Paul goes to jail--part 2

 

PAUL GOES TO JAIL—PART 2

  

     A girl was possessed by a demon, and Jesus set her free through the Apostle Paul. An amazing and wonderful reason to follow Jesus. Anytime anyone is set from the hold of darkness, the Church celebrates with “Amen” and “Glory be to God.”

 

     But not everyone who witnessed this miracle celebrated it or even appreciated it. Paul is going to be arrested for doing the right thing. Only, this right thing disrupted the peace of those who had become comfortable in their chains of darkness because of the rewards they seemed to bring.

 

     Acts 16:19-24(CSB)

 

When the slave girl’s owners realized that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities. Bringing them before the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are seriously disturbing our city. They are Jews and are promoting customs that are not legal for us as Romans to adopt or practice.” The crowd joined in the attack against them, and the chief magistrates stripped off their clothes and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After they had severely flogged them, they threw them in jail, ordering the jailor to guard them carefully. Receiving such an order, he put them into the inner prison and secured their feet in stocks.

 

 

This is the Word of God.

For the people of God.

Thanks be to God.

 

 

 

     This is a story to us, words on a page. For Paul and Silas, this was a real-life event. One that would leave an imprint on Paul’s mind. In his letter to the Corinthian church, Paul wrote: “I was beaten three times.” (2 Corinthians 11:25) When writing 2 Thessalonians, Paul recounts, “After we had previously suffered and were treated outrageously in Philippi, you know we were emboldened by our God to speak the gospel.” (2 Thessalonians 2:2) So even though this event left physical marks on Paul, he never forgot what God did for the slave girl and the works to follow.

 

     “Why is all the money gone?” That is the attitude of the slave girl’s owners in verse 19. Instead of being blessed by the freedom found in Jesus, these men were outraged. Freedom for the slave girl cost the owners more than they were willing to spend.

 

     Now, notice these men do not shout, “These men robbed us” or “These men freed our slave.” They wanted the public to think Paul and Silas were evil, not themselves. To build their case, the men appeal to three things.

 

     First, they appealed to Roman patriotism. “Pax Romana,” peace, was the national motto and hope. Roman authorities would squash anything or anyone that threatened peace to the Empire. Disturbing the peace was a crime that was not tolerated.

 

     Second, the Romans despised the Jews. Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, but they were both Jewish. They sounded Jewish, looked Jewish, and talked like a Jewish person. Luke and Timothy, who were traveling with Pual and Silas, were both Gentiles. Probably, they did not look or sound Jewish. Thus, Paul and Silas were arrested, and they were not. On a side note, racism is the way of the world and has no place in the family of God.

 

     Lastly, the owners knew Roman law. They did not care about it, but for the sake of money, they would use it. Roman law forbids any new religions without government approval. Judaism had been approved, but Christianity had not been accepted. At first, Christianity was viewed as a sect of Judaism, but as the followers of Jesus grew that changed.

 

     The magistrates did not get a chance to do an investigation, an essential process in practicing justice, because the crowd had already reached their verdict. An angry mob was more dangerous to the magistrates than Paul and Silas. But because the mob was loud, angry, and many in number, the magistrates traded justice for pacification.

 

     Paul and Silas receive severe treatment. Their clothes are removed, and they are beaten with rods. And then these two preachers are placed not only in jail but in the maximum-security block. Not only that but their legs are also placed in stocks. Stocks were not like our leg shackles today; they were heavy wooden beams with leg holes. The leg holes were made in a way that spread the feet apart, making them cramped and in pain. This is the cost Pual and Silas paid for the slave girl to be free.

 

     Humanity’s love of darkness and championing of evil is on full display in this text. The slave girl’s owners cared nothing about her as a person, her well-being for them was only tied to the money she brought in for them. Her freedom would cost her owners their wealth, a price they were unwilling to pay. When she was freed, Paul and Silas had to bear that cost.

 

     There is the great paradox of freedom. For someone to be free, someone else must give up their freedom. For us to be freed from the curse of sin, Jesus had to be arrested and crucified. Jesus was not crazy about the cross, but He was crazy about you and me. Our basic American freedoms, they are not free. Free lunch is only free for those eating it! Someone else had to pay for it.

 

     Paul chose to trust Jesus and free the slave girl. He did not know the cost that followed, but Paul looks back to this moment as one that emboldened him in the cause of Christ. This was a cost Paul was willing to endure because Jesus was willing to endure it for his freedom. Considering this, Paul thought his freedom was worth surrendering for the slave girl to meet Jesus.

 

     That leaves you and me with a tough question. How deeply are we committed to others finding salvation in Jesus? Our desire for Jesus to free others needs to be greater than our need to express our freedom. Are we willing to give up our right to free speech and choose silence so Jesus can be heard? Can we give up our right to be offended so the cause of the Kingdom can be advanced? If we never sing another song from the hymn book again, and all the worship leader did was spit rhymes for Jesus because that allowed the world to hear Christ more clearly, would be willing?

 

     Only the love of God can carry this out. It is a tall order and tough action to swallow our pride, hopes, words, and freedoms. But it is one our Lord did for us.

 

     The good news of the gospel is this: we do not attempt this on our own or through our strength. Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit, who does more than just break the chains of sin and darkness in our lives. The Holy Spirit can fill our hearts and minds with the love of God. That is ultimately what it means to be entirely sanctified. When our hearts are surrendered, they are transformed by the love of God as our minds are renewing to fully love God and love others. This is evidenced by our living in obedience to God and how we treat our neighbors.

                                                 

     If you and I want to see lives rescued by Jesus (revival), we need to be entirely sanctified.

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