not bring transformation; it has to BE CHRIST IN US AND WE IN HIM. This oneness with God brings permanent change in a person’s existence. In the Old Testament Moses tells the Israelites that they have the ability to obey all the laws and regulations. They do not need to go anywhere or ask for any additional help from anyone. Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. (Deuteronomy 30:11-14) The knowledge of how to please God, to be like him, was in their hearts. It was in their mouths as they repeated the law and its regulations in the temple. It was in their minds, their hearts, but they were never able to satisfy the requirements of the law and its regulations because their hearts were not transformed by the mercy and grace of God: Jesus Christ on the cross. Their rebellious nature, innate within them, would not bow down to all the rules and regulations of the law. Moses said you have the ability to please God, but he prophesied that they would seek their own way and be punished for it, and finally dispersed to all the nations around them. However, we see in Philippi new lives being created, for the jailer and his household proclaimed in their hearts that Jesus is Lord. No longer will they live for themselves, but they will live for Jesus and through the resurrecting power of the Holy Spirit. Works could not tame the rebellious nature within mankind, but Jesus as Lord not only tames the inherited rebellious and sinful nature of mankind, He circumcises the soul.
Luke 7 shares a lovely story about a prostitute and her love for Jesus. Jesus is in the household of a Pharisee, a member of a religious sect who believe it is very necessary to rigidly follow the commandments and regulations given by Moses. For some reasons of his own, he invited this apostate, Jesus, into his home to share a meal. A woman of ill repute comes and kneels behind Jesus, weeping profusely. When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. (Luke 7:36-38) She attentively and tenderly treats Jesus as a gift from God. The Pharisees’ thoughts about this situation were very critical of Jesus because Jesus allowed this wicked woman to touch him and weep over him, as she poured expensive perfume on his feet. He thought if Jesus were from God, He would never allow such a woman to touch him. Jesus knows his thoughts, and his thoughts are wicked. Jesus brings up a scenario of two men who had to obtain a loan from a rich man. One needed a loan of 500 silver pieces, equivalent to 500 days of wages. Another needed only 50 silver pieces to satisfy his need of money. The loaner of the silver pieces eventually discovered that each of them could not pay back what he loaned them. He forgave both of their loans, not requiring them to pay him back the money they owed him. Jesus asked the Pharisee who would be the most thankful to the loaner for not having to pay back his loan. The Pharisee answered correctly: the one who owed the most. Jesus then tells him the truth about his time in the Pharisees’ house. He says to the Pharisee, you did not give me the accustomed honor of offering me water to wash my feet. You did not give me oil to anoint my head. You did not give me a holy kiss when I entered your dwelling. You failed to honor me at all. But look at this woman who is detested by you. She has not stopped weeping over my feet, washing them with her tears, and because you did not give me a towel, she dries my feet with her hair. She has brought to me a gift of expensive perfume, she has anointed me with that gift of love. She has not stopped kissing my feet because of her affection towards me. Who does God honor most for treating me with respect this day, you or her? She has great love for me, you have little love for me. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.” Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” (Luke 7:47-50) Her faith as the jailer's faith in Jesus Christ as Lord has brought her into a position of being right with the Father God. Jesus confronts this supposed leader in knowing God. He explains clearly to him that he is in need of knowing the righteousness and perfection of God. He is in need of knowing the mercy and grace of God. His self-righteousness, and maybe in our context, his church-going ways carry no weight with God. Love, caring, and empathy for this woman of the streets carry weight with God, but he lacks these characteristics in his soul. In Philippi Paul confronts the leadership of that community, for they disrespected the laws of Rome. By doing so they were out of the will of God, for God wanted his servants to be honored not beaten with rods. This Pharisee, a leader in his community, was out of the will of God. As Peter said to the Sanhedrin, we say, we must obey God rather than human beings! We must treat the outcast, the poor, the disgraced with the mercy of God for we ARE CHILDREN OF THE MOST HIGH. Amen! As children of the Most High, how do we treat the needy in our world?
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