IN THOSE DAYS, as we apostles were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by soothsaying. She followed Paul and us, crying, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” And this she did for many days. But Paul was annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, “I charge you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour. But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place before the rulers; and when they had brought them to the magistrates they said, “These men are Jews and they are disturbing our city. They advocate customs which it is not lawful for us Romans to accept or practice.” The crowd joined in attacking them; and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely. Having received this charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and every one’s fetters were unfastened. When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out and said, “Men, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their wounds, and he was baptized at once, with all his family. Then he brought them up into his house, and set food before them; and he rejoiced with all his household that he had believed in God.
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Sunday’s Epistle tells us of the circumstances surrounding the apostles leaving Philippi which was the first city in the district of Macedonia. Philippi was a Roman colony under Roman law. Its many Roman citizens prided themselves upon being Roman, spoke Latin, dressed like Romans and kept things Roman central to their lives. Paul had decided to stay for several days to preach the gospel. This reading finds the apostle, on the Sabbath, going to a place of prayer. Clearly there was not enough of a Jewish population to have a synagogue so they had a place of prayer – a spot where the pious met to pray every Sabbath outside of the gates of the city beside the river. Paul went there because it was his custom to offer the gospel to the Jews first.
As they went towards the place of prayer a servant girl with the Pythian spirit met them. This girl possessed the gift of divination believe to be received from the god Apollo who was the god of prophecy and of oracles. The Python snake was sacred to him. Serpents, as we know, were associated with wisdom in the ancient world. Even Christ himself tells his disciples in Matthew’s Gospel when he sent them on their mission: behold I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and as harmless as doves (10:16). This slave girl had bought her masters much profit as people paid to hear her prophecies in relation to their respective affairs.
This woman began to say that these men were the servants of the Most High God who were proclaiming to all the way to salvation. The difficulty with that was that Paul and his fellow Christians were associated with and commended by a person who was not a Christian, and therefore gave the impression to the general populace that Paul and the Christians were charlatans on the same level as the Pythian woman and her masters who practiced divination for profit.
We are told that Paul put up with this for a number of days. Finally, he saw that his work was being hindered by this tormented woman. He then ordered the spirit to come out of her which it did in the same instant. Naturally, this caused outrage to her masters who lost a means of support and were furious at being deprived from their source of income. They therefore took hold of Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace where the courts were held before the rulers. The case was heard by the local magistrates. These men had no grounds to accuse Paul but focussed upon their looks which gave them the clear impression of being Jews.
Jews were not popular, especially in Roman colonies like Philippi as Jews had been recently expelled from Rome. So, the slave-owners accused Paul and Silas of shaking up the city – in other words, of disturbing the civil peace. They proclaimed that Paul and Silas taught that all should abandon their religion and pagan worship and adopt Jewish customs and religion – a message not acceptable to Rome. True, born Jews could practice Judaism but the conversion to Judaism was another matter. So Paul’s opponents with great alacrity branded him a threat to social order. As a consequence, crowds rose and demanded that something be done. Action was swiftly taken. It was most important to maintain the peace so Paul and Silas were given over to the local police in attendance who beat them. They also were to be kept securely locked lest they escape. The jailer interpreted this order strictly and exercised maximum cruelty. They were put in stocks secured by their legs and the stocks were built in such a way to stretch their legs beyond endurance so they were punished exceedingly. There the apostle found himself together with Silas, bleeding, wounded and unattended. Now, anyone else would have lamented their fate but not so these apostles! They began praying and giving thanks for the privilege of suffering for God. They showed their praise and devotion to God by singing psalms. We are told that the other prisoners were listening to them. No doubt they were thinking how anyone who had been beaten and confined in such a way could lift up their voices in songs of praise in such a terrible place.
Even further, we are told that the doors had been secured by bars and their chains that were secured to the walls fell open as a consequence of an earthquake and the apostles found themselves free. Instead of fleeing they stayed in jail. Neither did the other prisoners flee. Such was the regard that prisoners had for Paul and Silas that they remained in their cells. The prison guard aroused from sleep saw what had happened and was prepared to take his own life, thinking that the prisoners had escaped. Under Roman law ,the guard was responsible for the security of his prisoners, a security he guaranteed with his own life. The guard now supposed that his life was forfeited. Paul called out and said to him “do not harm yourself because we are all here.” Here, these men had every right to flee from the indignities and injustices that befell them but they realised that had they done so they would have caused further misery and harm to another human being. This lesson was not lost on the jailer who now calls Paul “Lord” and not slave and asks of Paul what is necessary to be saved.
One never knows when they might find themself in a position where they have the gift of insight to understand that they have experienced something truly miraculous. Further, it takes a person who has fully appreciated that grace and mercy has been bestowed on them to now seek to change their ways, repent, place themselves on the right path and be a follower of Christ. You just never know when you may experience such conversion. May we all find within our hearts the ability to change our way and join the side of Christ before it is too late. May the eye of our mind and our heart be open to the Lord.
