Sha’ul’s Second Missionary Journey ~ Part 6

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We continue our ongoing story of Sha’ul’s Second Missionary Journey beginning in Acts 16:25.

Philippian Jailer Converted

²⁵ Around midnight, Sha’ul and Sila were praying and singing hymns to God while the other prisoners listened attentively.

Recall from our last post in verse 23 that there would be no sleep for the emissaries that night, thanks to their pain and uncomfortable position. But amid their suffering, they displayed their trust in God and their joy by praying and hymns of praise to Him. I am not sure I could have done that.

²⁶ Suddenly, there was a violent earthquake which shook the prison to its foundations. All the doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.

Luke does not say so, but clearly, the violent earthquake was an act of God in response to the prayers and praises of Sha’ul and Sila. The jailer understood this (v. 29).

²⁷ The jailer awoke, and when he saw the doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, for he assumed that the prisoners had escaped.

If prisoners escaped, their Roman guards or jailers were forced to serve their sentences. Believing his prisoners had escaped, the Philippian jailer preferred a quick death over imprisonment or execution.

²⁸ But Sha’ul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We’re all here!”

Sha’ul’s shout from within the prison interrupted the jailer’s action, telling him that all the prisoners were safe. Commentators have puzzled over how Sha’ul knew that nobody had escaped and that the jailer was about to kill himself when, as verse 29 shows, the jailer himself needed a light to see what was happening. ^[1]

²⁹ Calling for lights, the jailer ran in, began to tremble, and fell down in front of Sha’ul and Sila. ³⁰ Then, leading them outside, he said, “Men, what must I do to be saved?”

The jailer fell trembling because he realized the earthquake was supernatural. This prompted him to ask the most critical question in the book of Acts:

What must I do to be saved?

He was spared from death in the quake, spared from suicide by the discovery that the prisoners had not fled, and now wanted to be spared from God’s future judgment.

³¹ They said, “Trust in the Lord Yeshua, and you will be saved – you and your household!”

Trust in the Lord Yeshua(see Acts 11:20–23), and you will be saved. There are five conditions for the salvation of individuals stated in the Brit Hadashah:

(1) Believing that Yeshua is Lord and trusting in Him (here & Romans 10:9).

(2) Acknowledging him publicly (Romans 10:9, Lk 12:8).

(3) Turning from sin to God (Mark 1:15, Acts 2:38).

(4) Being immersed (Acts 2:38, Mark 16:16).

(5) “Holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” (Messianic Jews [Hebrews] 12:14).
A person who meets the first four conditions but leads an ungodly life gives public evidence that he is not saved. Sha’ul names only the first condition, the touchstone, sensing that the jailer is ready to meet all the conditions as soon as they have been explained, which Sha’ul then does (v. 32).

³² Whereupon they told him and everyone in his household the message about the Lord. ³³ Then, even at that late hour of the night, the jailer took them and washed off their wounds, and without delay, he and all his people were immersed. ³⁴ After that, he brought them up to his house and set food in front of them, and he and his entire household celebrated their having come to trust in God. ^[2]

The effect of the jailer’s change of heart was seen, first, in his care for the physical needs of the emissaries; he did what he could to assuage the effects of their beating the previous day. After that, he and his family were immersed in the prison. Note that Sha’ul and Sila put the preaching of the gospel before their personal comfort, but the jailer saw to their needs before being immersed. The jailer’s care for his prisoners was further emphasized by taking them into his house, where he provided for their needs in a meal, simultaneously expressing Messianic fellowship and joy at his and his family’s conversion. After that, it can be presumed the emissaries had to return to their place in the prison. The other prisoners, likewise, would have been fastened up again, but Luke is silent on these unnecessary details of the story.

In our next post, we will continue to explore Shaul’s Second Missionary Journey; we continue to learn more about Sha’ul and Sila’s imprisonment starting in chapter 16:35.

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^[1] I. Howard Marshall, Acts: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 5, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1980), 288.

^[2] Acts 16:25–34.