The Word Made Fresh
1They went to Derbe and to Lystra, where there was a follower named Timothy. He was the son of a Jewish mother (who was a believer) and Greek father. 2Everyone in Lystra and Iconium spoke highly of him. 3Paul wanted Timothy to go with him, and took him to be circumcised because of the Jews in those cities, since they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4As they traveled from town to town, they shared the instructions that had been given by the apostles and leaders in Jerusalem. 5In that way the churches were made stronger in their faith, and daily added to their numbers.
6The Holy Spirit advised them not to go into Asia, so they went through Phrygia and Galatia. 7When they were across from Mysia they tried to go on into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus wouldn’t allow it, 8so they passed by Mysia and headed to Troas. 9Paul had a vision at night, of a man from Macedonia pleading with him to “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10Having seen that vision, we immediately decided to cross over to Macedonia, convinced that God had called us to preach the good news to them.
11We left Troas and sailed directly to Samothrace, and the next day to Neapolis, 12and from there to Philippi, a leading city of the Macedonia District, and a Roman colony. We stayed there for some days. 13On the Sabbath we thought there would be a place of prayer outside the gate by the river, and we went there. We sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered. 14One of them, whose name was Lydia, was a worshiper of God, and she listened to us. She was from Thyatira, where she worked as a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart, and she listened to Paul’s message. 15When she was baptized with her family, she said, “If you see that I am faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my house,” and we were persuaded to do so.
16One day as we were walking to the place of prayer we met a slave girl who was possessed by a spirit that could predict the future. She brought a lot of money to her owners by fortune-telling. 17She would follow us and Paul, and would cry out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, and they are telling us the way to salvation!” 18She did this every day for many days, which annoyed Paul, and he finally turned to her and said to the spirit within her, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it did.
19But when her owners discovered that their source of gain was taken away, they took hold of Paul and Silas and hauled them to the marketplace to stand before the magistrates. 20They said, “These men are disturbing our city. They are Jews, 21and they are teaching customs that are not lawful for us Romans to observe.” 22The crowd joined in complaining about them, and the magistrates had them stripped and beaten with rods. 23They were severely whipped, and then were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to keep them there, 24and so he put them in the innermost cell and locked their feet in the stocks.
25Around midnight they were praying and singing hymns to God. The other prisoners were listening to them. 26Suddenly, an earthquake began shaking the ground so violently that the prison’s foundation was damaged, and all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains fell off. 27The jailer was awakened, and saw the prison doors standing open. He drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought all the prisoners had escaped. 28But Paul called out loudly, “Don’t harm yourself! We’re all here!” 29The jailer had torches brought and he rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30Then he set them free. He asked them, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you and your family will be saved.”
32Then they spoke the word of God to him and his family. 33He took them in and washed their wounds. Then he and his entire family were baptized right away. 34He brought them into his house and fed them, and he and his family were overjoyed that he had become a believer in God.
35The next morning the magistrates sent the police with instructions to “Let those men go.” 36The jailer told Paul, “The magistrates sent word to release you. So, come out now and you may go in peace.”
37But Paul said, “They publicly beat us and threw us into prison. We are Roman citizens who have not been officially condemned. And they are letting us go in secret? No way! Let them come and release us themselves.”
38The police passed this on to the magistrates and they were afraid when they learned Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. 39They came and apologized to them, then brought them out of the jail and asked them to leave the city. 40They left the prison and went to Lydia’s home, encouraged the followers there, and then departed.
Commentary
1-5: Paul returns with Silas to familiar territory in Asia Minor where they recruit young Timothy to join them. Timothy, being of Greek-Jewish parentage, is not circumcised, and ironically – since this trip is to deliver the message about not requiring circumcision – Paul has him circumcised so as not to stir up the Jews he had encountered on his last trip there.
6-10: This paragraph is a brief travelogue that brings Paul and Silas and Timothy to the western end of Asia Minor to the port of Troas. It is a singular feature of this paragraph that the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Jesus prohibited them from traveling to other parts of Asia Minor (now known as Turkey). The vision Paul has at night is also unparalleled in Paul’s experiences as described in Acts. The vision is of a Macedonian man begging him to come there.
11-15: So, off they sail to Philippi. They go to the river the next Saturday (the Jewish Sabbath). It was customary to use the river as a meeting place and, there apparently being no synagogue in Philippi, Paul and his companions gather at the river. A merchant woman named Lydia is converted and invites them to stay at her house.
16-18: A slave girl who has a unique talent for fortune telling attaches herself to “us and Paul” (is Luke now part of the entourage?), annoying Paul to the point that he casts out the “spirit of divination.”
19-24: Unfortunately, that so-called spirit earns her owners a lot of money and they drag Paul and Silas into the marketplace where they succeed in having them publicly beaten and then thrown into prison, with their feet fastened in stocks.
25-34: From the earliest records in the Bible, it is clear that God does not like his people to be imprisoned. In Acts it has been an act of downright foolishness to bother to lock any of them up. Such is the case now. This time an earthquake shakes the premises and results in the doors being opened and their shackles being disengaged. The jailer is awakened, sees what has happened, assumes that the prisoners have all escaped and decides he’d rather not have to answer for it. He draws his sword and prepares to kill himself, but Paul calls out that they are still in the prison, and the jailer is relieved and astonished to find that to be the case. The jailer is immediately converted by the event. He tends their wounds and takes them into his own house and he and his family are baptized. When he asks, “What must I do to be saved,” however, baptism is not mentioned as a requirement; only belief in the Lord Jesus. Interestingly, Paul tells him that his belief will save not only him but his entire household as well. The baptism of his family confirmed that statement.
35-40: The next morning they are let out of prison – I suppose a flogging and a night in jail was all their tormentors intended. Paul now flaunts his Roman citizenship. The magistrates are properly cowed, but nevertheless ask them politely to leave town, please. They go to Lydia’s house first to encourage the small congregation that is there, and probably also to gather what belongings they have, and leave Philippi, but not forever.
Takeaway
There are still places in this world where preaching faith in Jesus Christ is legally forbidden, and Christians are persecuted. Say a prayer today for those who must live in such conditions.